Urban Grooves and Mountain Moves

The Vail International Dance festival starts next Sunday, with its highbrow brand of dance programming of ballet, ballroom and modern styles and ensembles. But today's grittier 8150 Urban Dance Challenge serves as its unofficial kickoff. With a title that nods to Vail's mountain altitude, the dance-off features some of the...

By Susan Froyd

July 18, 2013

Audio By Carbonatix

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The Vail International Dance festival starts next Sunday, with its highbrow brand of dance programming of ballet, ballroom and modern styles and ensembles. But today's grittier 8150 Urban Dance Challenge serves as its unofficial kickoff. With a title that nods to Vail's mountain altitude, the dance-off features some of the best hip-hop crews and b-boys in the 303, as well as a judging panel of big-name break-dance bosses from across the nation.

Who will win the 8150 crown up in the thin air of Vail? Competitors include six Colorado crews, among them Hype 303, Side by Side and Soulfully Driven, and top b-boys Alex “White Boi” Milewski and Jacob "Data" Flesher, last year's UDC winner; the judging panel, meanwhile, will strut Coloradan JD McElroy (featured in You Got Served), Chris ‘Pharside’ Jennings of the Academy of Villains, Ellen Kim and Ronnie "Ruen" Navarro.

The urban grooves begin to spin at 6:30 p.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, 503 South Frontage Road East in Vail. Admission is free; get all the details at facebook.com/the8150.
Tue., July 23, 6:30 p.m., 2013

Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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