Thema’s fans upset

THE 2018 World of Dance (WoD) Championships concluded on Sunday night with Japanese crew White Out Tokyo earning top honours, bragging rights, trophies and a US$5,000 cheque in the team category.

The four TT dance acts that left for the USA last Thursday to compete for a place in the popular NBC hit series, World of Dance (WoD) were unsuccessful in their bid.

Popular group The Academy, solo dancer Thema Williams, salsa duo Stefan Maynard and Karline Brathwaite, and hip-hop duo Dren competed against WoD franchise winners from around the world including England, Buenos Aires, China, USA and Canada in Pasadena, Los Angeles, California, but fell short of the grade to go further.

However while The Academy returned home last night, Dren left on Sunday to meet Machel Montano in Barbados for a Crop Over gig, while Williams and the salsa duo stayed for the workshops yesterday and today.

The highest placed among the TT contingent Williams, was ranked sixth out of 25 competitors in the upper category on Saturday with a dance entitled Wakanda.

Judge one gave her 96/100, judge two: 90/100 and judge three: 77/100. Final score: 87.70.

On her Instagram page Williams thanked her choreographer, her musical editor, her seamstress and all of her supporters, saying that the journey continues. “It felt amazing to represent Trinidad and Tobago yet again. Showcasing another piece next Monday. Stay tuned.” However her fans were not as gracious in defeat. They took to social media to express their displeasure at the low score given to her by the third judge.

One fan stated: “Third judge sour bad boy,” another: “Third judge just grimy awah,” and yet another: “That third judge had to be in a bad mood to see so much more deductibles than the other two... TT continues to appreciate your efforts to fly the flag high! Your continued grace is definitely at the forefront of all that we see in you.”

Franchise Holder, Kyle Lequay of Lequay Edge congratulated Williams and the entire contingent for their contributions and expressed great enthusiasm for the future of World of Dance Trinbago. He said: “We kinda felt that Thema would have done well here because she already had the experience of international competition, as well as the discipline and drive that’s necessary to excel, but we also hope that the other dancers observed and networked and learnt a lot from this experience in terms of what it takes to really be successful on the world stage.

“There are no losers here because everyone who competes at this level has already won in their city or territory and our representatives should return from California with a great sense of accomplishment, as well as the motivation and drive to improve and come back next year with even bigger and better routines and goals.”

Lequay confirmed that World of Dance Trinbago 2019 has already been approved by the WoD Franchise Committee and his team has also partnered with Olsen Decker of Lagos to host World of Dance Nigeria in March.

He added: “World of Dance is dedicated to providing a platform for creative and talented people from around the globe and as Trinidad will soon see when we edit and release our video documentary from this experience, we were able to connect with people from all corners of the globe, who now know who we are and where we are on the map and are really excited about coming to experience our island, music and culture... and this is just the beginning. So let’s start preparing for WoD Trinbago 2019.”