MTV2 Running an ABDC Marathon

To get fans psyched for Season 3, MTV 2 is running a marathon of America's Best Dance Crew episodes starting tomorrow at 8am. So get up early or set the DVR!

Season 3 Crew: Dynamic Edition

One way America's Best Dance Crew is working to keep the show fresh is to incorporate dance styles other than traditional bboying and hiphop. They made an unconventional but interesting choice with Dynamic Edition.

The crew's specialty: clogging. Dynamic Edition hails from Springfield, Alabama. The crew is the seven time national clogging team champion and part of a larger group called Dynamic Dance. Crew member Brandon Norris was one of the top 100 auditioners for So You Think You can Dance Season 3, was profiled in on Episode 3 and made it to into the Las Vegas round before being cut. He also performed in the show finale.

Contact information: MySpace, their website

About the videos: I don't know yet if these are the same Dynamic Edition members who will appear on ABDC. And, I suspect they will add much more hip hop choreography into the mix for ABDC. Here's a video from Katlin4U of the Dynamic Edition YA Team in 2008:

Click here to watch videos of Dynamic Edition performances in 2006 and 2007.

Randy Jackson Interview on the new season: "Three: Unbelievable!"

Our friends at Pacific Rim Video Press talked to Randy Jackson about Season 3. My favorite quote: "You're going to be like Oh My God I didn't know it could go another notch and there it is. What?!"

Watch Episode 1 of St. Maarten's Dance Crew

Can't wait for America's Best Dance Crew Season 3? Morebacchanal.com is posting St. Maarten's Dance Crew. Here's more info on the show.
Click here for the first episode.

The Groovaloos on Superstars of Dance -, featuring JabbaWockeez, Super Cr3w, Beat Freaks members

Readers pointed out yesterday that several America's Best Dance Crew members from all three seasons (JabbaWockeeZ, Super Cr3w, and Beat Freaks) were part of the Groovaloos crew. Other Groovaloos members (but none of the ABDC performers) danced on Superstars of Dance on January 5, 2009. The performance received the highest group score for the semi-final round of the show.

To watch the video legally, click here, select Episode 102 (watch one ad) and then immediately select Channel 11 from the menu at the lower left screen (watch another ad) then you're in the Groovaloos segment. Otherwise, you'll watch even more ads.
Click here for older Groovaloo videos.

Season 3 Crew: Fly Khicks

The Fly Khicks are a 6-woman crew from Miami. They met when they were all selected to for the Miami Heat Dance Team, which has beenvoted the most popular NBA Dance team for the last several years. Members include: Wendy (Real), Tracy (Mama), Teena (Trendy), Karelix (Sassy), Gina (Mini) and Michelle (Cheena).

Contact them at myspace.com/flykhicks or on Facebook.

Okay, a word on the videos -- I don't know if Fly Khicks' choreography will look anything like the performances of the Miami Heat Dancers, but I wanted to show something of their skills. Obviously the Miami Heat Dance Team is not typical hiphop and the squad is working the sex angle. But try to look beyond the obvious and watch the athleticism of the dancers. I think they successfully get past the 'just a cheerleader' criticism leveled at SassX7 during Season 2. And, I'm curious to see what this group -- away from the Heat -- brings on their own.

From Miamiheatis, here's the full dance team in action last year:


And here's heatdiva's video of Fly Khick Traci dancing with the founder of Live in Color (ABDC Season 1).

Season 3 Crew - Quick Descriptions

MTV Remote Control summarizes each crew's style and adds a 1-phrase description to help you tell them apart:

• Beat Freaks - BGirl, Hip-Hop Choreography, Locking, Popping;"Finally -- the ladies will school the boys -- and be an inspiration for girls everywhere"
• Boxcuttuhz - hip-hop choreography; "underdogs in dance and life:
• Dynamic Edition - clogging; "The backwoods country cloggers in need of a big city makeover"
• Fly Khicks - jazz funk; "The former Miami Heat dancers with a mission
• G.O.P. Dance - BBoy, hip hop choreography, salsa; "the boys from the streets of Puerto Rico"
• Quest - Bboy; "the artsy (and hilarious) bboys from LA"
  
