Thursday, June 16, 2011

Does ABDC betray and harm street dance?

A recent post on MrWiggles condemns America's Best Dance Crew as the "compromise of real Ghetto art forms to fit the small TV screen...There is something about the show ABDC that sits bad in the raw street dance community... ABDC is supposed to be based on the original BBoy/BGirl crew concept, as well as Street Battles between crews. The problem is, most of these crews are not crews at all, but "Dance Teams" and allstar teams."

He explains that ABDC does not feature real battles, that it is based more on choreography and tricks than free-style groove, and that the judges are unqualified and have not earned respect. Finally, he states: "What bothers me the most about these TV shows is that, Street Style Dance went from the desire to gain Street Credibility.. [and] Love of Music and Rhythm, To the now Hollywood Dreams, and Fantasy of being a star without properly learning your craft. Kids are spending more time seeking agents than they are learning their dance style."

What do you think? Does ABDC diminish and endanger street dance by corrupting the street art? Or, can it build an audience for street dance by serving as an imperfect introduction? Thanks for the link, BSG.