Street Dance in Hong Kong has evolved into a pop cultural phenomenon with local characteristics and international importance and one of the reasons we’re able to connect and absorb so many influences is down to our geographical location.
 

Back in 1970, Japan was the so-called “first country” to invite OG dancers from the USA to Asia. In 1977, the TV show “Soul Train” was broadcast on Japanese TV. In 1983, “Flash Dance” was released in Japan bringing Rock Steady Crew into Asian cinemas. From that point on more OGs and dance crews (e.g. Elite Force, Dance Fusion and World Soul) came to Japan and then China, Korea, Taiwan and finally to Hong Kong.
 

In 1985, “Mismatched Couples” was the first Hong Kong Kung Fu movie released that mixed fighting and Street Dance. It starred Yen Chi-Ten and showed us electric waving, breaking, footwork and ground moves mixed with Kung Fu. When I watch this movie now, the skills do not compare to 2025 and although the film doesn’t necessarily focus on Street Dance culture, it steals some of its moves and gimmicks. My father watched this film too, and he knew the phrase “Robot Dance”, but he thinks all that breaking is is doing a “headspin”. I was just a babe in 1985, but one day, a local OG MC Fat Joe shared this movie with me and I can still feel the impact from that time. What I am now, partly comes from this movie.
 

18 years later in 2003, another important Hong Kong movie in the history of Hip Hop was released, "Give Them A Chance 給他們一個機會”. It offers a very different historical perspective and it might help people understand when this universal term "Hip Hop" really landed in 852 Hong Kong. Hip Hop was the focus of the film and it reflected social problems like drugs and youth violence, but it was still not yet recognised as a specific art form in Hong Kong. In the film, police stop people from dancing in public areas, families think that if the young people are breaking then this would translate into bad behaviour and the director portrayed dancers fighting each other whilst trying to date the same girl.

Whilst it was a very HK film in style and texture, it also demonstrated that Hip Hop could benefit young people to grow in a positive way. Youth Outreach - School of Hip Hop is one of the pioneering NGOs (which started in 2004) who use Hip Hop as a tool to help young people grow and get away from drugs and crime. 

It’s still 2004 and every boy has an NBA dream. My goal was to play on the University basketball team but my potential wasn't there and my little NBA dream was not to be realised. A friend asked me to join the dance society instead and it was here I attended my first Street Dance class - locking - and that’s where my journey starts.

​

Around this time there was a growth and many changes in the scene which lead to the beginning of a number of dance studio companies. Some of the studio pioneers include: Rico Tsoi Dance Centre, Billy Chan Dance Concepts, Ones To Watch, Infinity Dance Studio and Studiodanz - they all offered regular Street Dance training and created the basis of a healthy Hip Hop dance studio scene.

I was studying at Hong Kong Baptist University and the time I spent in BUDA (our dance society) gave me my blueprint to be a professional dancer and Hip Hop dance tutor. It was here I met my life coach Billy Chan, who trained me in so many dance disciplines including: Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Hip Hop, body conditioning and how to be disciplined on stage. In 2006 Billy asked me to teach at his studio BCDC, and this is where my career really started.

Another influential Street Dance studio - Ones To Watch - had a franchise relationship with the Tokyo Ones To Watch studio and this enabled them to bring over a number of Japanese dancers as guest tutors to Hong Kong. Their network throughout the USA also enabled them to bring Brian Green and Shans in 2008 for a showcase and workshop as well as Brooklyn Terry for a House workshop. Ones To Watch was the first studio that had the resources to bring OG dancers to Hong Kong, opening so many people's eyes and creating a model of how to build a successful Street Dance studio.

In my studio trainee life, I met some of the most important HK Street Dance OGs including: Lilyin, Poppin’ lok, Doug Lee Funk and Popper 88. From them sharing their knowledge, it led me to the world of Hip Hop Freestyle and in 2011, I formed my own crew Asylum. Since then I have taught and grown a group of dancers in Hong Kong who are now working as professional dance teachers and dancers who are creating their own methods, promoting Hip Hop culture and organising their own events to further contribute to our dance scene.

One of the most iconic ones is Luen Mo from Legion X.

Legion X? Yes, the crew with Niako from France. Luen Mo danced all the way from Hong Kong to Legion X.