• Ringmasters (who they're calling Main Eventt): Flexing; "the contortionists and freak show"
• The Strikers - Steppers; "the intelligent university step crew from Florida"
• Team Millennia - hip hop choreography; "combining hip hop with rock and roll"

JabbaWockeeZ Kid Rainen to fill in for JC Chasez on ABDC Season 3 Premiere

This just in from MTV Remote Control: JabbaWockeeZ member Rynan Paguio (aka Kid Rainen) will be a guest judge on Episode 1 of America's Best Dance Crew Season 3. For an unnamed reason, JC Chasez will be absent, but Kid Rainen has been chosen to fill the chair. Yet another reason to look forward to Thursday January 15.

JabbaWockeeZ Kid Rainen inducted into Full Force Crew

Full Force Crew (a pioneering B-boy group that includes Ronnie Boy, Rockadile and Do Knock from Super Cr3w) celebrated their 14th anniversary in Las Vegas this week and inducted their newest member -- Kid Rainen from JabbaWockeeZ. Here's the action, from RawVegas.

JabbaWockeeZ, TM, Boxcuttuhz, Quest Mix & Match -- Plus, Name YOUR ALLSTAR ABDC Crew

Over on the MTV.com discussion thread for ABDC, Adobostreak points out that the West Coast teams' membership have overlapped when they are not competing on America's Best Dance Crew. When not competing on ABDC, here are some interlocking memberships (UPDATED using reader comments):

• Lydia (Boxcuttuhz) also dances for Quest and used to dance with TM Juniors
• Jun (Team Millennia) also dances for Boxcutters (the larger crew that spawned Boxcuttuhz)
• Lando (Boxcuttuhz) has subbed for JabbaWockeeZ crew members
• D Trix (Quest) subbed for Kid Rainen (JabbbaWockeeZ)
• As seen in a video I'll post later today, Kid Rainen has just been inducted into Full Force Crew, which sourced several Super Cr3w members
• The Groovalos (who competed on Superstars of Dance) include Kid Rainen (JabbaWockeez), Do Knock (Super Cr3w), and 5 Beat Freaks. I'll upload a video of them soon.
  

Good detective work. And it raises a question for you die-hard fans: what individual crew members from ABDCs past and future would YOU include in a 6-member ALL STAR crew?

Season 3 Crew: Team Millennia (aka TM)

Many America's Best Dance Crew fans were upset when Team Millenia got cut in the ABDC Season 2 Audition Special. MTV received thousands of petitions to get Team Millenia back on the show. Well, they're back.

The group's mission: “Developing leaders through the expressive art of dance by keeping community youth involved and inspired. One goal… one family… infinite possibilities…" They won the Vibe Dance Competition in 2001, 2007, and 2008.

For more TM info: go to their Facebook or MySpace page, or check out tmdance.org.
And visit their official fansite on MySpace

Here's the video of the 2007 Vibe performance, from namerhymeswitmom:
.

Click here to watch more TM performances including the ABDC Season 2 Audition special, the 2008 Vibe, and Body Rock 2008.

Give Ringmasters a Chance!!

I haven't had time yet to put together the Ringmasters (aka Main Event) profile. In the meantime, I want to address the amount of hating comments I've seen about the crew. I personally watched and taped them during the NY auditions. Yes, the video shows some imprecise moves. What you don't see in it is:

• The crew redid their performance for the judges, and the second time was much better. Unfortunately, I didn't film both. As a clarification -- MANY of the crews that we watched audition did their routines twice (sometimes more) if the judges requested that they do so. This was NOT unusual or unfair treatment, but judges' desire to see the performance again.
  
• They also did some free-style and it was WILD. I've never seen some of the moves before
  
• They were quite charming in their pre-audition interview, showing both intensity and humor

So, give Ringmasters a chance. See what they bring next week. THEN decide!

