Japanese team takes home the gold in double-dutch tournament at Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater became a double-dutch showplace Sunday for the National Double Dutch League’s 20th Annual Holiday Classic.
Dozens of double- dutch teams from far-flung locales like Paris, France and Tokyo competed against home-grown talent at the Harlem theater for the title of “Best in Show.”
In the end, the team “Black Pierrot,” of Kawasaki City, Japan, took home the gold. Their hip-hop-inflected routine of double dutch, dance and gymnastics wowed the packed crowd.
During their number, the crew, dressed head to toe in black, break-danced while jumping double dutch. One of the group then somersaulted in and then out of the whirring ropes.
“We’re very, very, happy,” Koji Funabashi, 21, said as he clutched his team’s trophy. “We enjoyed the stage. Our dreams came true. It’s unbelievable.”
Double dutch is an urban street sport where two people swing two ropes in a crisscross motion while someone jumps between the ropes.
Lauren Walker, whose father, David A. Walker, founded the National Double Dutch League, said her dad started the organization in the 1970s while he was an NYPD beat cop after he saw a group of girls jumping double dutch on the street.
“He envisioned this sport to one day be an international success,” Walker told the audience.
The event was sponsored in part by the New York Daily News.
Local team Stan’s Pepper Steppers, from Far Rockaway, Queens, won first place in speed for doubles after two team members jumped 400 times in two minutes.
“I feel accomplished, because we had no practice,” Laa’ Neisha Jones, 19, said. “We only had a week or two.”
Their secret?
“We pay attention to ourselves, and do what we have to do,” Jones said.