Saturday, January 28, 2012

More ABDC audition videos: Empire The Crew

Empire the Crew (formerly known as Empire Kidz) made callbacks at the Los Angeles auditions for ABDC Season  and released a video of their audition routine. From tcapitule Youtube:

Some early photos from the LA ABDC Auditions

I've been trying to glean information about the LA auditions of America's Best Dance Crew. being held today. I've added quite a number of crews to our list, and I've come across some photos, including this photo of the BloggingBestDanceCrew interview team (Chris Trondsen, Scott Yoshimoto, and IaMmE's Chachi) talking to Bootz Crew, from Antoine Troupe's Facebook . Another great source are the tweets from Winson Seto, the PR guy for ABDC, including a photo of the judge's table,  D-trix greeting the dancers, and a cypher in the parking lot outside the auditions. Flirt dancers have a backstage photo. Riquel Olander (We Are Heroes) posted a photo of her posing with the press teams for us and for Pacific Rim. (WAnd, Scott Yoshimoto has a picture of Chris with Chachi. Leave a comment if you know of others

Exclusive interviews at NY ABDC auditions: Lil Phunk, TMT (kid crew of Rhythm City)

America's Best Dance Crew alums were also represented in the kid crews auditioning in New York for ABDC Season 7. I interviewed Lil Phunk, who was there with Phunk Phenomenon's Kassandra (though Phunk Phenomenon was not re-auditioning). Outside, I got to talk to and watch some dance steps from The Midas Touch (TMT), a kid crew connected to ABDC4's Rhythm City. There's a lot of really good kid talent coming out for ABDC this year -- wonder how they'll pick!

Video: Chinese New Year Tiger Dance Shuffle -

Happy Chinese New Year -- Year of the Dragon. Here's an awesome tiger crew, giving the traditional New Year's dance an upbeat update. Thanks for the link PerezOverride!

Video: We Are Heroes Free-style for Vlado Footwear

We are Heroes, winners of America's Best Dance Crew Season 4, made a promo video for Vlado Footwear showing each woman free-styling in the company's shoes. From VladoFootwear Youtube. Thanks for the tip, jtiera!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Join Victor Kim and ISA on Team Janet - Save a Life

I know we usually try to stick to dance related news, but this is something that I feel needs to be passed on.Janet Liang is a recent graduate from UCLA. She was diagnosed two years ago with leukemia, and has until April to find a bone marrow donor.

Victor Kim of Quest Crew, as well as ISA members KevJumba, Wong Fu productions, Ryan Higa, and Far East Movement are all asking Asian Americans to register as bone marrow donors.
Here is the video from Victor Kim's channel


Victor Kim and Bboy Anonymous will be hosting an event at UCIrvine on February 1st that doubles as a bone marrow drive.  Please attend if you are in the area.
If you are interested, here are more readings you can pursue/register at
http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx
http://www.asianmarrow.org/index.php/list-of-drives
http://www.aadp.org/drive/
http://www.helpingjanet.com/


Even if you are not Asian American, please pass the news on to people who are. Together,
hopefully we can save a life


Thank you

-Ninjaboi

NAOTV Episode 12: Week of the Polyswag

Hello there BBDC! Polynesia was all over the place this week, with two videos by Parris Goebel making it onto this episode and a third video hailing from the Hawaiian Islands. Let's kick things off with Parris's class at the ML studio. This video was uploaded by Lil Bigz of Guam's Empire Kidz.




Next we have "Warm Up". This video was filmed at Palace Dance Studio and features ReQuest Dance Crew as well as members of Misfits.




And our last video from the wonderful world of Polynesia is Hazmat's combo to "Mr. Boombastic" by Shaggy. Still on his 90's vibe, Hazmat looks to be sticking with positivity in his pieces this new year.




---Other Dope Videos from This Week---

Beat Buddy Boi (2nd SEASON ROUND1) - Last season's Dance@Hero runner ups returned for the second season of this show. Judging from this performance, I say they are clear favorites for the win.

