ABDC6 audition Spotlight NY Pt. 1: 8 Count, Boston Tap Co,Da Emperorz, D Code, Hipnotic Phlava, ICONic Boyz/Girlz

Who will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 6?  We don't know! But we DO know names for most of the crews that did well during their auditions.  We will soon run a contest to let you 'cast' which of the crews you think should make it to ABDC6 Top 10.  To help you choose and give these crews some exposure, we'll spotlight each of them and show any recent performance videos we can find. 

Today: 6 crews that made it to callbacks during the New York auditions. Tomorrow: Part 2 of 4  on crews who auditioned for ABDC6 in New York and made it to callbacks

 -- 8 Count from Massachusetts (not the group from Canada!) auditioned for earlier seasons of ABDC. They've been together since 2007 and competed at Elements XI, Prelude New England, and World of Dance Chicago (where they won Best Theme). Follow them on Facebook and 8countdance1 Youtube

--Boston Tap Company fits their name -- Boston, tap, and part of a larger dance group of both junior and senior members. Follow them on Facebook and Bostontapcompany.org. I'm not sure who they fielded for the ABDC auditions, but here's their signature piece:

   
-- Da Emperorz come from East Orange, New Jersey and also auditioned for ABDC Season 5. Click here to see some of their earlier work. Follow them on Facebook and EmpzTV Youtube. Though most of their videos show battles, here's a group performance from October 2010:

Click here for information and video on D Code, Hipnotic Phlava, ICONic Boyz, and ICONic Girlz.

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 7 - Hip Hop Decathlon Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

Now we come to the penultimate episode of the season: the final showdown of the Top Three as they fight and claw their way to the Top Two. Like season one, they will be given an extended master mix of songs and a list of challenges to do with each song.  Unlike Season One. the mixes will all be different.  Once that part of the battle is done, they will once again come up with an original mix and routine to try to woo our precious, precious hot pants, I mean votes away from us. Click here to watch the episode, then read the Rewatch review here. Tomorrow's review: The Season 3 live finale!

Video: Jasmine's "All These Boys" with Quest members and I.aM.Me's Pacman as backup dancers

Jasmine just released a music video for "All These Boys" that features some outstanding back-up dancers including Phillip Chbeeb (Pacman -- member of I.aM.mE) and members of Quest. Thanks for the link, Austin!

ABDC6 auditions Spotlight on Houston Pt. 2: MAD Skillz, Second 2 None, STAK'D, TRAFFIKJam, U4Ria, Wreckless

Who will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 6?  We don't know! But we DO know names for most of the crews that did well during their auditions.  We will soon run a contest to let you 'cast' which of the crews you think should make it to ABDC6 Top 10.  To help you choose and give these crews some exposure, we'll spotlight each of them and show any recent performance videos we can find. 

Today: 6 crews that excelled during the Houston auditions. Note: our information on Chicago and Houston is sketchier than what we know about New York and Los Angeles auditioning crews. PLEASE leave a comment if you have more video, photos, or information on these groups. Tomorrow: Part 1 of 4  on crews who auditioned for ABDC6 in New York and made it to callbacks

•  MAD Skillz are part of a large group from Birmingham, AL. MAD stands for Music and Dance. You can learn more about them on MySpace.  This 2008 video is the best I could find that shows the kinds of moves the group might show on ABDC

• Second 2 None comes from San Antonio, TX (and should not be confused with a California group with the same name). The members use a variety of styles and pride themselves on having 'no leaders.' They competed at World of Dance Dallas in 2010. You can follow them on MySpace and S2Ntv Youtube Channel.

• STAK'D hails from Austin, TX. Click here to watch an exclusive interview with the crew at the auditions. Follow them on Facebook and  STAKDTV Youtube 

Click here for information and videos on U4ria, Wreckless, and TRAFFIKJam.

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 6 - Battle of the Sexes Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

Today, we move on to what I thought was one of the weirdest challenges that ABDC has ever done:  The Battle of the Sexes showdown.  The reason I say this is there was really no feeling of a guys vs. girl vibe.  Instead, this episode is mainly a renamed video star challenge with an extra challenge thrown in to mix things up.  Will this episode be a good precursor of things to come in the top three or will it fall short? Click here to watch the episode, then read the Rewatch Review. Tomorrow's Challenge: The Hip Hop Decathlon.

