Dance
10 things you need to know about StalaMuerte
StalaMuerte is a hip-hop dancer from Switzerland who performs with his French battle brother, Diablo. Get to know him and find out about the legacy he wants to leave right here.
In half a decade, Swiss hip-hop dancer StalaMuerte has stomped his way to the top of the scene with formidable force. His razor-sharp footwork alongside Parisian battle brother Diablo, next-level agility, and creativity have seen him lock down multiple championship titles as well as tear apart the notorious duo Les Twins in 2019's pulse-racing quarter-final at Juste Debout.
More than that, the moment at Juste Debout also marked the happiest day in his life and sadly one of the last with his mother. Pouring his emotions into his dance, StalaMuerte has continued on an unstoppable trajectory since.
Stalamuerte elevates the scene in Switzerland
© Little Shao
When he's not at work training and inspiring the next generation of Swiss dancers, he and Diablo are busy cooking up some of their most ferocious footwork yet and their next big project together – a one-hour show to be unveiled in 2021.
Despite being grounded for most of 2020, he's dreaming of the days when he can perform with like-minded dancers who hype the culture in countries like Japan. And the dancer is quick to boast that the news of a glossy co-sign and becoming a firm fixture on the Red Bull team feels like a world of dope opportunities are on the way.
StalaMuerte might have started breaking as a kid, and have a list of impressive accomplishments under his belt, but you can trust that he's only just begun to experiment with how far his craft will go. On the verge of global stardom now, this is a dancer who's future you can't afford to miss.
In case you haven't seen StalaMuerte dance, check out the hip-hop final of Juste Debout below.
14 min
Hip-Hop Final
Diablo & Stalamuerte face off against Niako & Icee to win the street dance championship. Feel the emotion that’s expressed by all the dancers in the Juste Debout 2018 Hip-Hop Final.
1. Hip-hop runs in his blood
The first style I learnt was breaking, and I was maybe seven or eight years old. I started to dance because of my big brother. Not only moves, but he showed me VHS tapes about dancing, and introduced me to the culture of hip-hop. My older brother doesn't dance anymore, but he's still heavily involved in creating hip-hop beats. My little brother dances now too. He does the same style as me and is a DJ as well. So I guess it runs in the family.
2. He has a multiple style flex
After breaking, next up it was smurfing. If you don't know, smurfing is a style of dance that's all about how you wave with your body. After that, I did a bit of Krump too and then after hip-hop freestyle about 11 years ago. Many people have asked a lot if I have a contemporary background and said like "damn you have grace" when I dance. I've never studied that so for me it's funny to hear. I'm inspired by moves, I ignore the genre. When I see something I like, I just work it in.
Stalamuerte is inspired by moves, not by the genre
© Little Shao
3. He was rising from the block to centre stage
The first time I performed was when I was like 14 years old. I was dancing in the street with my friend just for fun when someone saw us and was like "Oh I have a street show in the city!" He invited me with my friend to perform on his block, and when we did the show, people went crazy about us!
I didn't really feel like I was getting "famous" or "known" for my dance until I started to travel with it. I gave my first workshop outside my country in Italy, and I had like 100 students turn up!
The funny thing was, I taught my workshop, and at the end, people started coming up to take pictures with me. For me, it was all new, and I didn't know what the hell was happening. So when one of the kids came up to me, I was like "Why do you want to take my picture? I'm not a superstar?" I thought he was crazy! The other dancers had to explain to me that it's normal.
4. Paris breakers and hip-hop freestyles pushed him to overcome his biggest obstacle
My first big challenge was that I cared too much about what other people thought about my dance. I didn't get over this until I went to Paris. No one there paid attention to what other dancers thought about them. They were all strong, and they were all good – and because of that; I didn't have time to doubt myself. If I wasn't sure of myself in a battle, I'd be dead. So after this, I was good. I trusted in my vision, and I didn't give a damn what people think about my dance.
5. Two became one when he met his battle brother for life
I knew Diablo for a long time, like more than 10 years and he knew me, but it wasn't like he was my friend or something like that, we just said "What's up, you good?" when we were on the dance scene. It was only four years ago that Diablo and I started dancing together.
Diablo was doing battles a lot less, and I saw that there was one coming up in Germany. I texted him and was like "Bro. It's been a long time since I saw you dancing in a battle and stuff like that. I want to dance with you bruv, so if you're ready, let's go!" He didn't like dancing with other people, but with me, he said it was cool because we both have the "feeling" for it, you know? So we went to Germany to see what we could do together and barely practiced.
We lost in the semi-finals but people we're going crazy like "Dang! You guys have to do Juste Debout!" Since that battle we were both like "OK bro, from today, we're together now until we die."
Diablo (l) and Stalamuerte (r)
© Little Shao
6. He locked down numerous battles, but winning Juste Debout 2019 changed everything
The moment in my dance that I'm the proudest of is seeing the smile of my mother when I finally won Juste Debout. Diablo and I had competed in the final two times before, so for us, it was like the third time will be our last time. "If we win it's good, if not it doesn't matter, that's life, and this is the final time that we'll try." But my mom was really like "OK my son, I feel like the third time is the good one. So just win that one for me!" When I called her she was so happy! This was the best moment of my life. When my mom died a year ago, it was a few months after Juste Debout, but when she saw the video, she was smiling so much.
7. Dance is his therapy
Dance is my only way of expression. When I dance, it's the only time I can let my feelings out. It's my therapy. All of my emotions, I put in my dance.
Even when it comes to practice, I go with the feeling. For me practice is every day. It's not only about dance. It's also about what you see each day and how you live your life, all this stuff can inspire you and influence your style.
Diablo and I work this way too. Today it's easy for us to create footwork together because we know each other like brothers, on a deep level like that. For the last Juste Debout and the battle against Les Twins, we created that routine in his kitchen in like 30 minutes. Everything else is coming from the feeling, you get me?
Dance is Stalamuerte's therapy
© Little Shao
8. He's putting Switzerland on the map and levels up the Swiss scene
The dance scene in Switzerland is growing up. Our OG's did some good things, but I tell you, the new generation, my generation and the next generation after...it's going to be crazy, I'm sure! We have really good quality and a good level.
I feel like I've helped to push that, definitely. Since I won Juste Debout in 2019, it was a big motivation for the new-gen to really push themselves. All the top dancers coming up in Switzerland come from my city, I taught a lot of them, and I still am.
I rep music from my guys from my city as well all the time. My friend has a rap group, and so when I travel around the world, I play their music for all my judge demos and classes. Check it out.
9. He want's to leave a legacy
Becoming a Red Bull dancer was another step towards that. I was so excited when I found out (and I think Diablo was probably more hyped and happy for me), but in a way, it felt like a long time coming. In my country, nobody does the same thing as me, and nobody has reached the same accomplishments as me – so to know they've seen that and picked me up – it was dope. When you wait for your time and just do your stuff, it happens.
When I stop dancing... like when I'm gone, and I'm not here in the world I would like to leave a legacy. I'd like to leave a mark with my dance and my vision – especially in my country.
So one of the next challenges is a creation from me and Diablo which is going to be a one hour show just him and me. Things got messed around this year, so we're still choreographing and working on it. Hopefully, we can show it next year! Stay tuned.
10. His advice for the new gen is all in the head
It is all in the head
© Little Shao
Be strong in the head. Be strong with your mindset. Trust yourself. If you want to become someone in this game, you have to be ready in your head. For me, the battle is 60 percent the mind and 40 percent technique. Once you like yourself and know yourself, keep going, and that's it.
