jason carter

With no elimination last week, the remaining crews may have to work twice as hard this week to remain in the competition! DancePlug host Jason Carter checks up with Rated Next Generation, Fanny Pak and Elektrolytes, before the Rihanna challenge.

The DancePlug Team

Dancers Alliance held an important meeting regarding the SAG/AFTRA Merger, informing and answering questions on how it would be positively affecting dancers, and why they need YOU to vote yes. Take a look at our interviews with talents Kevin Stea, Dana Wilson, Sharon Ferguson, Tony Testa, Brian Friedman, Vergi Rodriguez, actress Gabrielle Carteris, dancers Board representative Bobbie Bates, and Mathis Dunn.

The DancePlug Team

The second TIV Awards took place last Wednesday, February 15th at Level 3 in Hollywood, and guess who was on the red carpet and behind the scenes chatting with nominees, winners and guests... Take a look at our interviews, including Brian Friedman, Joelle Martinec, Leslie Scott, and many more! Click here to watch all the interviews.

The DancePlug Team

DancePlug with host Jason Carter sat down with choreographer Tina Landon and assistant choreographer Jason Myhre, after one of their rehearsals for Rihanna. They talk about what got them started, working with artists, such as Janet, Rihanna and Willow Smith, what they look for in a dancer and much more.

watch the interview

The DancePlug Team

Last week, DancePlug covered three different dance events in Los Angeles: Dancers Alliance/Aftra Launch Party, Maxt Out: The Homecoming, and Dancescape.

Dancers Alliance were celebrating their new affiliation with AFTRA, on Thursday November 11th at Boulevard 3. The evening was hosted by Dana Wilson and George Jones, and we got to see some performances by the Beat Freaks, Justin Giles, Jillian Meyers and Shaun Evaristo. Take a look at our interviews, hosted by Jason Carter, with Aisha Frances, Dana Wilson, Ava Bernstine, Jillian Meyers, Reina Hidalgo, Lindsey B, Chuck Maldonado, JaQuel Knight, Napoleon and Tabitha, Tera Perez, Levi Walker, The Movement's Jim Keith, Clear Talent Group's Pete Engle and Shayna Brouillard.

Maxt Out, also celebrating, just had their 10th year event at the Pasadena City College, and our host Starr Session was on the scene.

Dancescape held their benefit show, this past Saturday November 13th in Beverly Hills. Benjamin Allen was there to talk to some of the choreographers, check out their interviews.

The DancePlug Team

Hello Kiddies,

So sorry for my recent absence, I felt as though nothing exciting was happening to actually talk about . But oh how things have changed... hehehe... So it's official: Blueprint Cru and Poreotix are the final crews in the running to be America's Best Dance Crew. I knew it all along. Meaning...

BLUEPRINT CRU is technically an amazing crew. Every week they are consistently entertaining and monumentally breathtaking. Though, the past two performances it seems that they have been scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to recapture that initial Blueprint Cru magic that so captivated us in the beginning.

HYPE 5-0... god bless their souls. those freaking Hawaiians deserved to stay on that show. To be quite honest, they smacked the s@%t out of Blueprint Cru and really made it know that they were on that show to win it. I felt that out of all the crews that appeared this season, they wanted it the most and every show they proved that they can think outside of the box and deliver on what the challenge was. I shed a quiet tear for them as they were eliminated last week. America is an unfair place. :(

POREOTIX yes A PERFECT 10! When these midgets, I mean when these boys are given carte blanche to do what they do, you are in for a show. For the Hip-Hop Nation challenge every crew had to incorporate a different type of street dance style from across the nation into their performance to a track produced by SWIZZ BEATS. What makes this crew so memorable is the clever way they executed that task. It's like watching a comedy show with fierce movement. What I don't like about this crew is that they never give you any kind of intensity.There is no passion in their face or choreo. Everything is a joke to them it seems. Emotion is definitely lacking. Always. With Blueprint Cru they dance with intention and conviction. You can see it in their eyes, and in their movement. It comes from a very emotional place. This is not a game.

These two crews also had to do a final dance off to emblazen in our minds America should vote for them. When watching Poreotix final performance it became so clear this group's choreo strategy. They are a plethora of peel offs and mirror effects. It's like if one dancer does a move they all have to mimic the same move. All in all their final perfomance was more of the same. Blueprint Cru didn't impress either. Again more of the same. But I do agree that these two groups are deserving of where they are in the competition. The real drama will be next week when these two face off... can't wait for the fireworks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  until next time...


stay plugged in.
J.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I say that in that obnoxious LA lingo of singing our words (you know... that dancer language of approval when something is... SICKENING FIERCE).  But that is the resounding emotion I feel when I speak of this week's showdown on ABDC. Tragically i didn't feel the same way about last week's crews. But that's all in the past. Onward Forward...

This week the crews form the East went head to head in an all out showdown to secure a spot on the show. Five crews from the East competed and only three advanced. I must say the competition was equally amazing, as each crew was stellar, entertaining and super fierce.

Draztik

This crew was amazing. They are from Providence, Rhode Island and brought the heat. This crew had a smooth style and actually could execute choreography. I felt in their performance they had enough tricks and eye popping moves to keep me entertained. this crew really shined when they had to dance off again the bottom three crews to prevent elimination. HOLY S*&T!!! They turned up the heat and took no prisoners. The females in this crew are no joke. Not only can the ladies attack choreography just as hard as the boys, they are also pretty to look at. But this crew did not advance to the Nationals. Shocker!

Legendary Seven

Yea yea yea... We've seen this before... a crew of really urban guys who flip, tut, break, pop and lock. YAWN. They were clean had ok choreography. One of the guys in the crew was actually in another crew that competed on a previous season… LOL isn't that illegal? haha... Regardless, this crew was forgettable and the only thing I could remember about them is their outfits. Love pink.


Saltare

Ok, so the name is Italiano for JUMP (in case you were wondering). This crew brought something different to ABDC. They incorporated choreography with jump roping and executed flawlessly. They had so much creativity in their performance and well as technical perfection. So bizarre but mesmerizing how they could transition from old school double dutch to choreography without "jumping" a beat. Definitely original. I do think though, that this crew will have a hard time learning choreography only due to the fact that their gimmick is using jump ropes and it's really hard to break away from something when you are so versed in it. This crew is extremely proficient in using jump ropes in their performances that to extract that element might prove disastrous. This crew also gave me somewhat of a cheerleader vibe. Any minute I felt they were going to jump rope into a pyramid! Let's see what they have in store for the Nationals.     


Static Noyze

LOL… ok i love some of the names of these crews… Static Noyze? Really? Anyway, this crew was good. They really didn't do anything that stood out. Typical jazz funk/hip hop choreo and some um West Hollywood shablamming. I think they will be solid contender if they can be versatile and adapt to the different styles that are yet to come.


Blueprint Cru

I really like this crew. They are from Quebec, Montreal and are super talented. This blended super tight choreography with breaking and popping. They had very clean choreography and super showmanship. What I liked most about this crew was that every single member was at the same intensity. There was no weak link. Again, the choreography was exceptionally clean. Nuff said.

All in all this week was definitely entertaining and fun. I do think these crews need to incorporate more choreography into their performances. Tricks are great, but this is a dance show. Freaking Dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Jason J. Carter

Until next time... Stay plugged in.