Listen to District 78's Master Mix of "Massive Attack" used for NY ABDC6 callbacks

District 78 will continue to create the master mixes for America's Best Dance Crew, and provided separate mixes for each of the four ABDC6 auditions. Click here for  their mix of "Massive Attack" by Nicki Minaj, featuring Sean Garret. Thanks, Ninjaboi!

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 5 - The Illusion Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

Now we come to what many fans consider one of the worst challenges ever to hit the stage: The Illusion challenge.  Tonight the crews must incorporate magic tricks and illusions into their signature style.  Is this episode as bad as we remember or did it age well like a fine wine?  Time
to take a sip and find out! Click here to watch the episode, then read the Rewatch review. Next up:  the Battle of the Sexes!

ABDC6 auditions Spotlight Houston Pt.1: Alien Tactics, Apocalypse, Collizion, I.aM.mE, Illovation, Illmatic Phlow

Who will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 6?  We don't know! But we DO know names for most of the crews that did well during their auditions.  We will soon run a contest to let you 'cast' which of the crews you think should make it to ABDC6 Top 10.  To help you choose and give these crews some exposure, we'll spotlight each of them and show any recent performance videos we can find. 

Today: 7 crews that excelled during the Houston auditions. Note: our information on Chicago and Houston is sketchier than what we know about New York and Los Angeles auditioning crews. PLEASE leave a comment if you have more video, photos, or information on these groups. Tomorrow: Part II on crews who auditioned for ABDC6 in Houston and made it to callbacks

-- Alien Tactics Cru comes from Austin, TX and are affiliated with Redefined Dance Company. There's not much information on them except an as-yet-unpopulated Facebook page. Here's the group (possibly with extra members) performing at the Soundbox Grand Opening in January 2010:

• Apocalypse Dance Crew is part of the Apocalypse Dance Troupe from Gainesville, FL. You can follow them on WeAreApocalypse Youtube Channel. Here's a very recent highlights video:

• Collizion Crew have been dancing together for more than 8 years. Their name demonstrates how the crew members are a 'collision' ethnicity and style that comes together. Follow them on Facebook and CollizionTV Youtube.  Here's a very recent video of the group in action:

Click here for information and videos on I.aM.mE, Illovation, Illmatic Phlow. and B3at Junkies.  

Mailbox: Jalen award, JabbaWockeeZ music release, Lil Mama at Grammy Event

--Lil Mama performed at a pre-Grammy event this month. Here's her red carpet look 

-- Dance Track Magazine gave Jalen a 2011 Young Artist Award. Congratulations, Jalen!

--The Bangerz' original soundtrack for JabbaWockeeZ' MUS.I.C will be released on iTunes on March 1, 2011.  The album is described as mostly instrumental, with a progressive mixture of electro and hip-hop, and a lot of hard-hitting beats. The Bangerz have produced music for various commercials including McDonald’s and Pepsi, and for top selling artists like Blacked Eyed Peas, Kelis, and 50 Cent. Thanks for the tips, Ninjaboi!

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 4 - Whack Track Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

Now we move on to one of the most bizarre challenges on the show to date.  In this episode crews are to dance to songs that are so bad they make the Baby Jesus cry.  In addition, they have to add in a "whack" dance move into their routine as well.  Will this turn out to be a stroke of genius or a visual abortion?  Time to find out. Click here to watch the episode, then read the Rewatch review here. Tomorrow's review: The Illusion Challenge.

Video: MTV shows some clips from inside the Los Angeles ABDC Auditions

MTV's The Seven posted a short video with some crews performing inside the Los Angeles auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 6, along with some crowd shots and interviews with audition judges Rosaro McCoy (ABDC choreographer) and Howard Schwartz (ABDC producer and creator)

The Seven - MTV Shows

ABDC6 auditions Spotlight Chicago Pt. 2: Puzzle League, ReDefinition, Roulette, Stereo Junkies, The Union, Vixenz

Who will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 6?  We don't know! But we DO know names for most of the crews that did well during their auditions.  We will soon run a contest to let you 'cast' which of the crews you think should make it to ABDC6 Top 10.  To help you choose and give these crews some exposure, we'll spotlight each of them and show any recent performance videos we can find. 

