Winnipeg hip-hop crew fights to hang on to Canadian dance championship title

Azrael"Angel" Advinculais on a mission.

On this mission he will jump up, jump up, and most assuredly get down.

And the 28-year-old Winnipegger won't be alone.

On June 2 in Montreal, Advincula,along with 29partners of his dance group L.I.V.E., will fight to reclaim the title of Canada's best hip-hop dance crew at the national championships for Hip Hop International, which produces competitions it bills as "the largest and most respected in the world."

"The pressure is on us," saidAdvincula, who is the creator and director of the Winnipeg dance troupe, whichhe founded in 2014.

Last year,the troupe won the national championships in Ottawa. It marked thefirst time a Winnipeg crew took the national crown.

"Because we are the defending champs, we want to bring it home again," saidAdvincula.

The team only needs to make it into the top three to head to the international championships, which will be held this August in Arizona.

See L.I.V.E. in action:

L.I.V.E. crew defends national title in Montreal

5 years ago

Duration 3:39

Dance group L.I.V.E., fights to reclaim the title of Canada's best hip hop dance crew at national championships.

L.I.V.E. which stands for "love, imagine, value and embrace"competed in last year's international championships but got knocked out.

"We got out-performed. We got out-skilled. And it humbled us," saidAdvincula,a professional dancer who has opened for rappers like T-Painand Chris Brown, among others.

There are 60 dancers, ranging in age from 15 to 28 years old, in the entire group, many of whom are immigrant Filipino youth.

There are no try-outs to join the groupa policy that is important toAdvincula, who first began dancing at age 16 at Winnipeg's Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute.

"We welcome anybody. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what your training is. It doesn't matter if you can dance or if you have ever danced, if you have never listened to music,"said Advincula.

"You can come here. We will welcome you, as long as you are willing to do the training."

That inclusion is central to the story of a new video featuringAdvinculaand the team, commissioned by CBC's Creator Network,whichcollaborates with diverse Canadian creators toshare unique perspectives.

The video is the first episode of Our Scene, a new digital series produced by Winnipeg dancer GeNie Baffoe and local filmmaker Quan Luong.

Advincula, who is L.I.V.E.'s choreographer and a performer in the crew, is inspired by his young charges, he said.

"If you see the way these kids work for it, these kids don't care where we areas long as they are dancing."