Monsters of Hip Hop Summer Intensive

From August 4-10, the Monsters of Hip Hop Summer Intensive will be held in Los Angeles. It will feature over 20 top choreographers including: JabbaWockeez' Rainan, Kevin Brewer, and Phi; Beat Freaks' Teresa Espinosa; and America's Best Dance Crew choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo. Click here for more information and to sign up.

Join us on Sunday for our ABDC Clip show coverage

Even though Sunday's America's Best Dance Crew is a clip show and not a new episode, we want to get the ABDC4 party started already! Jeff #1 will be hosting a Live Play-by-Play at 9pm ET. And, we'll have a party room post set up for your comments starting around 9PM and going on as long as you want. So, join in on Sunday -- I want to come back from the Hip Hop International World Finals and read about what I missed on MTV!

Season 4 Contest: The Elimination Challenge

We will run two contests during America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 which will extend from Episode 1 through the finale. Contest #1: The Elimination Challenge: Which crews will be in the bottom 2 each week? Who will be eliminated? Enter each week and the person with the highest cumulative score for Season 4 will win an ABDC crew shirt of their choice and size (up to $35 retail).

To enter: Each week, we'll publish a new post for this contest. When the weekly post is up, leave a comment with the name of the bottom 2, specifying which one is eliminated. For example, last season a winning entry for Week 7 would have read: "BOTTOM 2 WEEK 7 - Quest, Fly Khicks. Eliminated: Fly Khicks." You will be awarded 1 point for each crew you name in the bottom 2 that week, and an extra point for identifying the eliminated crew, for a total of 3 possible points per week. The contest is now open for week one and will close Midnight Monday August 3 (before the first episode is taped). Yes, I know there isn't enough info yet -- this time it's just speculation based on interview videos. And, please write your vote only; no editorials or hating in the comments here!

In future weeks, entries will be accepted from Sunday (after the episode airs and I put up a new post for the contest) until Midnight (Pacific Time) the Wednesday afterwards, so that nobody can use insider info from the Thursday tapings. **IMPORTANT**:

• Make sure you include your email address in the email field of the comments (not in the comment itself); any answers without email address will not be used.
  
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'BOTTOM 2' in the comment (so I can search for them easily).

Only 1 entry per email address per week, please. Each week, we will only accept the FIRST entry from each email address. Good luck!

Profile: Massive Monkees

Massive Monkees is one of the 9 crews chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The crew has a long history. It is the only ABDC4 crew already listed in Wikipedia. Their style can be characterized as 'fundamental b-boy.' Quoting their MTV profile: "They've won a number of prestigious titles including B-boy Summit 200 and the World B-boy Championships at Wembley Arena..They even have their own holiday as April 26 was dubbed Seattle's Official Massive Monkees Day in 2004."

- Check out our post about them from the NY Auditions, complete with audition and choreography callback.
- Check out their website - massivemonkees.com
- Visit them on Myspace.
- There are almost too videos of them around to count. Here's the most viewed -- their Xbox ad:

>Here's their battle with Project Soul, from HyphyPinoyX1 Youtube Channel -. Watch starting 2:45. Thanks for the tip, Dickolas!


Photocredit: Domesdiggler Photobucket.

Video: Kaba Modern at Hip Hop International USA Finals

Kaba Modern’s Youtube channel [Channel Url:: http://www.youtube.com/user/kabamodern] just posted a video of the crew’s performance at the USA Hip Hop International Championships that took place on July 29^th in Las Vegas, NV. They took the Bronze medal; Poreotics told the gold and SoReal Cru the silver. Thanks to Zatzz for the writeup and links.

Upcoming Events: Week of July 31

• July 31-August 2:Hip Hop International in Las Vegas, featuring Beat Freaks, Super Cr3w, SoReal Cru, Kaba Modern and many other crews from America's Best Dance Crew
  
• July 31: Knucklehead Zoo at Vegas Shakedown, to celebrate their 10th Anniversary
  
• August 1-2: United Styles in Boston, featuring b-boy competitions and lessons from the masters of b-boy style
  
• August 2: Quest at The Show in Burbank, CA

Sneak Previews of the ABDC Clip Show of Season 1-3 Best Performances

Fanscape posted teasers from the America's Best Dance Crew clip show of the best performances from Seasons 1-3, to be aired on Sunday August 2. Here's the clip for Season 1:



Click here to watch the preview teasers for Seasons 2 and 3.

Hip Hop International - USA Championships Report

Hip Hop International held the US Championship Round on July 29, 2009 in Las Vegas. As reported earlier, Poreotics took first place, SoReal Cru second place, and Kaba Modern took third. All three will compete in the International Finals. Other standout performances (for me) in this division included Heroes (the group that will compete as We Are Heroes on ABDC4), CADC, Flos Angeles, and Common Ground.

This was the culmination of several days of preliminaries, so that only the top scoring crews competed in 3 age groups: 13 adult crews, 12 varsity (older teen) crews, and 8 junior crews. While you can definitely see the skill and choreography progression between the age groups, all of the competitors impressed and entertained the packed audience. And, since the crews brought contingents from their home towns, the ballroom felt like a sports arena with hometown signs, rooting, and camaraderie.

The judges were split in two teams of four. The team evaluating skill included Sky Hoffman (an America's Best Dance Crew choreographer) and Beat Freaks' Teresa Espinosa. The team rating the overall performance included Fanny Pak's Matt Cady and ABDC audition judge Michelle McNulty.