Season 3 "Official" Announcement -- Names are different but the crews are the same

Karate Crimson posted a video of an official-looking notice from MTV. The info on it checks out. It's also posted on Hiphopinternational.com, which is associated with Howard Schwartz, co-creator of ABDC. Notice that it says that there's a crew called Ringmasters from Brooklyn, NY. This IS the same crew as Main Event, based on my Youtube and MySpace research. So, here are the official names and spellings of the crews:

• Beat Freaks - Los Angeles, CA
  
• Boxcuttuhz - San Diego, CA
  
• Dynamic Edition - Springville, AL
  
• Fly Khicks - Miami, FL
• G.O.P. Dance - San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Quest - Los Angeles, CA
• Ringmasters - Brooklyn, NY
• Strikers - Tallahassee, FL
• Team Millennia - Fullerton, CA

We'll continue posting information about these crews over the next few days. Thanks for the tips, Jewel and Kris!.

Season 3 Crew: The Strikers

Representing the South for America's Best Dance Crew Season 3: The Strikers. The group is a subset of the FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechancial University) Strikers from Tallahassee Florida.

From their MySpace page: " THE STRIKERS have toured all across the United States...The Strikers have incessantly displayed their eclectic style of dancing on every major television network, to include: ABC, NBC, CBS, Turner South, and has had winning performances on MTV, BET’s 106th & Park, and Showtime at the Apollo on numerous occasions. THE STRIKERS are also the ONLY collegiate dance company to appear and perform at the International Association of Black in Dance (IABD) Conference and at the 2006 Grammy awards, 5 of the 16 performers with Jamie Foxx & Kanye West were STRIKERS."

Though there are no available videos of their ABDC Season 3 audition, loads of videos are out there showing the full group. First -- here they are on 106th and Park, battling Main Eventt (who also made it to ABDC Season 3 and are now called Ringmasters). The Strikers are the crew in military uniforms.



Click here for more Striker videos.

MTV This Weekend: Super Cr3w Hosts Broadcasts of "Planet B-Boy" and "Inside the Circle"

MTV is premiering two B-boy documentaries this weekend. On Sunday January 11, Super Cr3w will act as hosts for the airing of "Planet B-boy" and "Inside the Circle". UPDATE as of Saturday Jan.10: TV Guide and the MTV site list different times for the shows. I'll note both, but you might want to check your local listings to see which one is right.

"Inside the Circle" is a documentary about two friends who become breakdancing rivals. Read about it here. TV Guide says that it will air 0n January 11, it will air at 9am ET/PT (8am CT), and 7pm ET/PT (6pm CT). It will also air on Wednesday January 14. MTV lists the times as 11AM ET/PT and 6pm ET/PT. Here's the trailer for "Inside the Circle":


"Planet Bboy" is a documentary that follows five crews (including Knucklehead Zoo, which has members from Super Cr3w) preparing for and participating in an international breakdancing competition. Read more about it here. TV Guide lists the air times on January 11 as 11am ET/PT (10am CT), then at midnight ET/PT (11pm CT), as well as on January 14. MTV lists the times as Jan. 11 9AM ET/PT and Jan. 12 at 2am ET/PT. Here's the "Planet B-Boy" trailer:

Season 3 Crew: Boxcuttuhz (Boxcutters)

America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 will include Boxcuttuhz, a crew that our field reporters loved during the LA auditions. I'm a little confused on the name -- the MTV ad said Boxcutters, but the crew changed their name for the show. Doesn't matter -- they're wonderful whatever the spelling.

About the crew: Boxcuttuhz, from Southern California

• Name Background: They are geeky underdogs, cutting open the box that they've been forced into and showing the world their talents.
• Members: Lando (25), Aris (24), Rocko (22), Diamond (21) Jesse (23), Lydia (18) and Brian (20)
• Dance style: Hood, Funk, Jazz Funk
• Why are they auditioning: they feel they are underdogs, so they have no limitations
• Favorite crews from ABDC past seasons, JabbaWockeeZ, Fanny Pak, Kaba Modern
• What they'd do with $100,000: travel, give it their families, and invest.

