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VIDEO: In South Africa, Surrey street dancer to compete at Red Bull’s world final this week

Sullivan Heights grad Humuza Bazira, 19, has become world-class dancer in just six years
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Surrey’s Humuza “Humuzza” Bazira at the Red Bull Dance Your Style national contest in Toronto last August, 2022. (Contributed photo: Jenna Hum via Red Bull Content Pool)

Surrey teen Humuza Bazira is off to Africa to represent Canada at the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final, and he’s stoked to return to the continent where his family has roots.

This week the champion hip-hop/street dancer will be in Johannesburg, South Africa, to battle dozens of other dancers from 30 countries, starting Dec. 7.

Known as Humuzza in the dance world, the Sullivan Heights Secondary grad, 19, won a Vancouver qualifier and then the national title in Toronto last August, for the right to compete in the world final.

“Everyone there will be very talented, a lot of elite dancers,” Bazira said. “They’ve all won competitions in their own countries, so the competition will be very tough.”

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Surrey’s Humuza “Humuzza” Bazira with the Red Bull Dance Your Style national contest trophy in Toronto on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. (Contributed photo: Jenna Hum via Red Bull Content Pool)
Surrey’s Humuza “Humuzza” Bazira with the Red Bull Dance Your Style national contest trophy in Toronto on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. (Contributed photo: Jenna Hum via Red Bull Content Pool)

Bazira last flew to Africa back in 2011, on a family trip.

“We went to Uganda and Kenya and it was really great, but I was really young so I don’t fully remember the experience,” he said. “To be going there again (to Africa), especially for dance, it’s a full-circle moment for me. I’m very excited about that.”

This will be the second ever Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final, last held in Paris in 2019. This year’s audience-judged freestyle contest will be shown live on tiktok.com, Dec. 10, following preliminary rounds.

Bazira has been practicing his world-class moves at Burnaby’s Studio North.

“Sometimes you practice moves that you know you want to do, but for the most you just train to be mentally and physically ready to dance to any type of music, any environment,” said Bazira, known for his “popping” skills.

He’s been dancing for six years, starting at Sullivan Heights as a 13-year-old, then with the dance crews around the region, including The Gigabots and The Midnight Society. His “Humuzza” Instagram account is filled with videos of him dancing.

In Toronto last summer, it was a thrill for Bazira to compete against his uncle Kule, aka Megaman, in the contest semi-final.

“That was like the perfect story, just amazing,” he recalled. “At the end we did a little routine together and the crowd went wild, an amazing moment.”

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His uncle was dancing years before Bazira got into it.

“He was known as the dancer in the family, and I was intimidated by how good he was. I’d go to his competitions and stuff and was amazed, but I never really had the idea to do what he did, but I was always inspired by it.

“Then when I started dancing in high school,” Bazira continued, “he saw me and invited me to join the team he coaches, and ever since then he’s been one of my greatest dance role models and inspirations.”

This week’s trip to South Africa will be a family adventure, with Bazira’s parents and sister there to watch.

The Red Bull-backed contest has “a unique one-on-one battle format where dancers are challenged with unpredictable music hits from funk, pop, rock, rap, old school classics and more, the competitors must conquer the audience as they are ultimately deciding who will rule the dance floor,” according to a news release.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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