The Philliest Diss Dance Battle+Noize Freak Party

Dance Battle and Jam featuring Live Music

April 13th 5:00-9:00pm 
at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut
Battle Registration Opens Monday, April 7th

spectator & party tickets $20

battle registration now opeN

​Registration instructions
Please purchase the option that you want. Then, please complete the  registration form, indicating the categories that you are competing in. 
Philliest Diss 1 Category Registration 
Philliest Diss 2 Category Registration 
Philliest Diss 3 Category Registration ​

Complete Registration Form Here

Battle Registration Prices
Registration Opens April 7th (Limited Spots Available)
First Category $25 
Each Additional Category $5


Battle Registration Opens on April 7th (limited spots available; first to register get the spots)

$300 in prizes contributed by an anonymous donor to Say Yes Philly!

Say Yes Philly in  partnership with Urban Movement Arts and Philly Music Factory presents the second annual Philliest Diss Dance Battle and Noize Freak Party. Noize Freak is a live music and dance party started in 2022. Last year the Noize Freak concept evolved into a dance battle. The Philliest Diss pays homage to Philly’s street dance battle culture while also acknowledging the city's prominent history of street dance theater and experimentation. Philly has always been a street dance city that pushes the form beyond norms, particularly when reflecting street dance theater  luminaries of the 90s and early 2000s (RHPM, ODT, illStyle, Chosen, Montazh, Zenone and more). The Philleist Diss both acknowledges tradition while reaching for new forms of expression. 

The most fundamental element or experimentation is setting the dance battle to a live band that is completely committed to spontaneous improvisation instead of a DJ.  This is the event's exploration of the relationship between Black Improvised Music and Black Vernacular Dance traditions. The dance battles are not centered on a hierarchy of dance forms or styles, but rather dancers’ abilities to adapt and spontaneously improvise in authentic and impactful ways alongside the musicians. The event welcomes oscillation between familiar and the unknown, often on a tightrope. 

There are three categories for competition: Traditional One on One bracketed competition, Unidentified Dance Phenomena (UDP) Showcase & Cosmic Slop 3000 Showcase.

And when competition is not going down, we invite local music improvisers to come play for the party. 

Philliest Diss Band 
Steve Perry @stperrydiddle
Lee Clarke @leeclarkeonline
Paul Giess @pgtpt
Rodrigo Pichardo  @rodditorium
Tim Ragsdale  @timonbass_
Kingsley Ibeneche  @kingsleyibeneche


General Criteria and Competition Category Descriptions 

General Criteria
All dancers are judged on the quality and complexity of  rhythm, tone, intention, control, character, expression and narrative in relation to music.

Traditional One on One Brackets ($100 prize 1st place; $50 prize 2nd Place)
There are a maximum of 32 spots available. One on One brackets focus on the general criteria for judging. Judges will look for the most authentic, potent and compelling relationship with the band’s spontaneous improvisation. The band will explore a wide range of styles and concepts across each round. However, in each individual round the band will play the same palate and motifs to both competitors.

Unidentified Dance Phenomena ($75 prize to the winner)
The musicians are encouraged to avoid stylistic motifs via unconventional time signatures, harmony and soundscapes. Accordingly, dancers are encouraged to break molds, pursuing hybridization or completely unidentifiable modes of expression. Responsiveness and relationship to the music are key.

This competition is a showcase model. Each dancer will be given a unique spontaneous composition to dance to. 

There are only 8 spots available for this category. 

Cosmic Slop 3000 ($75 prize to the winner)
This category is inspired by the innovations of Parliament Funkadelic, celebrating the group's surrealist and futuristic blend of genre and challenging norms in music, fashion and artistic philosophy. This dance showcase category welcomes animators, elementalists, characters, robots, distortionists and any other technique of surrealism to compete. The band will spontaneously compose otherworldly music to inspire dancers to shapeshift into otherworldly beings. The general criteria applies while including evaluation of the most impactful transformation. 

This competition is a showcase model. Each dancer will be given a unique spontaneous composition to dance to. 

There are only 8 spots available for this category.