Here's the audition:


Here's their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/boxcuttuhz

And, here's a performance video of the full Boxcutters crew (from landizeesgbm's Youtube channel) taken at Body Rock 2008. Thanks for the tip, diznenigma.

Season 3 Crew: Beat Freaks (updated with another video)

Beat Freaks is an all-girl crew from California. The original crew has 8 members: Al'Star, Lady Jules, Lockn'Key, Maryss from Paris, Out There, Rino, Teresa Espinosa, Shorty

Their MySpace page: myspace.com/beat_freaks

Their Fansite Myspace pages:
myspace.com/beatfreaksdevotees
myspace.com/beatfreaksfanpage

Here's two of their videos from TheBeatFreaks Channel.

Beat Freaks Reel

This or That

UPDATE: Jeff alerted me about this video from Carnival 06, filmed by lovablehugableguy. Watch from 4:00 for a great example of Beat Freaks in action. Thanks for the tip, Jeff!

SEASON 3 CREWS ANNOUNCED IN MTV AD TODAY

I just saw the ad on MTV announcing the crews. Based on this information, we will be watching America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 featuring:

• Beat Freakz
• Boxcutters (also spelled Boxcuttuhz)
  
• Dynamic Edition
  
• Fly Chicks
  
• GOP
• Main Event
• Quest
• TM (akaTeam Millenia)
  
• The Strikers
  

Starting tomorrow, I'll post information about the crews -- any videos I can find, interviews, contact info, etc. If you have info about the crews, please email me (BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com) and I'll incorporate it and give you credit.

Woohoo!

Win the Dance4Life CD!

In November, Blogging America's Best Dance Crew's readers participated in an international contest to get people to watch the Dance4Life video, to publicize the worldwide charity event. We didn't win the grand prize, but did well enough to receive the Dance4Life CD, which features tracks from Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Judge Jules, George Acosta, Filo and Peri, and many more. Here's a description . You can only buy the CD in Europe, BUT you can win it here!

As promised, I'll send it to one of our readers as thanks for helping with the contest. To enter the drawing: leave a comment here (or email bloggingbestdancecrew@gmail.com). Make sure you include your email address in the proper field in the comments (not in the comment itself); we won't share or use the emails for any other purposes. Next week, I'll pick one of the commenters/emailers, email them back, and send off the CD. Good luck!
UPDATE on Jan. 13: I randomly chose Karen Chu as the winner from the comments. Karen -- email me (bloggingbestdancecrew@gmail.com) your address. And, to the rest of you -- new contests start tomorrow!

Kaba Modern News - Jia to dance with Britney Spears

We learned from ApeXessence's blog that Jia Huang of Kaba Modern was selected to be one of Britney Spear's new dancers. Congratulations!

Photocredit: MTV

New Fanny Pak performance -- Single Ladies

Fanny Pak danced to Beyonce's Single Ladies at their Hawaii appearance. This is almost as good as the Saturday Night Live parody with Justin Timberlake. Here's the video from Mrmoyut:

Supreme Soul Second Generation Auditions

Here's some information to audition for a Supreme Soul second generation crew called Side Styles. Let us know about it if you attend.

BBoy battling: Supreme Soul vs. Headhunters

On December 21 in San Francisco, there was a Break 4 Tots charity event. Here's a highlight from the Headhunters Crew Youtube Channel: a battle between Dereleek (who was a member of Supreme Soul but didn't appear on America's Best Dance Crew) and NastyRay (a member of Headhunters, a crew that auditioned for Season 3). In addition, there's a battle between Cobi (Legendary Steps) and Adriaddict (Headhunters).

Tribute Video - Kaba Modern's 16th Anniversary

From Smeebol -- a look back at Kaba Modern and Kaba Modern Legacy over the years.

United State of Pop 2008 Mashup

This is not strictly hip hop or dancing, but it's still wonderful. From DJ Earworm: a mashup of the top 25 hits of 2008.