This journey started when I first met Luen Mo in a secondary school dance class in 2009. He was around 14 years old and a few years later came to my studio class looking for a deeper exploration of Hip Hop. He had really good potential in freestyle, so I grouped some of my students and Luen Mo together to form the crew “Strangers”. They were so hardworking and won some local championships, but I realised that my skills were not high enough to keep inspiring them, so I organised classes with different people like Kay Chen from Taiwan, Shan.S from Dance Fusion and someone called Niako.

In a dance workshop presented by Asylum Crew, Luen Mo first met Niako, who has had a huge impact on Hip Hop Freestyle. Luen Mo followed Niako for more intensive training and coaching in Oslo and has since become one of the greatest dancers in Hong Kong and China. I’m so glad that I gave him that little push, brought him to this Hip Hop scene and that remains one of my proudest moments in my dance teaching life.
 

The Internet and YouTube scene got stronger in the early 2010s as information was much easier to get from the USA and Europe. Events like ABDC, Body Rock and SYTYCD were having a big impact on us, leading to a change in style and a new trend of the Street Dance influenced choreography class. LA choreographers Lyle Beniga and Shaun Evaristo came to Hong Kong and shared their dance creations influencing many local dancers and this is still having an impact a decade later. The Hong Kong crew “Chestrolls” won the 2023 World of Dance and 2024 HARU competitions spreading a Street Dance influenced style that has a definite Hong Kong texture. 

Influences from Europe were getting stronger too. Juste Debout and later on Summer Dancer Forever (SDF) gave Hong Kong a different insight into Hip Hop dance and battling. Luen Mo was the first one from Hong Kong to step on the biggest stage of SDF 2022 and made the top 12. SDF is the goal for some Street Dancers in Hong Kong and these iconic European events inspire them to reach international levels.

D’oam, a famous Hip Hop dance crew from Osaka first came to Hong Kong for a showcase and workshop in 2012 and this had a strong impact on the local Hip Hop Freestyle scene. On top of D’oam we’ve had different Japanese Hip Hop, Popping, Locking or House dancers like Kato, Yokoi, Osaam, Gucchon, Kei, Cio, Kazukiyo come to Hong Kong to share their skills and knowledge.

I give a bit and take a lot. Thank you Hip Hop!

When I worked in Ocean Park from 2012-2014, it linked my pathway to theatre. It was here I met my other coach and teacher Rex Chiu who graduated from the HKAPA Musical Theatre stream and he became the head dance choreographer of the Halloween Event. He had a vision that Street Dance should be the most popular form of dance art and so he started to employ more and more Street Dancers for the Halloween Event. Most of my generation who worked in that period, worked on this event and in 2012, he invited me to be the assistant choreographer and provide dance training and choreograph on the performers for this theme park show setup. This was a huge step in my dance career and later on Rex led me even further to explore the theatre scene. In 2015, we made the show “MALADE 18+”, a show with Street Dance, drama, live music and strong language. After this I was connected to more theatre performers like Justyn Li and Tanki Wong, and I slowly fell in love with theatre.

But theatre also educated me and enabled me to connect with other parts of our community; I participated in the Hong Kong Theatre Art Practitioner Union (HKTAPU) to try to fight for labour rights, resolve labour disputes and increase subsidy policies during the pandemic period. 

From 2020-2023, I was the vice president of HKTAPU and our mission was to connect our practitioners to the Government systems like Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). During the pandemic and due to the lack of any licensing system or labour union before, LCSD and HKADC had difficulty verifying the identities of theatre art practitioners and delivering the Anti-Epidemic Fund (AEF). HKTAPU was able to be the conduit and share member information to LCSD and HKADC enabling us to educate our members on the process of applying to the AEF. 

That moment was unforgettable.
 

I was trying so hard to practice the Hip Hop spirit personally. However, we had to dissolve the HKTAPU this year…this is also what I learned from Hip Hop, always give back to your community. 

From 2020-2025, I changed my pathway once more, from a freelance dance artist to working for a non-profit youth organisation promoting art, music and Street Dance culture. But earlier this I quit that job and went back to the pure Street Dance artist life again. I realised my life is fully Street Dance influenced and it’s through dance that I can express myself more.