06 May 2008 08:53 AM
From the Alvin Lin blog, by Alvin Lin on 2008-03-28 01:15 PM (original link)
The finale for MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew was last night, and surprise surprise, the Jabbawockeez took home the top prize, in a decision where a record 38 million people voted for the winner!! They dominated the entire season with something new and creative every week, on top of their world class talent, style, and technique. While accepting they were sure to give props to Status Quo, a deserving opponent, who they said they considered as family. Judge comments for the Jabbawockeez included, ‘You guys are the sickest group I’ve seen in my life’...‘You all set the standard for the next 10 seasons’. In the final episode, the judges mentioned how the Jabbawockeez have inspired a new culture, a hybrid genre of dance which mixes hip hop and theater. In fact, here is a Youtube clip of an eight-year old imitating them, even the mask! Additionally, this victory was even more emotional, considering they overcame the loss of one of their crew members (Gary).
America’s Best Dance Crew was ground-breaking in its representation of Asian Americans, featuring two amazing AA teams (Jabbawockeez and Kaba Modern) who proved, week after week, that Asian Americans not only can dance, but have style and personalities. Far too often in media, Asian Americans as a group are stereotyped as stiff model minority types (engineers, scientists, geeks), or accented foreigners. America got to see another side, letting people know Asian Americans are American too, and can have endearing personalities and artistic creativity and talent in dance. Who knows, maybe this will also influence Asian American youth, into not being afraid of expressing themselves and pursuing dance or other creative pursuits. Additionally, this show should be commended for showing stories of all the dance crews from different parts of the country, of all kinds of ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It showed how the fabric of America is a lot more multicultural than we are used to seeing.
It’s hard to grasp the sheer excellence of what Jabbawockeez did without seeing the entirety of their performances. So without further ado, here’s the complete list of performances by Jabbawockeez on America’s Best Dance Crew for your streaming or downloading pleasure. I’m not a dance maven, but here is my best attempt at describing each of these clips. If you pay attention, you’ll notice the Jabbawockeez somehow connect every ending of their previous dance with the beginning of their next dance.
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