America’s Best Dance Crew is back! As with previous seasons, Kayode and I will be here weekly crew critiques and commentary.
BEAT YA FEET KINGS
Jon: DC in the house. You know me and you are both from DC/MD. That said, these guys were looking completely sloppy to my untrained eye and Shane called them out on it right off the bat.
Kayode: Yeah, as long as this show’s been on, there’s really no excuse for their performance not being a lot better. And with a dance style like that, you have to work A LOT harder than most crews to make it work as synchronized choreography.
WE ARE HEROES
Jon: Normally I’m always up for some cute, hip-hop dancing Japanese girls, but Hiro is looking like an Amazon next to the rest of these girls. Maybe they’re just tiny, who knows. I prefer b-boying to popping & locking, but regardless you have to root for any all-female crew that put their skills before their looks. We’ll see if they can finish what the girls from Beat Freaks started, like they stated.
Kayode: Uh, yeah, Hiro had so much of my attention, I may have missed too much in the beginning. It’s definitely something new in general, not just because they’re all girls. They had a very unique way of fusing other styles with the popping & and locking. I’m not sure if I’m ready to lay any odds on their chances as the competition progresses, but they’ve got potential.
AFROBORIKE
Jon: I had no doubt that three scantily-dressed Latinas would leave Shane in his usual drool mode, but he didn’t even mention sex appeal! He did point out their versatility, saying they might have the range needed to take on the later challenges. Which are important things to have in this competition for sure.
Kayode: I loved JC’s comments, and agreed completely with his comments about the blend of the partner and group dancing. I definitely thought the sexiness factor was there, and yeah, the “Flying Puerto Rican” move was hot. The routine ending with the women dipping the men was another nice touch.
MASSIVE MONKEES
Jon: This is why b-boys have won every season! It’s a “Crew’s Choice” challenge, you get to choose your own music and routine, there’s no reason to come out and not try to kick in the door. Like Supa Crew did in Season 2, Massive Monkees came out and made their mark from the jump.
Kayode: They definitely did some interesting moves, especially the whole “monkey bar” move at the beginning, ‘cause it was a total reversal on a pretty classing b-boy move. It was really slick.
Jon: They just had so much more energy than the crews before them. These initial routines are pretty short — you don’t have a lot of time to waste, just “show ‘em whatcha got”.
ARTISTRY IN MOTION
Jon: Uh oh, big girls fighting industry stereotypes — that doesn’t usually get you too far, at least not on America’s Next Top Model. They brought a lot of energy though, and were mostly clean.
Kayode: Well hello, thick’ums!!! I thought the performance was solid. I think their name is absolutely fitting, that’s really the only way I can describe the performance. Good transitions, clean moves from start to finish etc. They had a good mix of pop/r&b dance moves, ballet, etc. Thankfully an all-female crew that doesn’t remind me of damn cheerleading squad. And for the record, one of America’s Next Top Model’s most recent winners was a size 12.
Jon: Oh yeah, I heard about that but didn’t ever see her. So maybe a group like Artistry in Motion will have a chance — 8 seasons from now.
SOUTHERN MOVEMENT
Jon: HICK-HOP?? I can’t tell if the “hick-hop” is a gimmick or if that’s what they’re reall about. It’s confusing because they actually seem like good dancers. “Y’all can dance ya’lls butt off”, to quote Mr. Sparks.
Kayode: They’re a good crew, they didn’t really blow me away. I feel like we’ve seen so many crews in a similar vein, as far as contradictory dance styles, that have done better. I will agree that they’ve got some great energy, and they had a fairly clean performance. When it comes to a dance crew, it’s good that they perform well together.
RHYTHM CITY
Jon: How long have we been waiting for a crew to rep NYC? Especially the way the show is setting this season up as a challenge for someone to end three consecutive years of West Coast dominance.
Kayode: Well, that’s the only thing that’s bothering me about the show this season, because they’re making it SO OBVIOUS that they want an East Coast crew to win this year. And it definitely feels like they’ve picked East Coast crews where they can kind of anticipate some of them improving and adapting better than the West Coast crews. It’s like a total handicap. But getting way from that, I did enjoy the performance.
Jon: I might have to agree with you about the West Coast handicap this season but we’ll see how it plays out. I should also note that this is not what I picture a NYC b-boying crew to look like. Then again I don’t expect them to dance to Mims either. I’m behind the times, what can I say.
FR3SH
Jon: Oh man. I really want to get behind a bunch of funky Asians who come out saying they don’t want to be compared to previous Asian crews like Kabba Modern AND pick the Mash Out Posse for their intro! However, I totally agree with JC who pointed out that non-stop smiling really does not go with Ante Up. Plus the hairspray just made it messy from the start.