Tight Eyez "We Wear Black" - This man is a revolutionary. He's already made his mark by co-founding krump, and he continues to be a force in the street dance community by introducing us to krump-ography. It will be interesting to see where the movement goes from here.

Rusty Guinto - I've been meaning to show you guys the style of glowstringing for a while, but until now I haven't seen a good, recently uploaded video of it.

TAKE ME AWAY | DUBSTEP - Do I even need to say anything? Nonstop is amazing and his dancing speaks for itself.

Let us know if you attend the America's Best Dance Crew auditions this weekend!

Auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 move to Los Angeles this weekend.  If you go -- as an auditioner, friend, press, or on-looker -- let us know! Send us your impressions, travel diary, photos, videos, whatever, SO LONG AS IT DOESN'T VIOLATE ANY OF THE MTV AUDITION CONTRACT RULES! You can post links here or email them to BloggingABDC@gmail.com. And, good luck to all auditioners!

BloggingBestDanceCrew.com will be at the auditions, filming interviews with some of the hopefuls. Our team: Chris Trondsen, Scott Yashimoto (camera) and ...IaMmE's Chachi!

ABDC audition interviews: ABDC4 alums trying again - Beat Ya Feet Kings, Pony Zion (Vogue Evolution) with new crew

I ran into several alumni of America's Best Dance Crew at the New York auditions for Season 7. Beat Ya Feet Kings (ABDC Season 4) is auditioning again as a group. In contrast, Pony Zion (member of ABDC4's Vogue Evolution) still dances with VE but brought a new group called Transformers to try out.

Video: Tight Eyez (Street Kingdom) choreo showcase: "We Wear Black"

Tight Eyez (leader of ABDC6's Street Kingdom) released his first choreography showcase called "We Wear Black". Many dancers have picked up on krump since Tight Eyez started the dance form, but few can krump with Tight Eyez' vibrancy and power.  From WORLDOFDANCE TOUR Youtube.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Video: Nonstop's "Take Me Away" dubstep

Remote Kontrol's Marquese "Nonstop" Scott is back with another amazing dubstep video: "Take Me Away". Wow. From Youtube. Thanks for the tip, Greg!

Video: Meet & watch 5 crews from NY ABDC auditions: Precious Kidz, Metamorphoz, WRT, Fully Focused, Fly High

At the New York auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7, I spoke to and watched practices for many crews. On this video, you meet and watch (including some dancing) Precious Kidz, members of Metamorphoz (from France), WRT, Fully Focused, and a member of Fly High. There is also a practice from a crew whose name I didn't catch (at 0:40) -- leave a comment if you identify them.

More videos from ABDC audition crews: Mixtape Crew, PraiseTEAM

The crews who auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 have more Youtube offerings directly related to the tryouts:
- Mixtape Crew just released a video saying that they are still in the running to be on ABDC7. They created and taped a video in less than 2 days to demonstrate how they could respond to the time pressures on ABDC. The description also says that Mixtape Crew is the only Puerto Rican crew that is still being considered for Season 7. Thanks for the tip, Jean Sebastian
- PraiseTEAM released a video talking about the auditions, which might include part of their audition
Click here to watch the videos from Mixtape Crew and PraiseTEAM.

Four Million hits! Thanks guys!!

As of this morning, BloggingBestDanceCrew.com reached 4 million hits. Thanks to all of you for helping us to this milestone: -- the readers, commenters, tipsters,  banner artist Shahin, moderators (including NamesAreOverrated, DirtfaceX, Ninjaboi, Del, and Koopa), interviewers and film crew (the Youtube star Chris Trondsen, Scott Yoshimoto, and many dancer/interviewers), reviewers, contest creators, field reporters, media friends and partners (esp. Pacific Rim and DanceOn), dance event organizers (e.g., Hip Hop International, World of Dance, and dozens of local events), MTV, Howard and Karen Schwartz,  and hundreds of amazing dancers that make the work fun. I'm proud that we can keep this community going, even when there's a one-year gap between seasons of America's Best Dance Crew. So thanks and stay with us -- it'll get even more interesting very soon!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Video: Meet & watch more crews from NY ABDC audition: Generation X, Moms-N-Da Hood, T.O.Y.S, Arm Candy, Nu Groove

I attended the auditions in New York for Season 7 of America's Best Dance Crew. In this video, 5 crews introduced themselves and showed some of their steps before they went into the audition room. The crews on this video: Generation X, Moms N Da Hood, T.O.Y.S., Arm Candy, and Nu Groove.

