In search of Europe's best dancers

MANILA, Philippines - The passion of the same team that brought Streetdance 3D in 2010 due to its success with a staggering 11M-pound earnings at the UK box-office, made them 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. And 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 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, as well as 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 perfect 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 Max and their dance consultant spent a whole year traveling to all of the international dance events..

The filmmakers are aware that their audience is a little older now. It made the film “a little bit more adult losing its stillness 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 give glamour to the whole film. Worldwide excitement over StreetDance 2 has grown more 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.