Japanese-Canadian breakdancer Konatsu Yamasa has been crowned the new Canadian Red Bull b-girl champion! The Toronto resident competed against other elite b-girls from across the country in three-round sets in last week’s Red Bull BC One Canada National Final in Montreal.
The fact that she even participated in the breaking competition was somewhat of a miracle. In a recent Instagram post, the dancer admitted that the year started off rough, and that she was even about to stop competing after her brother passed away. But her friends encouraged her to keep going and push through the tough times.
“My brother made me realized dancing shouldn’t stress me out. Dance should only bring me joy. Now I know that ‘My brother is always in me.’ Thank you so much for all your support,” she stated in her post.
Konatsu, who hails from Okayama, Japan, moved to Canada in 2016 with hopes of becoming a professional breakdancer and learning more about Toronto-style “threads” from the SuperNaturalz break crew (“threads” in breaking is refers to using your legs to thread a needle). Since her move to the city, she’s joined SuperNaturalz, married her coach B-Boy Onton, started her own all-girl break crew and even scored a sponsorship with Nike Toronto!
As she’s been training for more than a decade, the Red Bull win is the culmination of all her hard work.
“That’s the key, like, just having fun, no stress,” she told CityNews in a recent interview.
Next up, Konatsu is heading back to Japan for the Red Bull BC One World Final this November, where she’ll battle it out against some of the world’s most elite breakdancers! You can follow her journey on Instagram.