Exclusive interviews with ABDC Audition judge Michelle McNulty on ABDC Season 7

Michelle McNulty -- audition judge for America's Best Dance Crew -- spoke to us at the New York auditions for Season 7 about the types of crews auditioning (including the younger crews and the returning crews from previous seasons), the dance styles she's seeing in the auditions, and what it's like working on ABDC auditions for 7 seasons. It sounds like there may be some surprises in store for the next season!

DanceOn's coverage of NY ABDC auditions, with ICONic Girlz, Beat Ya Feet Kings, Vision & more

DanceOn attended the New York auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 and have a short and very sweet summary of the proceedings, including interviews with Howard Schwartz, audition judge Rosero McCoy, and peeks at some of the crews including ICONic Girlz, Beat Ya Feet Kings, ViZion, Lil Phunk, New Groove, and more. Stay tuned in the next few days for more on these and other crews -- including dance demos and cyphers!

Video: ReQuest on "This is Street Dance"

From Yowzahful: "Here's a clip of ReQuest after they flew to LA For the ABDC 6 Auditions. They were on a show called "This Is Street Dance" and performed their ABDC 6 audition routine... You've probably seen the clip before but this is a better HD clip. Just thought you might want to post it on your page as inspiration for the ABDC 7 hopefuls preparing to audition for ABDC this year."  From Youtube. Thanks Yowzahful!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Exclusive videos: outside ABDC auditions in NY -- 10 crews talk and dance

Despite snowy weather, crews waiting to audition for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 in New York were upbeat and eager to talk to us and show some steps. Included in this video: DV8, S.O.S, Suede Laces, Oasis, D Code, United Beats, Aftershock, Transformers, Irratik and Lil Phunk.

Video: Del interviews RNG at Houston ABDC auditions

Del talked to RNG (Rated Next Generation) outside the Houston ABDC auditions. They introduce themselves, talk about the differences between auditioning in Houston vs. Los Angeles, handling the high expectations from their fans, how they're approaching the auditions, their styles and which superstars they'd like to dance to. From Del's PhenominalPurposes Youtube. Thanks for all the Houston coverage, Del!

Art of Teknique in Cali Swag District Video

We've featured this up and coming crew of youngsters in the past. They've appeared on America's Got Talent, and alongside the Jabbawockeez. Art of Teknique is back at it with their awesome dancing in Cali Swag District's latest video "Burn Out"

Regardless how you feel about Cali Swag District's music, you can't fault them for not including awesome dancers in their videos. Not only do they have Art or Teknique in this video, they've featured several awesome in their other videos (Girls including Hiro and Lydia and others, Bollywood dancers, and Bboys). Here's hoping they do more the future!

More ABDC audition videos: Wrecking Clown Crew, In Da Clutch; NY cypher

More on some of the crews who have auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7:
- The Billings Gazette profiled hometown group Wrecking Clown Crew with interviews and a demo of some of their audition routine 
- Dance Mogul Magazine was one of the groups at the New York auditions. They have several short videos including an interview with a member of In Da Clutch and some footage of impromptu cyphers.
Click here to watch these videos.

Help Ninjaboi use his dance skills to win a contest!

