Skitta Star has special plans for Germany

Having learnt from his mistakes last year, dancer Shakeem ‘Skitta Star’ Thomas again put on his dancing shoes and entered the Red Bull Dance Your Style competition. By the end of the night on Saturday, he was crowned the 2023 national champion and the fourth consecutive male winner of the local competition.

With his incredibly fluid movements, Skitta Star was like a well-oiled machine and he brought equal parts energy, vibe, creativity, and flexibility with his movements, which often elicited spontaneous “wows” from the crowd at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre. Holding the coveted Red Bull ball in his hand, the champion, who will represent Jamaica at the global finals in Frankfurt, Germany, on November 4, was all smiles and showed no sign of tiredness from the gruelling rounds.

“Last year I got eliminated in the third round, but I put full force and come back this year. Mi have the big ball inna di palm of mi hand,” a proud Skitta Star said, adding with a laugh that the “man dem a show dem manpower”.

Sharing his preparation process, he stated: “Basically, mi go inna mi drawing box. Last year, mi put all of mi moves dem inna one round, where mi see seh mi do something wrong. So mi tell myself that this year, I am placing it rounds into rounds, so it get wider and can push mi down into the finals. And when mi reach di finals, mi can bring out the full force.”

But that was still no stroll in the park for the dancer of more than 14 years who has been showcasing his talents in the streets, at house parties and bars, and prior to that, at the House of God in Linstead, St Catherine. “I dance gospel … any music. In church … that’s where mi get the idea to come out with the gloves,” he said dispelling the notion that he took inspiration from Michael Jackson.

Skitta named the most challenging rounds on Saturday as those when he faced off with Oniel the Great and female contender DH Wazzi, with whom he shares history.

“Me and Wazzi a come from the same dance team, Xtreme Pushers, but I branch off and start my own thing, Star Empire, but still loving Wazzi dem. So when mi see her in the finals, mi seh, ‘Sis, a me and yuh dis, so it nuh matter which one of we win. Just know seh mi love fi see how we reach so far.’”

At the end of the battle, the crowd, who were the judges for every round, showed many more red lights than blue, an indication that Skitta was their choice.

For the judging process, everyone was given a Red Bull LED armband that could display red and blue lights. Each dancer on stage was assigned a red or blue light, and by holding up a light, patrons signalled which dancer they thought won each round.

There were 16 finalists on Saturday, all of whom danced to various genres, from hip hop, to jazz, to R&B, to dancehall.

Giving a shoutout to the Red Bull team, Skitta said that throughout the competition, he had learnt to believe in himself. He has a lot of special plans for Germany in two months’ time. “Yuh know mi haffi come out firing with outfit, dance move haffi put together, and mi haffi put the rounds and the combo dem right. Mi haffi represent to the fullest,” he vowed.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com