Winners in the Juniors division were: RNG - a girl group from Mukilteo, WA; Lil Phunk Boyz from Boston, MA (who were down one crew member because he came down with appendicitis!), and Fierce but Cute - a girl group from San Francisco. Winners in the Varsity Division were: Funk Beyond Control - a San Francisco group from the same studio as Fierce but Cute; Breakthrough from Encinitas, CA, and Phyzikal graffi-T from Mukilteo (same studio as RNG). Once I return home, I'll post photos of the winning crews. Now, on to the International Competition!

Congratulations: Poreotics, SoReal Cru, Kaba Modern for HHI win!

Congratulations to the winners of the U.S. Hip Hop International Championship. All three will compete on Sunday for the international title.

• First Place - Poreotics
• Second Place - SoReal Cru
• Third Place - Kaba Modern

And, one of my absolute favorites of the night was Heroes -- the crew which will compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 under the name 'We are Heroes.' Their originality and control stood out in a crowd of very talented competitors. Judging by tonight's performance, they could be a major force in ABDC4.

I will post videos of these dances next week when I return home to my editing software, and I will have longer posts about the Hip Hop International events over the next few days.

Profile: Rhythm City

Rhythm City, from Bronx NY, is one of the nine crews chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. It's a classic hip hop crew, with no other dance styles dominating their moves, but they bring it hard and fast. They've won or placed near the top major dance competitions including Switzerland's Dance2Dance, World of Dance NY, the Main Event (hosted by their ABDC 4 competitors Fr3sh) and Prelude EC. In addition, Rhythm City has appeared in Wyclef's "Fast Car" video, Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" and "G-Slide" videos, Carmen's "Sweat" videos, and on BET's "Rip the Runway, "Blaze the Stage", and "106th And Park." Recently, they were featured at the Apollo Theater in a tribute to Michael Jackson (picture above)

I've seen Rhythm City perform five times in the last 9 months (2 auditions, 3 competitions) and each time was amazing. Their choreographer Alonzo Williams keeps the routines fresh and original, but with a signature look that could do well on ABDC.

• Click here to see our post about their ABDC Season 4 audition, including videos of the audition and choreography callback performance
• Click here to see our post about their ABDC Season 3 audition
• Our post on Prelude EC, including video of their first place performance
• Video of their Third place performance at World of Dance NY
• Read more about them and contact them at their website, their Facebook page, and their Myspace page
• From the RhythmCity Youtube page, here's their recent competition reel for BET's Dance Jam contest:

Photocredit: Reuters News Service

Video: Lost Kids, Tha Acadamee at Collaboration 2009

Zatzz filed this report: Collaboration 2009 took place in Vacaville, CA on July 25, 2009, including several crews who are affiliated with America's Best Dance Crew (including the Academy of Villains, the second generation of Supreme Soul) or auditioned for ABDC.. From xxboredom’s Youtube Channel, here are performances from The Lost Kids and Tha Acadamee, two crews who auditioned for ABDC Season 4 in LA but unfortunately didn’t make it. The Lost Kids performed their ABDC audition number. Thanks, Zatzz!

BreakSk8 moves onto next round at America's Got Talent

Congratulations to BreakSk8. They won a dance-off on America's Got Talent, and will move on to the next round! Thanks for the tip, Anthony!

Hip Hop International News -- SoReal Cru to compete for US Dance Championship!

News from Hip Hop International in Las Vegas: For the first time, a crew that appeared on America's Best Dance Crew will compete for the US Dance Championship, to be held tonight. SoReal Cru placed second in the preliminaries on Tuesday August 28, so they have a good shot at the title. If they win, they will represent the United States for the World title. Wish them luck!

New Contest: Name top 4 Crews for ABDC4

We will run two contests during America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 which will extend from Episode 1 through the finale. The prize for both will be a Tshirt of your size and choice, value up to $35.

First contest: Submit the names of the top 4 crews -- in the order that they'll finish. For example, last season the winning entry would have read " FINAL 4: 1. Quest 2. Beat Freaks 3. Fly Khicks 4. Strikers." Note: if you change your mind, you can enter again the next week, but we will only accept the FIRST entry from each email address each week. The prize goes to the first person to get it right, based on the week they submit the answer. If more than one person submits the right answer in that same week, we'll employ a tiebreaker rule to be determined.

To enter: Each week, we'll publish a new post for this contest. When the weekly post is up, add a comment with the names of the final 4, specifying the final order. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from late Monday/early Tuesday4s (once I put up the new contest post) until 6pm ET the following Thursday (before the next show is taped). IMPORTANT:

• Make sure you include your email address in the email field of the comments (not in the comment itself); any answers without email address will not be used. This way, I'll be able to see the email address but it won't be published.
  
• MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS 'TOP 4' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)
  

Good luck! During Season 3, we didn't get a correct entry until 2 weeks before the season ended, so if keep entering if you change your mind!

Profile: Vogue Evolution

Vogue Evolution, from New York City, is one of the nine crews picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Though the full crew has only been together for a few years, it includes some of the most respected dancers on the voguing and house/ballroom scene. The group differs from many ABDC crews past and present in that there's also a 'star': Leyomi's moves have been copied by Beyonce and other pop stars, and she has dominated the ballroom battle scene. But, judging from their audition performances, the crew will bring the teamwork and allow each the members to shine.

