Kenneth ‘Klockwise’ Martinez showed that it’s his time to carry the Philippine flag in the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Finals.
In a showcase of Philippines’ best street dancers, Kenneth “Klockwise” Martinez was the last man standing after an electrifying clash of styles at the Kilometer Zero – Luneta Park in Manila last Saturday.
Klockwise won the Red Bull Dance Your Style National Finals with his mastery of the “locking” funk dance mixed with a theatrical flair, which booked his ticket to the World Finals this November in Mumbai, India.
The Valenzuela native defeated 15 other finalists, which included defending champion and krumping star Dhztine “J-XYB” Bernardo.
In a short media scrum, we had an opportunity to discover more about Klockwise’s acquired love for dancing, and his “unexpected” path to showcasing Filipino excellence on the international stage.
From one art form to another
“Dati, hindi ako dancer.”
These were Klockwise’s opening words when asked about his path to dancing. The 25-year-old recalled growing up with a talent for drawing, and it wasn’t until elementary school that a friend invited him to a small dance competition.
“Elementary kami. Sumali kami, ginagaya pa namin ‘yung isang team noon,” he narrated. “Then after noon, nahinto…tapos biglang nagkaroon ng competition noong high school kami, tinry namin sumali ng kakambal ko…and [gumawa kami ng] grupo. ‘Yun, tinry lang namin and may ginagaya kami na team.”
“And after noon, parang nagkaroon kami ng spark na tara, i-try naman natin sa outside ng competition,” added the Valenzuela native.
With his passion realized, Klockwise joined a dance crew that won barangay-level dance competitions, while also participating in solo contests. At the same time, he became an instructor usually hired for school and corporate functions.
Eventually, Klockwise discovered his own preference for “locking”. Despite learning the various styles as an instructor, it was the funk dancing style that resonated the most with him.
“I feel my heart was happy every time doing that style kasi parang, nagagamay ng katawan ko, parang okay siya gawin…Hindi siya gano’n ka lousy tingnan…kaya parang I was happy habang ginagawa siya. Also, pag nakakarinig ako ng music, I was doing locking,” he said.
“Ginamit ko ‘yung pandemic para mag-train kung ano ‘yung style [locking] na ginagawa [ko ngayon] kasi wala akong magawa noon. Then after noon [pandemic], nagbunga siya, nakikita ko yung progress ko kaya tinuloy-tuloy ko talaga siya.”
Unexpected path
Winning was the least of Klockwise’s concerns when he joined the Dance Your Style auditions last July in Quezon City. As he puts it, he only participated “Para lang sumayaw talaga”.
“I was not expecting na makapasok ako sa line-up and then napasok ako, so tuloy-tuloy siya. Chinoose ako ni ‘Mommy’ Lems [Lema Diaz] that time because ‘Mommy’ Lems was choosing battlers dahil sobrang dami namin, hundreds kami,” he said, referring to Philippine All-Stars pioneer and Dance Your Style consultant Lema Diaz.
Klockwise found himself advancing to the Manila qualifiers, which pitted him against Luzon’s other top dancers. Armed with passion and mastery over his style, the Valenzuela product won the qualifiers to enter the National Finals.
Making the finals itself was already huge for Klockwise, who only wanted to showcase his craft on a grander stage. Whether he finished first or last among the country’s top 16 dancers was not on his mind as the competition unfolded in Luneta.
But after three rounds, Klockwise found himself competing in the finals, having earned the favor of the Kilometer Zero crowd – who doubled as judges – after each performance.
In the intense finale, the Valenzuela native outlasted Sam “Nemesis” Rivera, a Cebuana krumping prodigy who upset defending champ Bernardo en route to the finals.
“Talagang hindi ko nai-expect ito eh. Kahit makapag-rounds lang ako sabi ko. Kahit anong top, kahit anong level ako, basta makapagsayaw,” he admitted. “Sobrang sarap na nung nirepresent ko ‘yung city namin which is Valenzuela, and then ‘yung mga kagrupo ko, mga kaibigan ko…girlfriend ko,” he said.
“Sa lahat na sumuporta, nirepresent ko sila, kaya sobrang dadalhin ko buong [Philippine] dance community sa world finals.”
‘This was history’
Klockwise’s victory is made sweeter by having the Rizal Monument as a symbolic backdrop for his performances. Being a public and accessible space, a sizable crowd also showed up to witness the national finals at the heart of Manila.
“Syempre this was history kasi Luneta ‘to eh, center ng Pilipinas, ng Manila. Sobrang sarap sumayaw, sa harap ng monumento ni Rizal…kitang kita kung nasan tayo, kung anong bansa meron tayo, which is the Philippines,” he said.
As the Philippines’ representative, Kenneth “Klockwise” Martinez will have a month to prepare for November’s World Finals. Before anything else, he’ll be spending some time enjoying his well-deserved victory.
“Namnamin ko muna kung ano ‘yung binigay sa akin na opportunity ngayon. And then, after nun, gagawa ako ng hakbang para makapaghanda sa World Finals.”
Banner image courtesy of Christopher Sy / Red Bull Content Pool.