DANCER HARUNA HABUMUGISHA has won a ticket to represent Rwanda at the forthcoming regional Rotation Dance Exchange (RED), a break dance competition that will take place in Tanzania, in August.
The 24-year-old, who has been living with a physical disability since he was seven years of age, booked the ticket after he was crowned champion of the Rotation Dance Exchange (RDE), Breaking competition, Rwandan chapter held last weekend at Peponi Living Spaces in Gacuriro.
The Rotation Dance Exchange is an initiative by the Young Creative Leaders working towards making Breaking’s status a recognized sport throughout African countries.
Despite being the lone contestant with disability, Habumugisha overcame tough competition from other seven contestants in a breaking competition which closed the Young Creative Leaders Covid-safe bubble retreat.
24-year-old Haruna Habumugisha with his certificate as winner of the competition
"It gives me strength to prove to people that I can do what they don’t think I can do. The fact that I have disability does not mean that I can’t beat others in a competition as long as I am doing what I can do best,” Habumugisha told The New Times on Monday.
Rwanda's innovative government and the work of Kigali Breaking Cypher also inspired this unique collaboration.
Habumugisha, also known as Bboy Haruna, dances for Kubasha Dance Crew, a team of 12 dancers with disabilities.
During the event, Habumugisha overcame mental warfare brought to him by his competitors. Staying composed and confident earned him his title, becoming an ambassador and an inspiration for young people with disabilities, advocating to reduce the stigma surrounding disabled people through performances and workshops with the Kubasha Dance Crew.
The champ Habumugisha will be representing Rwanda in the RDE World Finale later this year, an achievement which boosted his confidence that disability does not mean inability in a world of Breaking which opened new movement potential for him to explore creatively until he was crowned the champion of Rwanda.
The Rotation Dance Exchange competition was produced in partnership with Kigali Breaking Cypher, a local development vehicle which produces platforms for the development of the hip-hop dance industry.
This unique global collaboration extends from Breaking being announced as a sport in the Paris 2024 Olympic, a step towards advocating government support in formalising a national Break Dance team.
In August, Habumugisha will be competing against his East African opponents and book a ticket to participate in the RDE contest on the global stage, in the United Kingdom.
He is also among members of Kubasha Dance Crew who were invited in Sweden to show the potential of people with disabilities through dancing in a conference slated in September.