A-Ko

Other Interests: Music, Literature, Chess
Profession: Choreographer, writer and journalist

Motto: “Real Recognize Real”

Titles
2007 2nd place Battle Jam, Brighton , 2 on 2, UK Flave Squad
2006 1st place Fresh Jive 06, Leeds, Bonnie & Clyde, Def Dogz 2006 2nd place Atlantic Cup, Royan, B-Girl 7 to Smoke
2006 1st place We B-Girlz Battle, Art Parade, NYC, Assup Crew
2006 1st place Burn the Floor, Montréal, Redmask Crew
2006 1st place Gravity Rock, Montréal, Assup Crew
2006 2nd place Under Pressure 2006, Montréal, Redmask Crew
2005 1st place Beat Kontrol Challenge, Lyon, Def Dogz Crew
2005 1st place Battle de Toulon, B-Girl 1 on 1
2005 1st place 360 BPM Fire, Fontenay, B-Girl 7 to Smoke
2005 1st place Urban Session 2005, Pau, Phase T
2005 1st place Battle Of The Year France, We B-Girlz Battle
2005 2nd place Training Session, Bordeaux, Pass' Contest 1 on 1
2005 1st place Battle de Royan, La Smala
2004 2nd place Battle de St-Denis, B-Girl 1 on 1
2004 1st place Euro Pro-AM 2004, Bonnie&Clyde
2004 1st place IBE 2004, Rotterdam, B-Girl 1 on 1
2004 1st place Pro-DAM, Dammarie-les-Lys, B-Girl 1on 1
2004 2nd place The Future is Now, Norwich, power move 1 on 1
2004 2nd place Battle de Malmö Suède, Phase T
2004 2nd place Battle de Riom, Phase T, locking 1 on 1
2004 1st place Call Out Monteal, Tactical Family
2004 1st place Break-n-Enter Toronto, Assup Crew
2004 2nd place Training Session Bordeaux, La Smala
2003 1st place Battle For Ground Zero Ljubljana, Phase T
2003 2nd place Euro Pro-AM, Toulouse, B-Girl 1 on 1
2003 1st place Call Out, Montreal, locking 2on 2
2003 1st place Eccentric Cypher, Montreal, 2on 2
2003 2nd place Training Session, Bordeaux, Bonnie & Clyde
2002 1st place Battle de St-Denis, B-Girl 1 on 1
2002 2nd place B-Boy Challenge 2, Colombes, Bonnie&Clyde

Profile
Anne Nguyen aka B-Girl A-KO is one of the 5 judges for the RED BULL BC ONE in South Africa. A-KO is a world renowned B-Girl with great battle and stage experience. After studying science, she chose to dedicate herself to dance. She started dancing in 1998, learning a bit of everything and then started B-Boying in 2000.

Born in 1978 in Paris, A-KO has been a member of the crew RedMask (Montreal) since 2001. She has been part of the crew Phase T (Chelles) from 2003 to 2005, and now dances with Def Dogz-Créteil Style (Paris) since 2005. She has won many important battles world wide, such as We B*Girlz 2006, BOTY France 2005, Euro Pro-AM 2004, and IBE 2004. She has also been a judge in many important competitions.

A-KO is a successful stage performer and choreographer. She has danced for Hip Hop companies such as Black Blanc Beur and Rêvolution, and modern dance companies such as Faustin Linyekula and Salia Nï Seydou.

Founder of the dance company par Terre (2005), she has choreographed for herself a 30 minute breaking solo, “Square Root” (Trans’Urbaines 2007, Hip-Hop Tanz 2006 and 2007, Breakin’ Convention 07, Rencontres Chorégraphiques de Carthage 2007, Cap Danse 2007, 100 Dessus Dessous 2005). In “Square Root” Anne Nguyen explores her relationship with her cultural roots and the urban universe that has surrounded her since birth—a landscape of concrete cubes and right angles. Born to a Vietnamese father and a Franco-Spanish mother, she feels like the embodiment of the East that has bet on the West. She has never been to Vietnam and doesn’t know if she will ever go. She tries to find her roots inside the dance.

A-KO has also choreographed the Locking piece “Keep it Funky! Live” for the 6 Lockers of Les Virtuoses de l’Instant (Trans’Urbaines 2007, BOTY France 2007, Streetstar 2007). She is currently working on a new piece for six dancers (including herself) and one actress, called Spirit of the Underground.

A-KO is in charge of the breaking section of Graff it! Magazine, called On the Floor, where she writes reports on dance. Her Manual of the City Warrior, a collection of poems on breaking and Hip Hop, has also been published in Graff It! Magazine since 2004, and is designed to be published as a book.

A-KO appears in Benson Lee’s recently released movie “Planet B-Boy,” and will be featured in Nadja Harek’s next documentary, “Du Cercle à la Scène” (“From the Circle to the Stage”). Keira Maameri is currently working on a documentary on her, called “Anne N.”

A-KO received her B-Girl name from a member of her crew RedMask. A-KO, like the echo, refers to gunshot echo in Jamaica. Whenever there was gunshot in a neighbourhood, word is spread that "there was echo." Her friend said that she should take the name, because whenever she danced somewhere, word spread just like that. The name to her has a lot of meanings, the most important being that the music comes first, and the dance is its echo.

When A-KO judges a battle, the most important thing for her is the dance—you have to feel the music! Second, it’s breaking—you’ve got to have breaking skills, not popping skills or capoeira skills. Third, she looks at personality and creativity. Fourth, the battle tactics—Anne says it is important to provoke or answer to your opponent in an intelligent manner and not just execute moves randomly.

A-KO loves 1 on 1 battles, as a dancer, a judge or just watching. “In a 1 on 1 battle, there’s no one to back you up, you’ve got to be all-round, able to answer anything and you’ve got to be extremely focused. The energy level is high, like in a boxing match. I’m happy that the RED BULL BC ONE manages to bring that feeling to the public, on a very high international level.”