Soul Beat @ Hip-Hop Fest

UB undergraduate students and Soul Beat members, Masanobu Shimahara and Katsuaki Ikeda, gave an outstanding performance at the 7th Annual San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest on November 17 and 19. As the first ever dance festival devoted to hip hop, the DanceFest featured a variety of styles, including basic hip hop, free style, house, popping, locking, and breaking. Running for over six years, the event gathered an audience of over 20,000, and over 50 hip hop groups made their appearance
Soul Beat’s president, Shimahara and member, Ikeda were invited by Soul Beat’s founder, Kenichi Ebina. After graduating from UB in 2000, Ebina has led a career as a professional dancer and has formed his own dance team, known as Bi-Trip. Together with Bi-Trip, the Soul Beat members practiced for one grueling month before their performance in San Francisco, where they were reported to have received the greatest applause. Of the teams that performed, several professional hip hop dancers commented that among all the teams, Soul Beat gave the best performance in the showcase. Meeting and taking pictures with the professionals in their field, these Soul Beat dancers had the time of their lives. Their performance and recognition demonstrates the quality of talent University of Bridgeport’s Soul Beat can offer. Founded in 1996, Soul Beat is well known throughout the campus, giving excellent performances at on-campus events for nearly a decade. If you haven’t checked them out yet, come and see their skills at the upcoming International Festival 2006.
For those interested in joining Soul Beat or who just want to find out more about their performances, you can contact their president, Masanobu Shimahara by email at mshimaha@bridgeport.edu.