If you weren’t able to attend the 1st Urban Roller Skating Dance Competition on 23rd December at Tottenham Community Centre, then honestly… you missed out on a rich, vibsey, and highly entertaining evening.

But don’t worry — if you couldn’t make it, I’ve got the full inside story right here. So...

We had two action-packed hours of opportunity, creativity [in many different forms], rhythm skating battles, social interactions, and community spirit, all hosted by the one and only Raz of @RollnBoogie. She successfully pulled out all the stops to breathe life into this special occasion — from her hand-made 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies, to hand picking a strong, passionate team of skaters and creatives who went above and beyond to make the evening come together in the best way possible.

After a quick setup of the space — audience seating, judges’ table, lighting and sound — myself  [Skate Base Skatewear], Roll n Boogie, and Sk8 of Minds set up our designated areas to display and sell a top notch selection of roller skate merch. Around us, photographers and videographers were getting organised, cameras fully charged and ready to capture what was set to be a vibrant and memorable evening.

Meanwhile, keen skaters, spectators, and competitors steadily began to fill the room. Some immediately hoped into their skates, others settled into the audience area, soaking it all in. Mics were tested, sound systems set up, and lighting fine-tuned to catch each and every momentus moment.

The event kicked off with a lovely open skate using half of the gymnasium. Skaters needed no encouragement at all to utilise the space, warming up and enjoy the smooth wooden floor. You could feel the undercurrent of excitement, mixed with buoyant anticipation — competitors, organisers and spectators alike preparing for the evening's showcase lineup.

As more of our amazing skating community arrived, the energy in the room continued to peak. Good music, laughter, warm hugs, and light hearted chatter were all in flow. The good vibes were felt.

Soon enough, the moment arrived for the seven judges to take their seats by their scoring boards. Social skaters began to congregate within the competition area, and our two presenters —Hyacinth and Jason— took centre stage.

Each of the seven competitors stepped into the spotlight, delivering 45 seconds of skating dance to their chosen music:

• Wunmi: @wumzumrollz

• Alba: @blckli0n

• Sparky:@sparkyon8

• Tyrell: @tyrellfm

• Missy: @vibewithmissy

• Lance:@thatguyonskates

• Rico: @reeksk8s

I must say, that I really loved seeing Missy show up for the competition — calm, collected and ready to enjoy her moment under the spotlight. Missy represents a huge number of skaters who are not yet adept at the high level pivots, spins and the like, yet are passionate and invested in their journey. They too are looking to immerse themselves into the community, pursuing the richest of experiences over the long term, striving to reach their very best levels as artist in their own right. They in fact make up the majority here in the UK, and so, it was a beaituful moment to bear witness to. Missy reminds us of the reason why we each entered the skating space — this is especially true for us for us Gen X and Boomer skaters.

"Why did I take part in a skate competition knowing I ain't gonna win? Because I'm getting older, I want less regrets. Every year I have more health issues, but trying to do WHAT I CAN DO AND ENJOY IT WHILE I CAN.

Remember, you don't know what you got till it's gone. We only have one life."

~Missy 🩷

Each contestant was ready to be judged across six aspects of performance. Following every skate, the judges offered short critiques before awarding scores out of 10 — all before an wonderfully live audience!

Once each of the contestant had completed their round, scores were tallied while we were treated to a Krump dance performance by GBS Dance Troupe. These three guys were phenomenal. The raw energy and intensity of their performance was the perfect complement to the urban style skating — the entire room was totally locked in.

Next, we enjoyed a short fashion show, featuring selection of women from the community wearing 2 piece hand-made suits — an exquistly bold fusion of African prints and Western streetwear. Stylish, functional, and absolutely wearable for skaters and non-skaters alike [I’m pretty sure I was first in line to put my order in with Raz].

After the fashion show, the judges announced a three-way tie between Wunmi, Lance, and Tyrell. The finalists were ushered back to the floor for one final round of 45-second skating battles, each doing what they could to secure the title.

🎥 Video Breakdown of the Evening:

The judges’ feedback added some great insight into what separated the finalists on the night. Tyrell, who took 3rd place, was praised for his strong creative expression, particularly his impressive use of upper body and arms, he clearly has a refreshing style of his own. One of the jusdges thought the first of his two rounds was stronger. 

Wunmi, coming through with in 2nd place, was commended for his range of technical abilities. That said, one of the judges noted a tendency to rush through his movements at times [which impacted the overall cleanliness of his performance overall].

Lance, our winner, received high praise for his control and high-level technical balance. His footwork — especially when transitioning from high to low level movements — stood out, as did the execution of his inside edge slides and height level changes.

The audience showed all three finalists a huge amount of love and support — cheers, applause, and genuine respect surged through the sports hall. It was a truly beautiful moment. While only one person could win, everyone recognised the courage, preparation, dedication and heart it took for each skater to put themselves forward as a performer. That appreciation was felt.

All in all, it was a heart-warming, and thoroughly entertaining evening, spent with many of our favourite people. The bar has officially been set — and if this is to be the standard, next year’s event is pretty much guaranteed to be something special.

If you’d like to contact Raz about the event or her fashion pieces, you can reach her at:
📧 [email protected]

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to @jigsysk8s for taking time out to come along and take photographs of the evenings events [including all the images in this post].

➡️ Part 1:Introducing London's First Urban Roller Skating Dance Competition

Until next time — keep up with your creative flow. Who knows where it may take you.