Celebrating 10 years of dance, energy & community!

We’re celebrating a decade of incredible battles, unforgettable moments, and a thriving dance community. Up North Battle 2025 is your chance to be part of the action, whether you’re a skilled competitor or a passionate supporter. From intense 1-on-1 battles to epic showcases, there’s room for everyone, all styles and stories.

This year, we’re going all out to bring you a truly unforgettable experience! So, what are you waiting for? Secure your spot and get ready for a weekend of dance, energy and community. Come for the battle, stay for the memories! Let’s make this anniversary one to remember.

Need a place to stay?

We offer competing dancers accommodation at a local hostel in shared rooms, first come first served! Sign up via the registration.

Battle categories

Open Style Pro – 1 vs 1

Open Style Rookie – 1 vs 1

Showcase Competition – crew

Breaking Rookie – 1 vs 1

Breaking Seven to Smoke

What is Showcase Competition?

Showcase Competition is the perfect opportunity for you and your crew to compete with your own choreography. You choose your own moves with your own choice of music. Minimum 2 crew members, maximum 5 minute long routine. The jury will judge choreography, musicality, technique, composition and overall charisma. Let the best crew win!

How does an Open Style Battle work?

Just like the title says all styles are welcome! You battle with your strongest style/styles but might end up facing someone with a completely different style. The DJ can either play the music that suits you or challenges you. All in all, it is a recipe for a fun and diverse battle where anything could happen!
The Open Style Battle is divided into two categories, ROOKIE and PRO. ROOKIE is a great choice if you are new to the battle scene, it could even be your first time! If you are experienced on the battle floor PRO is the way to go. It’s not possible to compete in both ROOKIE and PRO.

The battle will start with a preselection. Each dancer gets 1 minute to present themselves for the judges. The judges select the best dancers from each category to go on to the next round. The number of dancers who gets picked depends on the number of dancers competing in the preselection. Dancers will then meet 1 vs 1 with 2 solos each in quarter finals, semifinals and finals until we have one winner!

Breaking Rookie 1 vs 1

Calling all up-and-coming breakers! This battle is for all new to the battle scene. Take your chance to shine and bring your own flavor, your own style, and your own story to the floor. It’s not just about pulling off the most impressive power moves (although those definitely help!). The judges? They’re not just looking for technical skill (though that’s important too), they want to see your passion, your creativity, and how you vibe with the music. But here’s the thing: win or lose, this battle is about growth, about pushing yourself to new limits, and sharing the dance floor with a community of dancers who’ve got your back. Preselection will be done with battles.

Breaking Seven to Smoke

Every round is a test of creativity, technique, and endurance, with each dancer trying to outdo the other with their best moves and most explosive energy. It’s all about who can smoke the others out and be the last winner standing.  

Eight breakers are qualified from a preselection to be in the Seven to Smoke (depending on number of competing dancers). They line up and the first two breakers in the line battle for one round each. The winner gets one point and stays to battle the next person from the line, again in one round battle. The loser has to go to the back of the line and wait their turn to battle again. The ultimate way to win a Seven to Smoke is to beat all the other competitors all in one go, gaining seven points without losing a battle. If someone does this the battle is over, and that person is the winner. If someone gains seven points at any time during the battle, regardless of if they’ve lost a round in between, they win.

Registration is now open!

Up North Battle 2025 is part of the Attitudes project

Attitudes is a three-year capacity building and co-creation project in the field of hip hop dance, that will result in six co-productions for stage and alternative spaces, gathering audiences at twenty-five different touring locations in six countries. Attitudes is run by CCNRB (FR), Dansekapellet (DK), HOP Festival (ES), Kampnagel (DE), Norrlandsoperan (SE) and Summer Dance Forever (NL).

attitudeshiphopdance.eu 
Attitudes is a Creative Europe project and co-funded by the European Union