Let's hear it for the B-Boy

23 September 2009

A TALENTED dancer who has featured in pop stars' music videos and world tours, is hoping to scoop the top prize in an international B-Boy competition.

Ashley Garcia, 28, of Green Lane, Ilford, is a member of Soul Mavericks - a team of dancers from all over the UK - who have reached the Sony Ericsson B-Boy Championships World Final.

He said: "B-Boy is more like a lifestyle or a culture.

"It's a dance which is acrobatic, dramatic and aerial, with a lot of flying through the air and spinning."

The former Canon Palmer High School student got into hip-hop dancing as a teenager and at the age of 18, he turned professional.

He added: "I did a lot of work for Top of the Pops, music videos, and toured with Amarie, Fatman Scoop and Sonique, but it got boring after a while.

"I wanted to do something a bit more and luckily I got headhunted by a guy who was setting up a team of B-Boy dancers to represent the UK."

Soul Maverick has eight members, who perform to funk music such as James Brown.

Ashley fits in daily training around his computing degree, which he is studying at the University of East London in Docklands.

Ashley added: "I love dancing. I wish I could do it forever.

"But I have to constantly train to keep my fitness levels up."

He also gets a lot of requests to teach youngsters, but says it's difficult to organise workshops without a permanent studio space and constant competitions.

Ashley and his teammates will be representing the UK at the Sony Ericsson World Champions at the O2 Brixton Academy on October 11, competing against the best dancers from the US, Japan, Korea, Russia, Holland and Scandinavia.