Vogue Evolution also stands out because they are openly and proudly gay. Leyomi is one of the first transsexuals to be front and center on TV to showcase her talent (as opposed to just her 'novelty'). I hope people will respect Vogue Evolution by judging them on their dancing and entertainment value alone. I know that in the choreography callbacks, they won over everyone with their creativity and presence.

• Click here to read our post about their audition, including videos of the audition and callback
  
• Follow them on MySpaceand Twitter
• Check out the VogueEvolution Youtube Channel for earlier performances by some of the crew members
• From Deshaunevisu's Youtube channel, here's a video of their rehearsal for the ABDC audition

• From ithl123's Youtube channel, a compilation of Leyomi moves

Video: The Hype rehearsing for ABDC audition

The Hype is a crew from Hawaii that auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Unfortunately, they weren't selected for this season. But since there has been so much interest in seeing their audition, they just posted a rehearsal of it on their HypeHS4L Youtube channel:

Profile: Artistry in Motion

Artistry in Motion is one of the 9 crews picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The all-girl crew hails from North Hollywood, CA. Their styles is a cross between contemporary and hip hop. According to their Facebook profile, "The ladies have been seen on So You Think You Can Dance, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tyra Banks show and various commercials. They have performed with artist such as Missy Elliott, Black Eyed Peas, BBD, Ne-Yo, Wayne Brady, Lloyd, Ludacris and Gnarls Barkley."
- Click here to read our post about their audition ,watch their audition video, and read an interview
- Visit their Facebook page.
- LeGrande007 posts a video of Artistry in Motion in rehearsal. -

Photocredit: Leo Lam

Why BloggingABDC is The Place for ABDC 4 Coverage

We're gearing up here for the start of America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We'd like you to think of BloggingBestDanceCrew.com as a central resource for all your ABDC 4news and activities. Here's what we'll have:

• Two contests with prizes which will begin this week
• Backstage interviews at the tapings - This season, we're collaborating with Chris Trondsen and DanceTag on bringing you interviews with crews, ABDC personalities and more. Pharside (from Supreme Soul) has also agreed to conduct interviews for us! And, we'll continue our tradition of using reader questions.
• Weekly exclusive podcasts with the eliminated crews, also using reader questions
• Spoiler-free preview reports from fans who attend the tapings.
  
• Live blogging when the show airs
• A 'party room' where you can hang out, discuss the show during and after it airs, and air your views on ABDC
• Surveys on the best and worst performances of the week
  
• A summary of recaps and videos from other media
• Continuing coverage of news about the crews from Seasons 1, 2, and 3

So, please stay with us! And, if you want to get involved in some way, email us at BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com.

Video: Academy of Villains in performance

Academy of Villains is the second generation team for America's Best Dance Crew alums Supreme Soul. They had their debut competition performance at Collaboration 2009, on July 25. The footage courtesy of Mangubatman's Youtube channel:

Video: Extended version of the Quest Promo

MTV just released an extended version of the Quest Promo for Season 4.

Wanted: more info about the ABDC 4 crews!

Over the next week, I want to post profiles of the nine crews that have been chosen. But I need your help, especially for Afroborike, Southern Movement, and We Are Heroes. If you have information, photos, or videos of the 9 crews, please leave me a comment here or email me at BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com. You will be duly credited and thanked!

We are Heroes Audition video

Fanscape is releasing videos of all the crews that were picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We already ran 6 of them over the last month, so we're posting the other three today. Here's We Are Heroes from Los Angeles. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV

Video: Southern Movement Audition

Fanscape is releasing videos of all the crews that were picked for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Over the last month, we've already shown you 6 of them, so we're posting the rest now. Here's Southern Movement from Nashville, TN. When they auditioned, they were called Team Rocky Top from Nashville, TN. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV.

Video: Afroborike audition

Fanscape is releasing videos of the crews that have been chosen for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We've already shown 6 of them, so we'll post the others now. Here's Afroborike, from Las Vegas, NV. NOTE: Please give every crew a chance and knock off judging prematurely.These are auditions. Let's see what they do on TV!

Season 4 crews are announced!

MTV Remote Control has the list of crews for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. We'll start preparing some descriptions, but here are the names and their audition videos

• Afroborike (Las Vegas, NV)
• Artistry in Motion (North Hollywood, CA)
• Beat Ya Feet Kings (Washington, D.C)
• Fr3sh (Matawan, NJ)
• We are Heroes (Hollywood, CA)
• Massive Monkees (Seattle, WA)
• Rhythm City (Bronx, NY)
• Southern Movement (Nashville, TN)
  
• Vogue Evolution (New York, NY)
  

Survey Results: Top Performances of 'all time'

After a week and almost 1000 votes, the results are in for our survey on the top America's Best Dance Crew performances 'of all time.' As mentioned in the survey, we wanted to pick 10 crews and the favorite performance for each, and asked people to only vote for one dance per crew. Results: 8 easy choices. I'm putting them in alphabetical order because (for multiple reasons) a ranking would misrepresent the data's meaning:

• Beat Freaks - Freeze (36%)
• Fanny Pak - Get Ur Freak On (27%)
• JabbaWockeeZ - PY (30%)
• Kaba Modern - Audition (28%)
• Quest - Hip Hop Decathlon (41%). Note: OrQuestra close behind with 39%
• SoReal Cru - A Milli (32%)
• Super Cr3w - We Fly High (26%)
• Supreme Soul - Audition (17%). SS had both the highest cumulative vote (over 4 performances), and the highest single performance vote for a crew not yet listed
  

To choose the final 2 (in order to pick 10 performances), I chose 2 ways to cut the data: Either most popular performance for a crew not yet named, or most popular crew (cumulative votes). Alternative 1:For most popular performance for a crew not yet named:

• Boxcuttuhz - Bonafied Lovin (16%)
• Boogie Bots - Game Over (15%)

Alternative 2: Most popular crew not yet named, based on cumulative votes across the survey:

• Strikers (25% cumulative) - Move if you Wanna (14%)
  
• Team Millennia (18% cumulative) - Me Against the Music (10%)

Click here for more analysis, including the top 10 single performances and the cumulative crew scores. Note that this additional information is not representative of trends due to survey limitations and instructions -- so don't start arguing about it! I'm only presenting it because of several requests). And let me know today if you really want me to rerun the survey, allowing multiple votes for each crew.

Video: Quest Free-style at Star Systems

Quest appeared at Star Systems talent competition in Nashville on July 22. Katiew307 captured their freestyle and posted it on Twitvid:

Reminder: last day for our survey on Best ABDC performances of all time

Our survey on the best ABDC performances of all time will close tonight at midnight. Click here to read all about it and to vote.

JabbaWockeeZ on SYTYCD July 30 - UPDATED

It's been announced that JabbaWockeeZ will perform on So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday July 30, 9pm ET/PF. In addition, Sean Paul will perform his new song, "So Fine." UPDATE: Fly Khicks' member Karelix will NOT be appearing on the show. During this results show, they will also announce which four dancers will make it to the finale. So expect a hot night and set that TiVo! And, thanks Shay for the tip!

Video: Fly Khicks Michelle, Karelix, and Teena perform at Premios Juventud

Michelle Burgos "Cheena Khicks" and Karelix Alicea "Sassy Khicks" from Fly Khicks (third place finishers for America's Best Dance Crew Season 3) are among the dancers who perform with Pee Wee live @ the 2009 Premios Juventud Awards in Miami, FL.

At the same event, Teena "Trendy Khicks" performed with Anahi.

Viral dance video: why Sundays are really for worship!

No, there are no America's Best Dance Crew groups here, nor any jaw-dropping moves. But this video is being shared millions of times because it shows the power of music and dance for joy. It's my antidote for the day for all the ills of the world and for all the arguments and hating.

What were the game changers for ABDC 1-3?

MTV Remote Control has a video of the performances they consider gamechangers for the first three seasons of America's Best Dance Crew. They include: JabbaWockeeZ - PYT; Super Cr3w - Get Up Offa that Thing (the Ninja dance); Fanny Pak - Get Ur Freak On; Beat Freaks - Freeze (the magic ball dance); and Quest - OrQuestra. These are performances that MTV Remote Control felt won permanent fans for the crews, positively changed fans' opinions about the crews' skills, and created enough goodwill to carry them closer to the finals.

I agree with some of these, but not others. Also, they do not include negative game changers - performances a crew made a mistake or disappointed the fans enough that they moved from the top to the middle/bottom for good. What would you pick for the positive and negative game changers for ABDC? To clarify -- please only discuss performances that changed the crew's momentum -- NOT their best or worst performances. If you've already commented on this elsewhere, I'll repaste it to this post, but feel free to add and stay in the conversation. Thanks, AND PLEASE KEEP THIS HATE-FREE!

Mailbox: Lil Mama, DJ Rashida

• Lil Mama -- returning to America's Best Dance Crew for a fourth judging season -- announced the title of her next album -- "Voice of the Young People: I am That."" She's quoted by Rap-Up.com about it: "There's gonna be a lot of surprises."
• Style Gypsy has a full feature on DJ Rashida including photos and video links like this:
  

Interesting crew from the Orlando auditions: Swagger Crew

We received a comment yesterday from a reader asking why we hadn't included Swagger Crew in our coverage of the America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 auditions. Unfortunately, we hadn't heard about their audition and didn't see footage of it. But, based on what we've seen of them on Youtube, they might be contenders. Watch and see what you think.

Swagger Crew hails from Atlanta, GA. In the last year, they won local competitions and opened for Beat Freaks and Quest when those ABDC 3 crews came to their town. From SwaggerCrewTV, here's their performance at Culture Shock on April 18, 2009. The crew informs me that they didn't get to pull out all their best moves here because the organizers requested that they do the more typical Atlanta dances.

From BKrazi's Youtube channel, here's another sample of their work.

Photo Montage of ABDC Season 3

Here's a sweet trip back to America's Best Dance Crew Season 3, courtesy of HSMFreak261's Youtube Channel.

Quest's Hok on SYTYCD tonight (July 23)!

Hok Konishi was a contender on So You Think You Can Dance Season 3, as well as being part of the America's Best Dance Crew' Quest. According to TV Guide, he'll appear on SYTYCD tonight (9pm ET/PT), reprising his dance with Jaimie Goodwin of The Bench Dance, choreographed by Mia Michaels.
UPDATE: Hok performed the Hummingbird and the Flowerdance instead, which makes sense because 1. it won an Emmy award 2. it was the dance that Hok did perform originally. Here's a performance done at a SYTYCD live performance, from jjcc923's Youtube channel.

