Saturday, November 7, 2009

New Kaba Modern Legacy website and performance

Kaba Modern Legacy just launched their new website kmlegacy.com. The site will provide news about the America's Best Dance Crew group and the rest of their troupe, a blog, events, and press coverage. To celebrate, they gave a brand new performance on November 6:

Video: ABDC4 'Sudden Death Battle' practice for Vogue Evolution, Massive Monkees, Afroborike

On the first episode of America's Best Dance Crew Season 4, the bottom 3 crews had to dance in a short 'sudden death' battle. All nine crews had to prepare for this sudden death challenge and rehearse it. Dashaunevisu's Youtube Channel (Dashaun from Vogue Evolution) has a tape of the rehearsal for Vogue Evolution, Massive Monkees, and Afroborike. Thanks for the link, Itz Kyle!

Mailbox: Mario Lopez, Beat Ya Feet Kings, Round One

  • Congratulations to Beat Ya Feet Kings who signed a contract to perform at home games for NBA'S Washington Wizards. Thanks for the tip, abdc!
  • Beat Ya Feet Kings also appeared at the 2009 Go Go Awards. Watch it here (warning - bad sound quality)
  • Mario Lopez will host the Miss America Pageant again on January 30, 2010. The event takes place in Las Vegas.
  • Round One (a crew that had some great auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 3 and Season 4, and recently performed on 106th and Park) opened for Young Steff

Friday, November 6, 2009

Congratulations Layla Kayleigh on your baby girl!

Layla Kayleigh (America's Best Dance Crew hostess/mama bear) and her boyfriend, Steve Covino, welcomed their daughter Melody Rain Covino into the world on November 2, 2009. Her tweet on November 4 reads: "On cloud nine. cherishing, savoring, taking in every single moment." Congratulations!!

Beat Freaks Behind-the-scenes Video at Beat Freaks World

The next best thing to hanging out with Beat Freaks: this video called "Welcome to Beat Freaks World" from BeatFreaksTV. Thanks Ravoo!

Ringmasters, Rhythm City, and Status Quo to perform at Autumn Fest 09

America's Best Dance Crew alums Status Quo, Rhythm City, and Ringmasters will all perform at Autumn Fest 09 in Kingston, Rhode Island on November 20, along with Fabolous and Jadakiss. Click here for more information and here for tickets.

Videos: We are Heroes on 11/5 Ellen Show - both onstage & behind the scenes

Here are two videos from We Are Heroes appearance on the Ellen Degeneres show on November 5. First: the televised appearance, starting at 4:10:

And, We are Heroes backstage and behind the scenes. Thanks abdc!

Performances & Workshops, Week of 11/6: Quest, Fanny Pak, Kaba Modern, BYFK

-11/6: Kaba Modern Legacy Website release party in Hollywood, CA featuring a never-seen before performance
-11/7-8: Matt Cady (Fanny Pak) workshops in Indianapolis and Carmel, IN
-11/7: Quest performing with Far East Movement in Los Angeles
Quest's Ryan Feng is teaching 3 workshops in the NY area this weekend:
  • 11/6: Boogiezone in Roselle Park, New Jersey;
  • 11/7: at Epic Motion Studio in New York City -To pre-register, please e-mail your name and phone number to epic.m.dance@gmail.com. SPACE IS LIMITED SO REGISTER EARLY.
  • 11/8: Fr3sh's studio Arts in Motion in Matawan, NJ. Here's a sample of what you can expect from Ryan's workshops:



Thursday, November 5, 2009

Report: We are Heroes on Ellen Show

On the November 5 Ellen show, America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 champs We are Heroes (minus Mami) danced to "Sex Machine". The crews wore coordinated workout jackets and kicks, performed flips and some basic choreo, and danced in the audience (getting confused looks from some audience members!). We'll post a video if it becomes available. If you saw the show -- what did you think?

Video: Beat Freaks on the Really Awards Red Carpet

Beat Freaks won the Best Live Performance Award at the Fox Reality Network Really Awards. Here's the group on the red carpet giving thanks where thanks are due.

Exclusive Video: Shane Sparks Workshop, with moves he isn't allowed to choreograph for TV!

Shane Sparks taught a workshop at Hip Hop International this past summer, showing some steps that really represent how he thinks of dance. It starts with some dancers doing the full routine, then breaks down each step, in case you want to learn the moves. Shane asked me NOT to put it on Youtube, but allowed me to post it (with limited copying rights) elsewhere.

Shane also told me that many of the moves are considered too racy for So You Think You Can Dance. However, I think that Afroborike's performances during America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 make this look like a church social!


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

We are Heroes on Ellen Show Thursday November 5

ABDC4 winners We are Heroes will appear on the Ellen Degeneres show tomorrow, November 5. Their appearance will be similar to the one by Quest's Hok and Dtrix earlier this week -- dancing but no interview. Check your local listings for time and channel. And, we'll post a report and video when we can!

Video - Dtrix rapping

We've seen Quest members play guitar, sing, and perform martial arts. Today's non-dance Quest stunt: Dominic rapping. So, is the world ready for a Quest show where dance is a small part of the performance? Thanks for the link, Adobostreak!

