OURO Collective kicks off its inaugural biennial OUROFEST this weekend, May 25–28, 2024 at venues around downtown.

Celebrating 10 years of the eclectic OURO Collective, the four-day festival will feature dance battles and performances by local, national, and youth artists at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Robson Square, and Q7 Studios. Workshops will also be available for those interested in learning more about different street dance styles.
“A decade ago, five individual artists from diverse cultural and dance backgrounds came together with a vision to create community through collaboration,” says co-founding member and managing director Cristina Bucci. “Over the years, OURO Collective has pushed the boundaries of how street dance-based works are created and presented. In celebration of our 10-year anniversary, we’re bringing street dance to everyone in Vancouver — and providing an accessible platform for the next generation to continue building the community.”
May 25 is dedicated to artists going head-to-head in dance battles at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
From 1-3pm: Youth Open Style Battle featuring 30 competitors (12–17 years old) battling one-on-one with music by Hervé “DJ ICE-B.”
From 3-6pm: Adult Open Style Battle features 30 teams (18+ years old) in two-on-two battles DJ’ed by Miguel “Friar Funk” Vasquez.
Kosi “Kosi” Eze, Momoko “Momo” Shimada, Marie-Reine “M Queen” Kabasha will serve as battle judges. Winners will receive cash prizes and items sponsored by streetwear retailer PLUS and Vancouver Street Dance Festival. Spectators are encouraged to book advanced tickets.
May 26 brings performances to Robson Square featuring Vancouver-based artists Diamonds in the Rough and OURO Collective (featuring Ash “Complex” Cornette, Cristina Bucci, Eric Cheung, Ganna Martynova, Kinui Oiwa, and Rina Pellerin), Montreal-based artist M Queen, and Surrey-based youth street dance artist Tegvaran “Teg” Sooch.
To conclude the festival, workshops at Q7 Studios offer insightful introductions to different styles of street dance.
May 27, M Queen will teach waacking and Kosi will teach hip hop.
May 28, Kosi will return for a workshop on musicality and members of OURO will share their collective’s philosophy as they speak about the “OURO approach.” Workshop tickets are $25, advance registration is required at show.ourocollective.com/workshops.
Visit show.ourocollective.com/ourofest to learn more about OUROFEST.