A more adult Streetdance

MANILA, Philippines - The passion for the same team which brought Streetdance 3D in 2010 due to its success with the 11 million-pound earnings at the UK box-office made it come up with something bigger, better and bolder — Streetdance 2. 

Streetdance 2 tells the story of Ash (Falk Hentschel) who sets off to gather the best dancers in Europe, so together they can beat the world’s best crew in the upcoming street dance world competition. Accompanied by his newfound friend, Eddie (George Sampson), the task takes them from London to Rome, Ibiza to Berlin, and Amsterdam to Paris. While discovering the magic and power of street dance and Latin combined, Ash falls in love with Eva (Sofia Boutella), a beautiful salsa dancer as they prepare for the ultimate global dance-off.

Leading man Falk Hentschel (Arrested Development, Knight and Day) was chosen for the lead part because, as co-director Max Giwa puts it, “He had the complete package. He has a Latin background, which is something that’s very hard to find — a dancer who does hip-hop and a bit of Latin and can act.” After testing him out with Sofia, Max says, “the chemistry they had together was just electric.”   

 George reprises his role as Eddie from the original StreetDance 3D. Director Max says, “The audience can identify with him, and with his character. So, they’ll like to see where he goes and what he gets up to.” 

Sofia, an Algerian-born dancer known as the “Nile Girl” of Nike Women, has gone to world tours with Madonna who taught her to start every day with a workout. Her role as Eva is a perfect timing as she has been doing acting lessons in L.A. for a couple of years and it challenged her own ideas in dance.

Putting together the dance crew, the filmmaker- producer James Richardson, director Dania Pasquini and co-director Max Giwa and their dance consultant spent a whole year traveling to all of the international dance events. Max says, “We didn’t want to go for commercial dancers. We went for those who specialized in their own styles so we had the best poppers, B-boys, etc.” They had to learn and take choreography from renowned choreogaphers Richard and Anthony Taluega, known as Rich and Tone, who had worked with no less than Michael Jackson. Latin choreography was taught by Mykel Fonts, winner of Best Choreography and Best Dancer of Salsa at the 2006 Salsa Congress with Shama Burgess, who has participated in World Youth Latin and Ballroom Championships.

The filmmakers are aware that their audience is a little older now, they made the film “a little bit more adult without losing its silliness and fun.” The beautiful locations of The Seine and The Eiffel Tower in Paris; the Coliseum and the fountains in Rome; the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and more give glamour to the film. Worldwide excitement over Streetdance 2 has grown more intense since its London premiere, where dancers, led by Maykel Fonts, performed the victorious fusion of hip-hop and Latin. Its video footage already reached more than 51,000 hits on YouTube. 

The sequel to the global smash hit Streetdance 2 in 3D and 2D opens May 23 from Viva International Pictures.