Juste Debout

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Juste Debout ("just upright") is an annual dance competition originated from France which focuses on upright street dance styles. The four main categories are hip hop new style, house, locking and popping.

1 History
2 Program
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] History

Juste Debout was initially held in 2002 in Paris, France, and has since then returned each year around February. The 2006 edition was the first to feature a number of linked events (so called pre-selections) in countries outside of France, with the finals being held in Paris. This allowed Juste Debout to reach a larger and more international audience.

Juste Debout 2007 was held on February 25 in Paris and featured international pre-selections starting as early as January in countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.^[1] Jsmooth & Future from the dance crew MFG (Machine Gone Funk) in USA the won the Juste Debout Popping Contest 2007. Manu & loïc from France won the Locking. Stéphanie & Dedson from Denmark and France won Hip-hop. Lastly, Hiro & Meech from Japan and France won the House Contest.

[edit] Program

The main events of Juste Debout consists of two on two battles in which two dancers work as a team trying to outperform the opposite couple in a specific dance style category. The music is chosen by the Juste Debout DJs and the dancers are not told of the songs in advance.

Normally, only one person dances at a time and the two teams take turns showing off. A battle finishes when each dancer has performed two times, resulting in a total of eight rounds, usually around a minute long each. Sometimes a team chooses to spontaneously replace or extend one of their rounds with a choreographed routine performed together for added effect, which is allowed. After each battle, a group of four judges decides the winning team, which moves them closer to the finals. In the end, a winning couple is chosen for each of the four dance style categories.

Outside of battles, the Juste Debout events often include a number of shows from both the judges and invited guests, as well as dance parties that are open for all to join.