Daulet and Adlet, 24, from Taraz
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Daulet. We’ve been active since childhood. We were in love with martial art movies and teenage mutant ninja turtles, as they were agile, dexterous and unconquerable.
Seeing breakdance dancers moving we thought: "Here they are - ninja turtles!"
Adlet. We realized that breakdance gives freedom for fantasies and thoughts.
At the age of 13 we found out the special edition of the film "You got served" which we loved. We began to study at home since then.
Having moved from Almaty to Taraz, we got acquainted with the B-boys who performed at our sister's wedding. We wanted to train with them, though did not have enough money to study, and so had to learn everything on our own. A year later we met the same guys from the wedding. That time they invited us to their team. Having trained for a half a year, we decided to perform with the team at events and earn money.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Adlet. But the main thing is not money but self-development.
At the age of 16 we went to Almaty for the first annual "Snickers Urbania" breakdance championship, which we lost, but were motivated to learn further and improve.
After returning to Taraz we entered the college but had much free time and could train more.
We moved to Astana seeing great prospects here and were immediately invited to B-life impulse, one of the best teams in Astana. Not sleeping and training all the time, we were developing.
Once our team went to the championship in Karaganda and reached the finals, where we competed with Simple System, one of the best teams in Kazakhstan. The rival team’s members invited us to join them to prepare for the biggest world championship Battle of the Year in France. We agreed.
Three months after passing the selection in Aktau, the team won a ticket to the championship. The showcase we prepared helped us come to be in the world’s top ten. We could not believe it! We were participating in the championship we’d been watching since childhood!
Our next World Cup was in Korea 8 months after where we won the third place out of eight and were thanked for revealing a new country with cool dancers to the world. That was encouraging.
A year later in Korea we took second place.
Such competitions charge us a lot, as we meet the same people as us. You don’t even need to know languages to communicate, because you can bring your thoughts with the language of dance.
Travel makes you emotionally rich. So we loved the journey and made a European tour for 20 euros only.
Daulet. In 2014 we went at our expense to two World Cups on breakdancing held in Yalta and in Slovakia. After the championships were over, we had to go home from Slovakia, the tickets were bought. But we knew that there would be a major championship in 11 days in Holland. We had 20 euros in our pocket and were pondering over the dilemma. Going down from our hostel we met the organizer of the championship who allowed us to participate free of charge. We had to travel there at our own expense which was a perfect motivation to earn.
Dancing in the streets of different cities, we earned money for the journey and met interesting people who helped us. For example, in Prague we met a girl from Kazakhstan who invited us to live with her for a while. In Dresden a girl gave me drum sticks, which we were very useful to beat the rhythm and dance in Berlin, because our speakers were stolen. That was how we got to the championship. That very organizer gave us special bracelets to enter all the events of the championship. We spent three days there and had a great time enjoying the moment.
After the championships we went to our friend’s in Kaliningrad, where we called Kazakhstani friends, who bought us a ticket to Kazakhstan.
DANCE STUDIO
Adlet. Before the departure, we began to build a dance studio for the money accumulated and invested. We were given money to develop a break dance in Astana and teach children free of charge.
By our return from the tour the studio had almost been completed. We opened it in autumn 2014. We assembled the "23 Style" team and won all the selections and championships in Kazakhstan in 2015.
Daulet. In September 2015 we went to the World Cup in Korea and took first place in the Press Choice Awards nomination.
We’re flying to London to represent the country in April.
Adlet. We train about 40 children now.
Daulet. In order to rally the students, we conduct team building events, go to the cinema and the skating rink.
Adlet. We often go to children's homes with the Best for Kids charitable organization. We teach children, communicate with them and try to motivate.
We organize championships, cooperate with the American embassy and invite professional dancers from America to conduct trainings in Kazakhstan. Our goal is to give children the opportunity to see the idol alive that makes them learn quickly.
Last summer we were dancing with the students on the embankment every single day.
Daulet. Our goal was to rock the people. In addition, that was summer! We showed the students that they can dance and make money wherever they want.
We want to popularize breakdance. We wanted other children get inspired and dance.
We’d like to build a large center to teach children dance.
Adlet. January, 17 in 2016 our studio burned down and we were inside during the fire. Nevertheless, we don’t despair and try to see benefits only. For example, now we are freer to communicate with people, because we didn’t use to leave the studio. We’re still alive and new opportunities are constantly opening up!
Daulet and I often discuss how to find our own peculiar style. Now we realize that we do not need to search for a style, because it should come. All our clothes were burnt in the fire, so our friends gave us new clothes. We really like how we look now. We’ve found our style.
THE MAIN IDEA
Adlet. We’re keen on improvisation and want people watching us to enjoy our new movements.
Daulet. We want our style being imitated by the whole world, so that our performance and style were recognized, even if we’re masked.
Adlet. We want to introduce national ornaments in our performance clothes. These days we use kamazhai movements. Each nation has its own peculiarities, as it’s crucial to have something distinctive.
We teach philosophy through dancing. People had better treat everything positively. Dance if you have problems, dance instead of fighting!
Daulet. We are pleased to see our students growing up.
Adlet. We don’t want them to become champions. We want them to be humans.