Video: JabbaWockeeZ show some skin!

On the last day of the JabbaWockeeZ and New Kids on the Block tour on July 18, 2009 , the performers decided to 'make it' hotter. This is from Schell1023's Youtube Channel. For all of you who wanted to see more of JabbaWockeeZ -- is this enough?? Thanks for the tip, Cherry!

BreakSk8, Status Quo on America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent continues to feature crews from America's Best Dance Crew Season 1. BreakSk8 and a reconfigured Status Quo (called SQ Entertainment) passed their auditions and made it to Las Vegas. If the BreakSk8 videos below is removed from Hulu, click here and watch BreakSk8 at 4:00 and SQ Entertainment (no individual video available) at 8:33. They now join ICONic and Live in Color for the next round at AGT. Time for an ABDC 1 reunion, anyone?
Thanks for the tip, John!

Video: Quest Promo for ABDC 4!

MTV just sent me a high quality copy of the Quest promo for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The tagline is: 'Sundays are for worship'. Enjoy!

Upcoming events - Week of July 23

• July 23: Gigi Torres's Reel Release Party in Hollywood, CA. Gigi is part of Essence, a popular girl crew. Performers to include Essence, Kaba Legacy, Other Duck Fashion Show (sponsored by ABDC alums Lando, Rino, Joesar and others). Click here for details
• Quest: July 24 - Jet Nightclub in Las Vegas; July 26- The Showdown in Delano, CA
• July 25-26- Str08 Hip Hop presents E-Va-lution in Norfolk VA, with performances and workshops by Beat Freaks, Fanny Pak, Kaba Modern and Boogie Bots.
  
• July 25-26: Super Cr3w at Halifax Summer Rush. Purchase tickets at CanadasWonderland.com (July 25 may already be sold out)
• July 26: A New Mvmt Workshop to benefit Women for Women International (a charity to help women survivors of war) featuring April Rodriguez (Kaba Legacy, Boxcuttuhz), Kristen Lorello (Fysh N Chicks), Gigi Torres (Essence), and Tracy Seiler (Choreo Cookies). Stylz Dance Studio in Covina, CA. Call (626)858-0800 for details and tickets
• July 26: The Showdown, featuring Quest and TM7 (Team Millennia) in Delano, CA
  

Battles On Mission G: Knucklehead Zoo vs Natural Flav, Massive Monkees vs Full Force

Mission G, the Gatorade website that brings you JabbaWockeeZ ads and much more, has two battles of interest to America's Best Dance Crew fans, from their Freestyle 11 series. First, here's Knucklehead Zoo (one of the three crews that begat Super Cr3w) vs. Natural Flav. Next, there's Massive Monkees vs Full Force (another Super Cr3w forebear). & Funk Fellaz. These don't embed well, so just go to the site. Thanks for the tip, SuperCr3w.com!

Behind the Scenes at Step Up 3D taping - words and video

Nancy Senior was an extra on the set of Step Up 3D last week, and shares her experience: " I was at the Step Up 3D movie shoot as a member of the audience during the final battle scene in the movie. We began shooting the final battle scene on Tuesday July 14 and we were asked to come back on July 15, 16, and 17. It took the course of 4 days to shoot the final battle scene and it is going to be amazing. The dancing was phenomenal with alot of choreo, bboy solos, as well as solos from amazing poppers, and a solo from krumper Casper. Adam Sevani, Alyson Stoner, as well as newcomer Rick Malambri, who plays Luke, are all in the movie. The movie is going to be in 3D, so be prepared for a lot of amazing dancing with many surprising special effects. Think BoogieBots Game Over performance on ABDC2, but with a million dollar budget."

You really must click here to get the INSIDE information about the taping, including what it was like during and between the tapings, her impressions meeting the stars (including Jalen and Lil Demon) and the bboys, impromptu bboy battles between tapings, and other glimpses of life on the set. And, she's shares a Youtube video (from Anjelilodemon's channel) from a few weeks earlier that features many of the people she worked with. Thanks Nancy -- we HAVE to have a NY Blogging Best Dance Crew night at the movies when this opens some of the stars, extras, and the fans.

Video: Beat Freaks at Monsters of Hip Hop in Orlando

Beat Freaks were among the special performers at Monsters of Hip Hop in Orlando Florida on July 19, 2009. Here's their dance (featuring a Michael Jackson tribute) from HHDancer78's Youtube Channel:

Stills from the Quest Promo for ABDC4 - UPDATED

MTV has started running the promotional ad for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. It features Quest in a gothic setting -- fun but not a religious experience. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you can go to MTV.com for more pictures. And, once the video is online, we'll give you the link. Thanks for the tip, John!
UPDATE: For more stills from the Quest shoot, visit the Quest Crew Fusion fansite.
Photccredit: MTV

Survey: What were the best ABDC performances 'of all time'?

