THE 4th anniversary celebration of City of Dreams Manila’s DreamPlay, the only DreamWorks-inspired interactive play space in the world, is in full swing with the staging of the annual King Julien Dance Off competition.

Now on its fourth year, the competition is opening its doors to dance groups composed of children ages seven to 14 years old. Following a preliminary screening, the top eight groups will vie for the King Julien Dance Off Champion title on the Grand Final stage on June 29, 2 p.m., at City of Dreams Manila’s Grand Ballroom.

The preliminary round will be held on June 15, wherein contestants are required to perform a dance routine to any English song that should not exceed four minutes. Eight finalists will be chosen to compete at the Grand Finals, showcasing their creative routines with any English song or a mash up of songs from DreamWorks Animation movies, such as Trolls, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, Puss in Boots, and Madagascar.

The grand champion will receive P120,000 cash and a DreamPlay trophy. The first runner up will get P30,000 cash and a DreamPlay Plaque; while the second runner up will be given P20,000 cash and a DreamPlay Plaque. Each of the finalists will be given P5,000 and a certificate.

Interested parties may visit DreamPlay or send an e-mail request to dreamplay@cod-manila.com for a copy of the entry form. The deadline for accomplished entries, which must include a group photo, is June 14, 10 p.m.

Since it was launched in 2016, DreamPlay’s King Julien Dance Off has served as a platform in discovering talented children from around the country, and as a springboard for them to perform in local and international stages.

Past grand winners include: Junior FMD Extreme (2016 Grand Champion), an all-boys group of former street children; Higher Level Kids (2017 Grand Champion), an all-boys group from Cavite; and GFAM (2018 Grand Champion), which went on to win in other dance competitions including First Place in the World Supremacy Battle Ground (Young Guns Division) in 2018, and a back-to-back championship title in the Inter School Dance Sports Competition (National Capital Region 2017 to 2018).

DreamPlay by DreamWorks at City of Dreams Manila is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday to Sunday, and on holidays