Kayode: Yeah, you can’t be cheesin’ when that song plays! You need to be grimacing and grittin’ teeth, maybe even spit a little! And I do agree about the hairspray. That just got real messy, and I’m surprised no one was choking or anything. Beyond that, it is nice to see an all-Asian crew that doesn’t remind us of the all-Asian crews from previous seasons.
VOGUE EVOLUTION
Kayode: Two snaps for the kids!!! Yeah, these queens were pretty fierce. It’s definitely important to have a crew like this one the show for all the reason they gave, and I can see them being strong competition for some of the other crews. Their moves were tight, especially with voguing duckwalk move near the end. And seeing larger dudes effortlessly pulling of high kicks it always nice to see.
Jon: Nice — and extremely humorous lol. But you’re right, you can’t really claim to be making a true push for diversity here without including a crew like Vogue Evolution. And being battle-tested, I can see them being strong competition for some of the other crews.
BOTTOM 3
Jon: Given 30 seconds of a “mastermix” of Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow, all three crews turned in surprisingly strong performances and made their case for staying on the show. Maybe if they had been this tight in their solo challenges they wouldn’t have ended up in the Bottom 3! Unfortunately Fr3sh didn’t give us, or judges, a strong reason to think they could bring more to the show than Beat Ya Feet or Southern Movement, both of whom are more unique crews.
Kayode: It is a shame, ‘cause I really did want to see more from Fr3sh. But Beat Ya Feet and Southern Movement did bring it harder in the sudden death round. I still feel like Southern’s theme is kind of unnecessary in relation to their routines. You did see some elements of like the southern country line dancing and a few, I guess, “ho-down/hootenanny-ish” moves, but it doesn’t really warrant what I feel is just a gimmick. They’re a good crew, they just need a less distracting them.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Jon: I’ll sadly admit that Fr3sh probably deserved to go, but I kind of wanted them to stay because I really wanted to see more of the girl with the butch haircut! I mean, I just couldn’t understand how any girl rocking a punky butch mullet like that could be cute — but she was! Or was that just me? Which ladies do you have your eye on KK?
Kayode: Oh, she was a stunna, so don’t feel bad, man! It’s all about the punky butch cut these days. Everybody wants to be like Rihanna and Amber Rose, and all them chicks.
Jon: I know Rihanna, so I’m not sure how I missed that. Although I have no clue who Amber Rose is. I’m old, man — I don’t know who all these kids are!
Kayode: As for ladies to watch this season, I’m lovin’ the leader of Artistry In Motion for one. For a girl who wants folks to know there are women who can do more than shake their booties when it comes to hip-hop dance, she’s got a lot of it whenever she decides she’s ready to shake it!
Jon: Somehow I should’ve expected that answer, but didn’t.
Jon: So in addition to the “East Coast quest for redemption” theme, the other theme of Season 4 seems to be diversity. You’ve got hick-hoppers, some artsy big girls and a troupe of fierce queens. That said, how many fan votes can crews like that really hope to get? The fans, judges and producers I think are all predisposed toward hip-hop so it’s always going to be an uphill battle for any crew without a strong hiphop element. Of course, I genuinely liked Breaksk8 and even moreso Dynamic Edition, and we all loved Fanny Pack so… I want to say bring on the diversity! Unfortunately I don’t know if any of the non-traditional crews have a chance against crews like, say, Massive Monkees or Rhythm City who in my mind have established themselves as the crews to beat for now. I know it’s only the first episode, but who are you rooting for or looking at to battle for the title?
Kayode: I can definitely see either Massive Monkees or Rhythm City making it to the finals. Of the more “non-traditional” crews, I’m not really sure who’s going to emerge as the dark horse/wild card. Clearly it’s in the show’s best interests to keep one of these crews around, otherwise it’s going to get boring. Vogue Evolution is probably the most solid out all the non-hip-hop crews, and I think the people who actively vote on shows like this are exactly the kind of people that wouldn’t get hung up on them being so . . . fierce. If I had to guess on who’s not making it far, probably Afroborike. They’re actually quite good, but crews like theirs rarely click with audiences for long, if at all. And it’s always the latin dance crews, haven’t you noticed that?
Jon: I can’t even remember any Latin dance crews except, what were they breakers from the previous season? They didn’t quite bring it and got eliminated early. Sort of like Fr3sh.
Apparently Eliza Dushku came through Comic Con on Thursday with her boyfriend… Rick Fox??
In the cover story of the July issue of Pride magazine, Nia Long was asked what she thought about Beyonce Knowles‘ performance in Obsessed. 