On August 2, MTV will run a clip show with their picks for the best America's Best Dance Crew performances of 'all time' (i.e., Seasons 1-3). I don't know how MTV'll choose them, but here we'll let YOU decide. We narrowed the field to 60 choices using results on two previous surveys (Best of 2008, Best of Season 3), and hundreds of reader comments over the last 2 weeks. Sorry if your choice didn't make it; the number had to be limited due to survey constraints. Now it's up to you, with a few ground rules:

• Like MTV, we are trying to highlight 10 different crews and the favorite performance for those crews, NOT the 10 best individual performances For a flavor of that, please look at the results of our earlier surveys (linked above).
  
• Pick up to 10 choices.
  
• Please, only pick ONE performance per crew, even if you LOVE that crew. For example, even if you eat, sleep and breathe JabbaWockeeZ, only pick ONE JabbaWockeeZ performance! In our results, we'll present the top 10 crews and their most popular performance, so there's no good reason to vote twice for your favorite crew
  
• Be constructive -- don't use the comments field to trash the crews you hate. Instead, reward the ones you love with votes and praise.
• If you really don't like these rules, play along but let me know that you also want a survey for the best individaul performances. Maybe week I'll rerun the survey with a different set of rules. Meanwhile, chillax!
  

Quest at Kababayan Fest

Pacific Rim Video made it to Kababayan Fest and filmed two videos of Quest's set: an individual showcase including introduction of members who didn't appear with them on America's Best Dance Crew (including Boxcuttuhz Lydia Pak) and their performance set, incorporating greatest hits with some new material

ABDC4's Canadian Premiere - August 9

MuchMusic just announced that they will air America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 starting on Sunday August 9 at 9pm ET. That's the same time as in the United States -- no delay! Thanks for the tip, Adam!

Poreotics at the Beatniks Showcase = their ABDC4 audition routine?

Many readers emailed or commented about Poreotic's performance at the Beatnicks Showcase in Mira Costa, CA on July 18, 2009, from Shorty110892's Youtube Channel.
UPDATE: Reader KIYY mentions in the comments that Poreotics member Dumbo told him that this was the routine used for Poreotics' audition for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4.

JabbaWockeeZ on E! News

JabbaWockeeZ (winners of ABDC Season 1) appeared on E! News on July 17, giving a dance lesson to reporter Jayne Kennedy. Thanks to HoneywithSole for spotlighting this video:

Survey Results: Who did you think should appear on ABDC4?

The results are in for our survey that asked readers who THEY would pick to appear on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Out of 1,732 votes, the top picks were:

1. L0st Kids (46%)
2. Xternal Technique (19%)
3. Poreotics (17%)
4. Fr3sh, Marvelous Motion (14%)
5. Knucklehead Zoo (10%)
6. Beast Mode, Flex Flav, Inside the Box, Massive Monkees, and Royal Flush (9%)

For many reasons that I can guess, this list differed substantially from the survey choices on who our readers thought MTV would pick for ABDC 4. Now, we just have to wait a few more weeks to see who really made it to the show.

Video - Syrenz audition routine for ABDC4

The Syrenz auditioned for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 in Los Angeles. For those who have been asking, they're the crew with the fans shown prominently on the MTV trailer for ABDC4.

Though we don't think there's any non-MTV tape of the audition, Teldon identified two videos of The Syrenz' audition routine: their rehearsal the night before the auditions and this polished version of the same routine (both from TheSyrenz Youtube channel). They show an blending of sensual (but not hoochie) choreography and hip hop technique that feels different than most other crews I've seen. Here's an interview with them from Pacific Rim Video. Thanks, Teldon!

Kaba Modern Performance at Knotts Berry Farm

Pacific Rim Video taped Kaba Modern's performance at the Kababayan Fest on June 18, 2009. It's a nifty mix of the old and the new, from the larger KM team.

ABDC Stars at Hip Hop International

If you need even more reasons to attend Hip Hop International, how about performances by Beat Freaks, Super Cr3w, workshops by ABDC alums, and several of the auditioners for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4.

• Super Cr3w will perform in a showcase on August 2
• That same day, Beat Freaks will perform a special tribute to Toni Basil, the award winning performer and choreographer who is receiving a Living Legends of Hip Hop award.
• Some of the workshop leaders include Fanny Pak's Matt Cady, Beat Freak's Teresa Espinosa, ABDC Judge Shane Sparks, ABDC choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo, and Tony Gogo (one of the original Lockers)
  
• Several of the crews who auditioned for Season 4 have emailed me to say that they'll be competing at HHI. I'm not at liberty to name them, but I guarantee it'll be good.

Go to Hiphopinternational.com for all the information and to buy tickets.

NY ABDC Audition highlight: Rhythmology choreography callback

At the America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 auditions, several of the crews were invited to a callback where they had to incorporate a choreography routine using their own style, then show their freestyling.We were able to watch the callbacks during the NY auditions on June 14, 2009. IMPORTANT: this site has no inside information or influence on the choices made by MTV or the ABDC judges. We just post what we like.

For your enjoyment: the choreography callback performance by Rhythmology. This was one instance where I enjoyed the callback even more than their audition. Their approach to the challenge was very different than most in their pairing, freestyles, and transitions. It's not as polished as their audition (how could it be, given the time constraint of learning the steps and assembling it in an hour?), but shows a willingness to take some risks and have some fun.

Video: Music Box 3 with Beat Freak Rino & Maryss, plus the Harajuku Girls

Here's a cute number from LovablehugableGuy's Youtube channel: Rino Nakasone of the Beat Freaks choreographed the Music Box 3 event. She and fellow Beat Freaks also perform as dolls and clowns.