Today: crews that auditioned in Chicago. Note: our information on Chicago and Houston is sketchier than what we know about New York and Los Angeles auditioning crews. PLEASE leave a comment if you have more video, photos, or information on these groups. Tomorrow: Part I of II on crews who auditioned for ABDC6 in Houston and made it to callbacks

-- Puzzle League formed in October 2010 and performed at World of Dance Chicago. Dancers in this Chicago-based group have won awards at Monsters of Hip Hop and Urban Jamm. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Thepuzzleleague Youtube Channel.   Here's are the members of the auditioning group dancing to 'I Want You Back' just before the Chicago auditions

--  ReDefinition is a Chicago-based group that formed in 2005. They present Prelude Midwest and won Second Place at World of Dance Chicago 2010. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and ReDefinitiondance Youtube. Here's their World of Dance performance:

Click here for information and videos on Roulette, Stereo Junkies, The Union, and Vixenz.

Commenting Guidelines for Happy Discussion and Happy Moderators

So as ABDC6 gets closer and more and more information gets released, more and more people start frequenting the site, and comment on various posts.  With more people comes an increased chance of conflict, trolls, and the like.  For the sake of productive discussion, we at BABDC ask that you adhere to the follow guidelines.  Click here to read on!

Image Credit: Randall Munroe's comic xkcd - xkcd.com/386 

Spotlight on ABDC6 auditioners: Chicago Pt. 1 - 787 Crew, Canada's 8 Count, CODA, Design, Destined 2 B, N-10-City

Who will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 6?  We don't know! But we DO know names for most of the crews that did well during their auditions.  We will soon run a contest to let you 'cast' which of the crews you think should make it to ABDC6 Top 10.  To help you choose and give these crews some exposure, we'll spotlight each of them and show any recent performance videos we can find. 

Today: crews that auditioned in Chicago. Note: our information on Chicago and Houston is sketchier than what we know about New York and Los Angeles auditioning crews. PLEASE leave a comment if you have more video, photos, or information on these groups. Tomorrow: more crews who auditioned for ABDC6 in Chicago

• 787 Crew: As we reported earlier, 787 Crew hails from Puerto Rico and has ties to ABDC3's GOP Crew. Click here to watch part of their audition performance
• 8 Count: There are two crews named 8 Count that made it to ABDC6 Callbacks. The one that auditioned in Chicago comes from Canada and has ties to ABDC5 runners-up Blueprint Cru. They won World of Dance San Diego 2010. Here's their WOD performance, along with an interview

• CODA stands for Chicago Onyx Dance Alliance, a dance company that "embraces all styles". They competed at Hip Hop International 2010, Prelude Midwest and World of Dance Chicago.  They have videos of the larger group on CodaDanceAlliance Youtube Channel.  You can learn more at  Codaworld.com and their Facebook page , This video shows a performance by the larger group at World of Dance Chicago in November 2010

 
Click here for videos and  information on Design, Destined 2 Be, and N-10-City

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 3 - The Britney Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

Well it is that time again for the iconic challenge.  This time around we have probably the biggest piece of grown-up jail bait ever, Britney Spears.  Unlike most other iconic challenges this is more in line with a video star challenge minus the video screen. Will the remaining seven crews be able to skank up enough to pull off her moves?  Best to watch this episode with protection, no telling what you may catch. Click here to watch the Britney Challenge, then read the Rewatch review here. Tomorrow: The Whack Track Challenge.

Video: Quest Crew Airstrike!

Quest Crew (ABDC Season 3 winners) participated in the TAKEOVER in Melbourne, Australia in January 2011. Here's their set. Thanks, Shahin!

Valentine's Day Video from Chad and Charles (Poreotics)

We can't let the day pass without one Valentine from a favorite crew. Here are Chad and Charles dancing their hearts out. Thanks for the link,Dance!

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 2 - Fit Test Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light." 

Tonight's episode is the Fit Test Challenge.  Crews will be given a song and a hard physical move that they have to incorporate into their routine.  Out of all the episodes in this season, this is one that I pretty much forgot about.  I think it is another one of those good idea, poor execution challenges.  Does it live up to that or does it make the cut?  Let's find out! Click here to watch the Fit Test Challenge, then read the ReWatch review. Tomorrow: the Britney Challenge!