Rocko Luciano interview - Boxcuttuhz, Neverland, L0st Kids & choreo

I spoke to Rocko Luciano after he taught a workshop at Fr3sh's dance studio, Arts in Motion. He talks about the world debut of his new crew Neverland at Elements X in Boston on November 14 , his involvement in Boxcuttuhz, his choreography style, and whether L0st Kids or Neverland will audition for America's Best Dance Crew Season 5.

Video: Inside the Box takes first place at Maxt Out 2009

Inside the Box won the major choreo competition at Maxt Out 2009. They auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 and will probably audition for Season 5.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Video:Dtrix & Hok on Ellen Degeneres Show

Here's the performance by Quest members Dtrix and Hok on the November 3 Ellen Degeneres Show. Thanks, Ravoo!

Dtrix and Hok on Ellen Show today

I just learned that Dtrix and Hok from Quest crew will open today's Ellen Show. Check your local listing. Thanks for the tip, Snoop Doggystyle.

Report -- just watched it in NY. After 5 minutes where 2 women try to win large-screen TVs by rolling around in sumo wrestler suits, the boys came out from the top of the audience, danced a little with some audience members, did some bboy tricks (how does Dtrix do headspins without a hat and without his hair going flat?) and left. Too bad Justin Bieber is going to get twice the amount of time and got 10 times the amount of publicity for his appearance. If there is a video of this appearance, I'll post it.

Question: What would be an ABDC Dream Team?

Now that auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 5 begin in less than a month, some new crews might be forming. So, here's a thought experiment: if you could form a new crew with people who already performed on ABDC, who would you use? Your new crew has to have 5-7 members and cannot just be an existing crew (e.g., don't just add Boxcuttuhz/Quest member Lydia Paek back to Quest). They have to bring something different enough to overcome the haters who 'have already seen it,' so consider adding underappreciated members of crews that weren't top 4. Extra credit for an appropriate and catchy crew name!

ABDC4 Video flashback: new behind the scenes footage at Finale Week

Southern Movement created a Youtube channel called SoMo TV. Their first entry is this behind the scenes view of all the crews rehearsing, hanging out, and talking before and after the taping of the America's Best Dance Crew 4 finale. They also conducted onstage interviews after the finale, and show the craziness of all the crews, media, and ABDC personalities crowding the stage to talk. So if you miss Southern Movement, Vogue Evolution, Afroborike, Fr3sh, Artistry in Motion, We are Heroes, Randy Jackson, etc., this one's for you.

Video: Royal Flush performance in Atlanta

Royal Flush crew received some attention for their audition for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 and there's speculation that they're planning to audition again. Here's some recent work, some freestyling, and a performance in Atlanta at a benefit for breast cancer research. Video courtesy of TheJoygar's Youtube Channel.

Monday, November 2, 2009

TV Dance Video of the Week: Globetrotters on The Amazing Race

Say what you will about So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing with the Stars. To my mind, the kickass dance clip of the week comes from The Amazing Race that aired on November 2. Flight Time and Big Easy --the Harlem Globetrotters team -- choose a detour where they learn Dutch dancing and eat some herring. I just hope this doesn't inspire any America's Best Dance Crew Season 5 challenges! Watch here, starting at 1:13.

Quest x Snoop Dogg x Far East Movement in Malice N Wonderland video

Far East Movement describes their surreal experience working with Snoop Dogg and Quest Crew to shoot a video for a song on Snoop's latest album 'Malice N Wonderland." It was filmed on the set where some of the 'Saw' movies were shot. "The theme for the video was like the movie Sin City with some crazy cameos from Soulja Boy Tellem, Xzibit, Jamie Foxx and a grip of of west coast artists. Our scene was going to be a crazy dance battle in an alley where Quest Crew goes crazy battling each other."

Speaking of Far East Movement: don't forget to audition to dance with them on their tour (Quest will be there on the LA stop) and buy tickets for the event. Details here.

Video: Hollywood Bash with Kaba Modern

From lalalalatechno's Youtube Channel: Performances by Kaba Modern and violinist Jason Yang at a Halloween show in Los Angeles.

Reader Halloween - JabbaWockeeZ

Halloween memory: reader Stephen as a JabbaWockeeZ. Nice costume!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Music Video of the day: "Businessman"

No dancing here and it's not new, but I want to share this anyway as a post-Halloween mood piece. And no, that is definitely not me in the video.

Video: Super Cr3w's Ronnie on the Bboy circle and his first cypher battle

To publicize Redbull BC One on November 18, Redbull released 4 short videos on the four elements of hip hop. They have an original approach to keep it fresh -- relating each element to a concept: Bboy as circle, graffiti as line, deejaying as spiral, and MCing as voice. Super Cr3w's Ronnie talks about the bboy circle. Thanks for the tip, Supercr3w.com!

More on Elements X - workshop schedule

As reported earlier, Elements X will be THE East Coast destination for people who want to see good live dancing by America's Best Dance Crew alums and hopefuls, including Fr3sh, SoReal Cru, and the World premiere performance by Neverland (a L0st Kids adjunct crew. They have also announced dance workshops on Sunday November 15 and Monday Novmber 16 to be taught by Fr3sh members (Adrian Causing, Leslie Hubila), Boxcuttuhz (Lando Wilkins, Rocko Luciano -who is also with Neverland), SoReal Cru (Brian Puspos, Andrew Baterina), and L0st Kids/Neverland (Kyle Hanagami). Click here for details and tickets.