Video: JabbaWockeeZ backstage on tour

For those of you who fantasize about the glamorous life of famous dancers on tour, here's a cold shower: JabbaWockeeZ backstage and at their tour bus, courtesy of KeepItMovement's Youtube channel.

Is this the right list for survey on Best ABDC performances of all time?

On Tuesday, July 21 I'm going to post a survey on the best crew performances for the first three seasons of America's Best Dance Crew. I am going to ask readers to pick ONLY ONE performance per crew (example: even if you love Quest I only want you to vote for one of their performances) with 10 choices total per person.

Based on results so far from the earlier post, here's a list of readers favorites. I've included every crew that received a nomination in that post's comments section. But because of survey size limitations, I need to keep the nominations down to the best/most popular 3-4 performances per crew, and am excluding multi-crew performances like Quest/Beat Freaks' 'Beggin'. Please let me know by Sunday July 19 if you think I'm really missing something here. NOTE: If you propose that I add something for a crew that already has 3-4 performances listed, then PLEASE also tell me which of their dances to take OFF the list! Thanks.

• ASIID: Dangerous; Whatever you Like
• Beat Freaks: Freeze; Hot N Cold; Womanizer
• Boogie Bots: Game Over
• Break Sk8: Beat It
• Dynamic Edition: My Humps
• Distorted X: Live Edition
• Fanny Pak: Get Ur Freak On; Touch my Body; When I Grow Up
• Fly Khicks: Pon de Replay
• Fysh N Chicks: Billie Jean; Freakum Dress
• ICONic: One Night (audition)
• JabbaWockeeZ: Apologize; Evolution of Dance: PYT; Red Pill
• Kaba Modern: History of Hip Hop; Sexual Seduction; Technologic; Thriller
• Live in Color: Bombs over Baghdad; Watch them Roll
  
• Phresh Select: Big Things Poppin'
• Quest: Hero; Hip hop decathlon; OrQuestra; Toxic
• Ringmasters: Macarena; Welcome Back
• SoReal Cru: A Milli, One Minute Man; Snake
• Status Quo: (Crank that) Soulja Boy
• Strikers: Gimme More; Move (if you wanna)
• Super Cr3w: Get Up offa that Thing; Last Word; We Fly High
• Supreme Soul: Audition; Party Like a Rock Star; Church
• Team Millennia: Live audition; Me against the Music
• Xtreme Dance Force: Earthquake
  

Video: Michael Jackson tribute class with Team Millennia's Jeff Viray

Short and bittersweet: part of a dance class tribute to Michael Jackson, taught by Team Millennia member Jeff Viray, from Jeff's Youtube Channel.

Upcoming Events: week of July 16

• July 17-19: Monsters of Hip Hop featuring Beat Freaks and Nappytabs (Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo, choreographers for America's Best Dance Crew) in Orlando, FL
  
• July 17: JabbaWockeeZ Meet and Greet at the Bank in Dallas, TX
  
• July 18: Quest and Kaba Modern at the Kababayan Fest at Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA
• July 18: Super Cr3w at Battle Swagger at Shiekh on Florin in Sacramento, CA.
• July 20-24: Eddie "Stylez" Gutierrez of JabbawockeeZ teaching at Summer Intensive Workshops for On The Edge Dance Studio in San Diego, CA
  

ABDC4 airdates and taping schedule

To help out many readers planning trips to LA, setting their social calendars and programming their TiVos, MTV provided the following schedule of airdates and tapings for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. The schedule is subject to possible but unforeseen changes. UPDATE: an astute reader points out that the MTV's VMA awards will be air in ABDC's timeslot on September 13. There's no official word yet on how the ABDC schedule will shift for that week (or afterward).

Airdates:

• Sunday August 2: Clip show of the best performances from ABDC Seasons 1-3
• Sunday August 9: 90 minute premiere. The show will then appear on Sunday nights for 8 weeks with 60 minute episodes, with a live finale on Sunday September 27

Taping dates. All tickets and details will be available through 1iota.com:

• Tuesday August 4: taping of premiere episode
  
• Thursdays from August 13 through September 17: taping of episodes 2-7
  
• Sunday September 27: Live finale
  

Video: SoReal Cru's Andrew Baterina interprets "Successful"

SoReal Cru TV presents a mesmerizing video: Andrew Baterina interpreting "Successful" by Drake. The end of the video has a preview of future SoReal dance videos. More crew news: Soreal Cru will be competing in Las Vegas for Hip Hop Internationals, and have a studio opening up very soon in Houston, TX.

Lil Mama's house - featured on MTV Cribs

If you need proof that the music business has been good for America's Best Dance Crew judge Lil Mama, check out her 4 story Los Angeles apartment. She's featured on the latest MTV Cribs, showing off her JabbaWockeeZ posters, Teen Choice award surfboard, custom art, Fruity Pebbles, and white BMW with black detailing. Click here to watch.
Photocredit: MTV

Interesting crew from the Orlando auditions: Royal Flush

Over the past few weeks, we profiled crews that auditioned for Season 4 of America's Best Dance Crew. In some cases, we've highlighted crews that auditioned in Orlando or Chicago that we didn't personally watch at the auditions but have loyal fans clamoring for us to show their videos. If we love the videos, we'll post them to let our readers make their own decisions.

