If you haven’t heard of the Jabbawockeez, then it is fairly safe to say hip-hop dance is not one of your biggest interests. However for hip-hop dancers like myself, the Jabbawockeez play a very important role in the hip-hop community because they are the dance group phenomenon that is carrying hip-hop dance to the mainstream. Now I am not talking about just being background dancers in shows and in music videos, I’m talking multiple guest appearances on various television shows and headlining live shows equal to any high class ballet or river dance events (but obviously much cooler).
What separates the Jabbawockeez from other dance groups and choreographers is their overall dancing ability and style. The best way I can explain it is, the Jabbawockeez do not just throw any dance move to a sound but rather they use the sound to create a dance move. Essentially, they use almost every sound in a song and attach an intricate dance move to it which then brings the sound to life by giving it an image. This type of attention to detail is what many other dance groups and choreographers fail to do. Furthermore, all members of the Jabbawockeez have natural dancing abilities which they can incorporate into dance routines. By doing this, they do not look like they are dancing to counts but instead their choreography takes on the look of freestyle dance (which in my opinion is true dancing) and this is also something that other dance groups and choreographers have difficulty doing.
After winning America’s Best Dance Crew and through the use of social media like YouTube, the Jabbawockeez have grown rapidly in the hip-hop community. Their influence on hip-hop dancers will dramatically advance the future of hip-hop dance and slowly but surely attract the interests of other social groups. Just wait and see.
Here are some YouTube clips for your enjoyment (I've included the YouTube link because Blogger seems to cut the video image in half. So, copy/paste the links into your browser to view entire video):
Jabbawockeez guest appearance on So You Think You Can Dance 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlAnz-YcyLo
Jabbawockeez at Monsters of Hip Hop show LA 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UESGKnY2aYE
Jabbawockeez America’s Best Dance Crew Compilation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbyf8hx4qG4
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