BREAKING BOUNDARIES THROUGH MOVEMENT

Be it on the dance floor or in life, Khenobu moves to the beat of his own drum

- STUART DANKER

IN THE WORLD OF HOROLOGY, the movement is the heart of a timepiece. In Faridh Yasin's life as a breakdancer, movement is a product of his heart. And just as a watch's movement is dictated by beats, so too are Faridh's moves on the dance floor governed by the beats of music.

Faridh, who also goes by the name of Khenobu, is on set, breaking out a few moves between each photo. According to him, these micro dances are the artist's equivalent of a quick sketch, or the composer's humming of a tune.

"I'm very passionate about dance," he says. "So even in these tiny pockets of time, I try and find new moves. Some of these moves even make it into my choreography."

If those words paint Khenobu as a passionate gogetter, that's because he is. The renowned breakdancer, who's currently one of the top 90 in the world, has always paved his own path in the world of power moves and acrobatics.

That's how he got his start in this sport: by watching a breakdance compilation. He didn't sign up for dancing classes, nor did he watch any tutorials. All he had was that video, the pause button, and the iron will to replicate those moves.

Armed just with those rudimentary tools, Khenobu would go on to amass an impressive dance repertoire at the tender age of 15. He would later learn that the video he imitated was of the best breakdancers in the world.

It's no surprise, then, that Khenobu has become who he is today. Because if he's tenacious enough to mimic international-level performers through sight alone, then there's very little that he can't do.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, Khenobu would continue creating a name for himself, purely through the act of dance alone. One of his first competition wins involved beating his brother and hiding the winnings from his family because he didn't want to let them know.