14 February 2008

Here Comes the Hotsteppers

I'm a little late to the party since the season is already in full swing but since I'm a sucker for dance shows (and movies) this needs to be covered. Randy Jackson's "America's Best Dance Crew" is on Thursdays at 10pm -- MTV of course. I'm shocked it's taken so long make a dance series about a group as opposed to individuals but here it finally is.

My television watching is all shot to hell without DVR but I've been able to see clips of the show on YouTube and it already looks better than anything "Dancing with the Stars" and/or "So You Think You Can Dance" (or the boringness that was J-Lo's "Dancelife") can muster. Of course, I'm a little biased because I'm a big fan of Kaba Modern and Jabbawockeez

It's a foregone conclusion that Kaba will win -- short of horrible judging or something. The really amazing thing about them isn't how good they are as just individuals, it's how clean they are as a big group -- or as a huge group. I've seen like thirty people crammed on-stage at the same time, everyone hitting perfect angles, timing, everything. Even on the smallest isolations. It's crazy! These kids (theoretically) have school and homework; although I feel like the lure of dancing with Kaba at Irvine is enough for some people to forgo the whole academic portion of college.

Also, the Jabbawockeez appear to have a cameo in "Step Up 2: The Streets." Strangely, when Lil'Kim announced at the end of "You Got Served" that it was time to take it to the streets, I'm pretty sure she wasn't calling for another dance movie to make a sequel with that title. Then again, they did release "You Got Served: Take It to the Streets," an instructional video; maybe that was their semi-sequel. And don't think I haven't seen it either.

I was going to name my top five dance movies but thought I'd better hold back a little. Preserve my dignity and all. Instead I'll leave you with this, in the words of the immortal Mikey Minden: "I don't do cat fights... I do choreography."