So, for your consideration: Royal Flush from Atlanta, GA. They made it to the choreography callbacks, but were not ultimately chosen for Season 4. They've got some smooth moves and an engaging style -- hope to see more of them in the future! Here's their performance at the Atlanta Art Institute, which was similar to their audition, from the RoyalFlushCrewAtl Youtube channel. The second video shows their free-style at the same event (starting at 1:15),which would give a sense of what they did at the ABDC Choreography callback.

Fanny Pak in Hawaii -- video with some new performances

Fanny Pak performed in Hawaii on June 20, with some new songs and dances. Thanks to Ryandahawaiian for filming this!

International Mailbox: Pinoy dance competition; Kenya's Best Dance Crew, Pinoy

• The popular cable/satellite Filipino channel GMA Pinoy TV will be hosting a dance crew competition for Pinoy crews in the US and Canada. To compete, dance crews must upload a 2-3 minute video. Deadline is July 18. Click here for all the details.
  
• On July 25, Kenya will hold a competition to name their best dance crew. The winning Dance Crew from Kenya will as well have the honour of representing Kenya at the International Final on September 12th 2009, in Nairobi. Other Winning Teams for the international contest will come from: Cameroon, France, Ghana, Holland, Nigeria, Singapore, Tanzania and USA. The best Street Dancers in the World will walk away with a Prize of US $25,000! Read all about it here.

New Survey: Which crews would YOU pick for ABDC 4?

It's your turn to vote on who YOU would pick to compete on America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. Now that information is coming out about crews (like Knucklehead Zoo, Inside the Box, and L0st Kids) who didn't get chosen for ABDC, here's a place for you to let MTV know what you would like to see in Season 4 (and beyond!) We don't have the full lineups for any of the cities here (either due to lack of info, lack of videos, or our own personal choices), but here's a good sample of the crews that auditioned for Season 4. Sorry if we didn't include your favorite crew on the list! To help you choose, you can watch LA videos here, NY videos here, and Chicago/Orlando videos here.

You can pick as many crews as you want, but please try to keep it to 9 choices total, since MTV will only pick 9 crews. This survey will be open for about a week. NOTE: I had to go back and add in a crew I accidentally omitted. By doing this, all votes cast beforehand were voided out and not counted. So, If you voted before 10am on Tuesday July 14, sorry about that and please vote again! Thanks for the idea and the help, ILogan!

poll by twiigs.com

The L0st Kids audition video! along with some bad news

The L0st Kids audition video is finally available. And believe me, it was worth the wait! However, the bad news. On their Youtube channel, they mention that they've been told that they will not appear in America's Best Dance Crew Season 4. I, for one, am very disappointed. You can be sure we'll keep up with all their other activities and shows.

We need a new field reporter for the ABDC4 tapings!

America's Best Dance Crew Season 4 begins taping in less than a month. Unfortunately, our Season 3 field reporter Salima Koroma is tied up this season and can't attend. So, I am looking for replacements to meet and interview the crews at the tapings in Burbank, CA. If you're interested (or know somebody who is), email me at BloggingBestDanceCrew@gmail.com. Or, leave a comment here and include your email address in the appropriate field. I'll contact you shortly with the job description. The first taping is Tuesday August 4, but most others will be on Thursdays, starting late afternoon.

Also, please let me know if you are going to attend the tapings. Though you can't bring cameras in, I'd love to post your spoiler-free impressions of the evenings.

Your chance to be an extra in Step Up 3D and watch the taping of the finale!

Step Up 3D is shooting their final battle sequence this week in New York. They need audience extras to appear in this final sequence. You get to watch the taping, which includes Adam Sevani, Alyson Stoner, Twitch, Madd Chadd, Legacy, Flipz, Ivan Koumaev, BBoy Cloud, the cast of Step Up 2, Kreative Humor and others perform LIVE for free.

Just email su3worldjam@gmail.com with your name and telephone number now! SPACE IS LIMITED so email now before the list is full. First come first serve. Minimum age: 18.

Thanks to Melissa at SuperC3w.com for the tip!

Survey Results on who you think MTV will pick for ABDC4

We've closed our survey on "Which crews will MTV choose for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4." There were 2,187 votes cast for the crews for which we could show videos. Obviously there were more crews who auditioned, especially in Orlando and Chicago, who weren't included in the survey but still will make the show! Of those crews included in the survey, here's the picks for who you expect to see on ABDC4:

1. Massive Monkees (38%)
2. L0st Kids (28%)
3. Fr3sh (22%)
4. Poreotics (13%)
5. Rhythmology (12%)
6. (tied) Knucklehead Zoo, Marvelous Motion (11%)
7. (tied) Inside the Box, Project D, Rhythm City (9%)

Thanks for your participation in this survey. Tomorrow, I'll post the follow-up survey: "Who do you WANT to appear on ABDC4?" I am VERY curious on how (or whether) it will differ from these results.

Today's the last day for our survey: "Which crews will MTV pick for ABDC Season 4?"

I'm closing the survey for "Which crews will MTV pick for America's Best Dance Crew Season 4" tomorrow morning (around 7am ET). So, if you haven't voted yet, you've got one more day. I'll announce the results tomorrow. Then on Tuesday, I'll post the companion survey -- "Which crews would YOU pick for ABDC 4?". I'll be interested to see how (or if) the two surveys yield different results.