Mounir

Other Interests: My family and my crew
Other Profession: Dance only

Motto: Keep it real, believe in yourself and be a good person!

TITLES
- 2004 1st place,
IBE Seven To Smoke, Rotterdam, Holland
- 2005 1st place,
Break On Stage, Bilbao, Spain
- 2006 1st place,
Battle Of The Year, Montpellier, France
- 2006 1st place,
Battle Of The Year International, Germany
- 2006 best Show,
Battle Of The Year International, Germany
- 2007 1st place,
Battle l’Original, Lyon, France
- 2008 Guinness World Record,
Most Windmills in 30 Seconds, Bejing

PROFILE
Monnir Biba aka MOUNIR started breaking in 1998 with some of his friends. In the beginning it was just for fun, but very soon it became the most important part of his life.

MOUNIR is a member of the famous Vagabond Crew, winner of the Battle of the Year in 2006. The 24 year old B-Boy has a very aggressive style. He is an earnest young man and this is reflected in his dance. He dances on a technically high level, has a great way of combining footwork with power moves and is known to be an unusually complete dancer. He also holds the world record “most windmills in 30 seconds,” accomplished in Beijing this year by busting 46 windmills.

MONNIR was originally inspired by B-Boys like Flow Master, Ivan, Storm or crews like Style Elements. Now his biggest inspiration is his own crew.

Apart from breaking, his family and his friends are most important in his life. He reads a lot and likes to learn new things every day. He is also into football and doesn’t miss a single match on TV. He had to stop playing though, because there is a high risk of getting injured and he can’t afford that. His family supports his B-Boy career, although they are constantly making fun of him, telling him that a dart champion makes more money than he does.

MOUNIR teaches a lot of young dancers, but he always points out to them that they shouldn’t see breaking as a profession. He motivates them to go to school and get an education so they can get a good job. MOUNIR himself lives the life of a dancer at the moment, but he knows that it’s important to have other plans for the future as well.

With his crew Vagabonds he dances in battles and shows. “Shows are more difficult because the preparations are very time consuming and take a lot of energy.” Vagabonds has had 3 big shows in the last few years, "Chienne De Vie" in 2000, "Mozart" in 2004, and "Aliens" in 2006. MOUNIR likes to be on stage. “There’s a different audience in a theatre. They come to see a show; they need to feel the emotions. I am more nervous before a show than before a battle. Believe me, if somebody isn't nervous before a show, he has problem!”

Angers, the city MOUNIR lives in, is small. When he started breaking, everything was happening in Paris but in his hometown there were only him and his few dancer friends. None of them had internet yet and so, except for the videos “Freestyle Session 3” and “BOTY 1998”, they didn’t have much inspiration. “It was difficult at that time and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been in the early 80s! We need to respect the early B-Boys and learn from their experiences.”

To MOUNIR a good B-Boy is somebody that has foundation, personality, style, emotion and maturity. “You have to listen to your body and your heart to become a good B-Boy. Each body offers different possibilities and each personality increases these possibilities.”

MOUNIR works hard to be ready for the RED BULL BC ONE. He wants people to remember his name and wants to represent for his crew. He wants to give his best, but he knows the competition is hard. “This is the most important one-on-one battle and it’s a fantastic event. Sixteen of the best B-Boys of the world will be battling. Anyone could win, but the winner will be the best at that particular moment.”