Gisborne’s 98 Cents earn gold, silver and bronze at Hawke’s Bay dance comp

Hip hop duo 98 Cents Paul Hawaikirangi and Kylah Ashwell enjoyed solo, duo and group success at the Battle in the Bay competition.

Gisborne duo 98 Cents brought home gold, silver and bronze from the Hawke’s Bay hip-hop competition Battle in the Bay after adding the Small Crew category to their repertoire.

98 Cents comprise Paul Hawaikirangi and Kylah Ashwell. Hawaikirangi won gold in the Solo category, Ashwell got bronze in Solo and together they won silver (second) in the Open Duo category.

The pair created Club 98 “to encourage more adults to dance” and that group earned silver in the Small Crew category.

“Our crew consisted of ourselves, Julie Walker, Jaeda Mapu and Ray Te Nahu. We all danced together in the We Will Rock You [Centre Stage] production earlier this year and decided to enter a little dance crew into a comp.”

They said they loved their weekend away, making new friends and catching up with old ones.

“The vibe of the competition is really friendly and welcoming,” Ashwell said. “It’s our favourite comp of the year.”

This was their fourth time attending the competition as 98 Cents.

“It was cool to bring along some friends this time around and learn new skills from each other and go to the dance classes the competition provides.”

98 Cents have had a busy year competing and showcasing dance across the country.

Highlights have been performing at the World of Dance NZ and competing at Hip Hop International NZ, Hip Hop Unite NZ and the Battle in the Bay.

They also had the opportunity to judge a high school level dance competition DanceNZmade at the Interschool Nationals.

In July the dancers choreographed and competed in Dance for Life Ed Gisborne, where Hawaikirangi and his partner for the event, Mia Gray, placed third.

They also did choreography for Gisborne Centre Stage productions Ladies Night and We Will Rock You.

“We would like to thank everyone for their continued support of our dancing and endeavours,” Ashwell said.

“And a special thank you to EIT Tairawhiti, too, for their sponsorship to help us get to Battle in the Bay.”

Club 98, made up of hip hop dancers (back from left) Paul Hawaikikrangi, Jaeda Mapu and Ray Te Nahu and (front) Julie Walker and Kylah Ashwell, were second in the Small Crew category at the Battle in the Bay dance competition last weekend.