B Style Squad Breakdancing workshops

Bobak Champion is the leader of a series of breakdancing workshops.  These will be held every Thursday in August at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm.  You can drop in, no need to book, and have fun and learn some new skills. Then in September there will be weekly dance sessions at F51. Bobak has recently moved to the area, and has been looking for venues to run his dance workshops.  Folkelife spoke to him about how he’s made friends in the area.

“I moved down from Yorkshire and was missing my groups of dancers.  I started to think how I could start up my sessions again and you can do the usual things in village halls, and public rooms you can book, but I didn’t want to do that.  Then, I found out about F51 and thought, what if I take down my stereo and some friends and just start dancing? Let’s see what happens?  And with the power of social media and people just seeing what we were doing, we had an incredible reaction. 

“People were coming up to me and asking if I knew about the Harbour Arm, and how my dancing would go down really well there. So, I got in touch with them, and with F51 and started up a conversation.  It’s amazing the power of dance and what it can do.”

harbour arm workshops

“So over the summer of 2026 we’re going to be running a series of workshops that you can drop in to on a Thursday at the Harbour Arm.  11am, 12.30pm and 2pm, every Thursday in August, we’ll be at the Harbour and dancing away.  Anyone can join in, it’s a lot of fun, and we’ll be learning some different moves to use to the music.  

“If you enjoy yourself, then we’re starting up classes in September at F51.  They have an event space we’ll be using and classes will be on every Saturday for ages from 5 upwards.”

kudos to the harbour arm

“As I said, I’m new to the town, and so I take what the parents and students say seriously.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, has been saying that the Harbour Arm is the place to be.  And my sort of dance is very street, it comes from social settings, it’s not the same as ballet. It’s from a more underground, informal setting, but this profile shows hip hop as an artform. 

“We can be all too easily shoved in a back area and not shown off in such a public space as F51 and the Harbour Arm. But these guys see it for what it is, it’s a big commitment in terms of creativity and athleticism.  It’s nice to have a platform to show what we can do.”

discovering folkestone

“It’s funny, I grew up in Bristol, which is the home of drum and bass and Trip Hop.  I moved from there to Leeds and then made the move down here.  I’m not that fussed about London, so I’m quite happy about being here by the sea.  The thing that does excite me is the vibe that Folkestone has. 

“People have got a bit more time for each other in Folkestone, and there’s a lot of support for independent businesses which you don’t get in the big towns. Being near the sea is such a novelty for me.  I’m really looking forward to growing and meeting a new group of people who love doing what I do, which is dance.”