Sunday, September 27, 2009

Shane Sparks -- Why aren't ABDC Winners more successful?

Popmatters has a long article and interview with Shane Sparks on the direction of hip hop dancing and the role of America's Best Dance Crew in pushing it forward. Highlights:
  • The Role of You Got Served in bringing crews to the public's attention: “When You Got Served came out,it made people realize like, ‘Oh my God! How beautiful is it to watch these five or ten guys, do this choreography... Everybody wanted their own crew. And that started a whole ‘nother world.”
  • ABDC's Impact: "Everywhere I go. I go home to Cincinnati, Ohio, they have Midwest dance crews. I go to Kansas City they have KC dance crews. Every city is trying to get their own ABDC. And it was not like that just 5 years ago.”
  • The article talks about the phenomenon common on many competitive reality shows where winning the show doesn't translate into major financial success. Shane talks about the problem and suggests that 1. crews get more involved in the entertainment industry and 2. they immediately get involved in marketing and endorsement deals