Besides being a contributor to BBDC, Ninjaboi is a college student and a dancer. Let's help him out on a new project, described by him here: I entered a contest where for campusfood.com (basically the way I get food delivered to my dorm), I make a commercial for them and have people vote for it. I decided to use my dance skills in this, and was wondering if I could ask for help getting people to vote for it.
The instructions are simple
1) Go to https://www.facebook.com/campusfood
2)Scroll down to the bottom of the page
3)Vote for the video by "Ninjaboi Productions" (It should have me shuffling in it).

Monday, January 23, 2012

Video: (Instant Noodles) Taipei-2-LA

Instant Noodles Crew (ABDC6) visited Taipei over the holidays, and visited their old high school and filmed an awesome video while there. Definitely check it out.

Not only is it creative with the various jokes they incorporate, the editing here is excellent, especially transitioning between people. And the dancing is awesome as always.

More interviews from Houston ABDC auditions: Ghost, Collizion, Galing, GX

Del, joined by guest interviewer Homero Flores of Soundbox Studios and Riot Squad,  has more interviews from crews that auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 in Houston including Ghost Crew (which also appeared on ABDC Season 5), Collizion Crew, Galing, and GX. The crews introduce themselves and describe how they're different from other crews , talk about their styles and strategies for ABDC, and mention some superstars they'd like to dance to. From Del's PhenominalPurposes Youtube. Click here to watch all the interviews.

More audition routines: Audacity, Urban Dance Alliance, Irratik crew

More videos of ABDC audition routines are surfacing:
- Audacity Crew from Olympia Washington submitted an audition video. The crew placed second at 2011 World of Dance Seattle 
- Urban Dance Alliance auditioned in New York, and taped a rehearsal of their routine
- Irratik crew (a Canadian crew connected to ABDC5's Blueprint Cru) taped a practice. 
Click here to watch the videos from Audacity, Urban Dance Alliance, and Irratik!

Video: Parris (ReQuest) and RNG - "Higher"

Parris (member of ABDC6's ReQuest) danced with RNG to "Higher", choreographed by Kolanie Marks. RNG auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 7 and got a call back -- would you like to see them on the show? From RNGDancers Youtube.

Video: Dashaun (Vogue Evolution) stars in Voguing documentary - stunning dance!

Dashaun Evisu, member of ABDC4's Vogue Evolution, stars in a Vimeo short documentary about the current voguing movement. The dancing is knockout, and the commentary illuminating about the development of the dance movement, the stereotyping of voguers, and the description of some of Voguing's superstars (including Vogue Evolution's Leiomy).

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Video: interview with Howard & Karen Schwartz at ABDC auditions - ABDC7 starts April 11 on Wednesday nights!

I spoke with Howard and Karen Schwartz, creators of America's Best Dance Crew at the New York auditions for ABDC Season 7. In this first of two videos with them, they describe their hopes for the new season, and what they've seen and are looking for in several types of auditioners: new crews who have never auditioned, crews that have already appeared on ABDC, international crews, and younger teams. And, they reveal that the new season will air on Wednesday nights at 10pm ET/PT, starting (probably) on April 11, 2012. In the second video interview with the Schwartzes (available soon!), they describe exciting developments for Hip Hop International 11 in July 2012. 

Videos from Houston ABDC auditions: interviews/freestyle with Preconceived Notion, DBA, Roast Beast

Del posted more interviews from the Houston auditions for America's Best Dance Crew season 7. All three of the crews -- Preconceived Notion, DBA, and Roast Beast -- got a callback.  Tyrone 'Neyon' Foster, a member of ABDC5's Royal Flush Crew is a member of Roast Beast. In the interviews, the crews introduce themselves, talk about their styles, what they want to bring to ABDC, and some insight on the audition and callback process in Houston.  Click here to watch all the videos. Thanks again Del!

Video clips from Honey 2, including Fanny Pak and Mario Lopez

DanceOn released two clips from the upcoming "Honey 2" which is set on DVD/Blu-Ray on February 21, 2012. The first clip is a dance scene with Honey's group; the second is their appearance on an America's Best Dance Crew-type show, complete with Mario Lopez and Fanny Pak (robbed again!)