Exclusive videos & dance demos from Empire Kids, Elektrolytes, Funk Beyond Control

Our reporting team of Chris Trondsen, Josh Ulep (Hype 5-0), and Glenda Morales (Fanny Pak) hung out outside the LA ABDC auditions for 8 hours talking to auditioning crews and judges. We're getting all of the videos processed and posted over the next week. This season, we're working with MOVeMedia Productions on all our filming and processing, so our video quality should be much better than in prior seasons

Here are interviews with three more crews that made it to the call-back round -  Elektrolytes, Empire Kids (formerly known as Urban Empire Kids), Funk Beyond Control and  In each, the group gives a short demonstration, introduces the members, and talks about their dance and audition experiences. Click here to watch the Empire Kids and Funk Beyond Control videos.

Video: Movement Lifestyle's "Nasty"

Vinh Nguyen is part of Movement Lifestyle, a company supporting the dance community which was formed by Shaun Evaristo. In this video, a group of the dancers reinterpret Janet Jackson's "Nasty". On MovementLifestyle Youtube Channel. Thanks Koopa!

Teldon's ABDC Rewatch - Season 3, Episode 1 - Sudden Death Challenge

About this series: Teldon is going to watch every episode of America's Best Dance Crew to try and see them with a fresh outlook, judging them on their own merits.  He invites you to join him, rewatching and reviewing the shows. Click here to read his criteria and how he is judging the performances. His only request:  "please keep an open mind through out this look back.  You may surprise yourself and learn to enjoy crews you did not like or see one of your favorites in a new light."

With the third season many changes took place to the show and these changes would become the norm for the next few seasons. The audition round is gone for Seasons 3 and 4.   Instead we move into a sudden death round to eliminate a crew the first week.  Is this change for the better or for the worse?  Time to find out. Click here to watch the Sudden Death Challenge, then read the Rewatch Review. Tomorrow: ABDC3's Fit Test Challenge.

For New Season 6 Contest: Help me make a master list of 'likely' crews

 In the next few days, we will start a new contest -- 'CAST AMERICA'S BEST DANCE CREW SEASON 6'. The object: see if you can predict the final 10 crews that will compete on ABDC6.  To help you choose, we will find and link recent videos of the auditioning crews that we've heard did well in their auditions, and present them by mid-March. There will be prizes!


In order to start this process, I need a comprehensive list of auditioning crews. The biggest gaps in my lists are for the auditions in Chicago and Houston, but I know there are others missing from other cities too. So, please leave a comment listing any crews that you know auditioned for ABDC6 that made it to the callback round and where they're from. 

Chicago crews: 787 Crew, 8 Count (from Canada), CODA, Design, Destined 2 B, N-10-city, Puzzle League, Redefinition, Roulette, Stereo Junkies, The Union, Vixenz

Houston Crews: Alien Tactics, Apocalypse, Beat Junkies, Collizion, I.aM.mE, Illovation, Ilmatic Phlow, Mad Skills, Second 2 None, STAK'D, TRAFFIK Jam, U4Ria, Wreckless

New York Crews: 8 Count (from MA), Boston Tap Company, Da Emperorz, D Code, Hipnotic Phlava, ICONic Boyz, ICONic Girlz, Illmatic Force, In da Clutch, Irratik, JHHA Droppas, Moonrunners, Motion Picture, Phunk Phenomenon, Phunk Snap, Point Blank, POSH, Ridonkulous, Rockwell Family, Streetz, Stryke Force, Systematic, The Movement, Uneek EFX, Venom, WRT, XDC


Los Angeles Crews: 25/8, Elektrolytes, Entity, Fallen Kingz, Flavas, Freshh, Freshh 2.0, Funk Beyond Control,  Inside the Box, Jungle Jills, Klaamation, Knucklehead Zoo, Marvel Inc., Mos Wanted Crew, Oceans 11, Proteges, ReQuest, RNG, SickStep, SRL, Street Kingdoms, The Academy, The Generation, Unity LA, Urban Empire Kidz, Villains, WHAT

Crews that did not audition in person but submitted videos:  Chaos Theory Crew, Ol' Skool Cru, Sinigang, Smash! (from Puerto Rico)

Video: We are Heroes perform at Disney's ElecTRONica

ABDC 4 Champions We are Heroes are performing at Disney Adventure Park's ElecTRONica every Friday through Sunday in February 2011. Here's their set, from the Purdilatina Youtube Channel.