Come Dance w/ Swiffz

It is the dream of many of us to make it big, have international superstardom and be featured above the fold of a leading publication or newspaper!  Unfortunately for many, it remains a dream, but for others who turn dreams into action; it becomes a reality.

Many Bahamians have definitely been making a name for themselves both nationally and internationally whether on the music scene, in the modeling world or track and field. But now, is the Bahamas ready for its next top Dance crew?

Making a name for themselves is exactly what the members of Bahamian hip hop dance group Swiffz plans to do when they compete this year in Las Vegas at an international dance competition. The competition will be a three day electrifying event beginning from July 27- 30 where they will face off against thirty different countries worldwide.

Elife 242 had the pleasure of sitting down with the 7 talented young men who range in age from 17-23 to discuss all their recent success.

Co-founder and group leader of Swiffz 23 year old Shai is no stranger to the dance community. He began dancing from the age of 5 and later moved to New York where his dance career hit an international high. After dancing for years and being rejected at many auditions, Shai’s hard work finally paid off.  Shai appeared professionally in music videos as a backup dancer for celebrity R&B icons Omarion and Usher. “I was around 14 when I did the Usher video for The way you make me and I also did the video for the song Yeah, back in I think 2006”.

Shai added that after coming back home and witnessing the “mad talent” here in The Bahamas in terms of dance is what prompted him to start his own crew.

“Our mission is to change the way the average Bahamian look at dance, and pave the way for up and coming dance crews.”

Although Swiffz has only been together for two years, they’ve known each other for quite some time because the group consists of long time friends and close relatives.

This “brotherhood” as they like to refer to themselves has had, and still do have it’s up and downs. “Nobody’s perfect”, group members Legend and Pe’Pe expressed, “Success don’t come easy, you have to work toward whatever your goal is, and do whatever you have to do to be successful.

They shared, that as a group, they are continuously faced with many challenges. Among them being the lack of sponsors and not enough finances.

But despite these obstacles, “Swiffz is gonna be around for a long time”, group leader Shai expressed. He added that what gets them through the hard times is their passion for dancing.”We motivate each other because we hungry for dance,” he smiles.

In the past two and a half years Swiffz has been together they took The Bahamas by storm dancing and putting on shows for an array of different events. From the Best of the Streets to Father Baker Competition, to Mad Talent Show, and of course the Bahamas Top Dance Crew where they rose to the top of the pack in 2008 and 2009. Swiffz also made appearances in music videos for rising Bahamian artists NCity and Golden Child.

The sky is the limit for these talented young men as they prepare to represent the Bahamas in Las Vegas this summer. This is the ultimate accomplishment for the group because they will be the first and only dance group hailing from the Caribbean.

‘Dancing is a technique we use to convert negative energy into a positive’ the group concludes, “No matter how small your bait is, you can still catch a big fish.”