This past Sunday January 25th, the 20th annual VIBE Dance Competition was held. I myself first heard about VIBE back in 2010, for VIBE XV – there we saw Poreotics compete as a full crew before entering ABDC, and one of the earliest performances of Kinjaz (then known as ANBU Black Ops). I’ve enjoyed it every year up until last year, which included performances like Akashi Breaker’s bboy set that placed third, Culture Shock LA’s Daft Funk, and that one set from The Company that went viral (at the end of May if I might add, when we had all seen it back in January. Can anyone say #dancehipster?)

After last year’s jam packed show, the teams competing had a high bar to live up to, especially for the 20th year. I’m glad to report that they smashed that bar, with every performance being amazing. Sadly being based on the East Coast I’m limited to watching stuff on YouTube.

Congrats to the Winners, Cookies, as well as GRV who took second, and The Company who took third. More impressions on every routine of the night below the fold.



Pac Modern

To start off the night, Pac Modern brings a simple medley, but don’t think it was simple. By not having a theme, they were able to focus on the dancing, and it showed, especially in their transitions and blocking. My favorite section would be the Big Bad Wolf section at about 5 minutes in – something about that song, and the fact that they threw in bboy, funk and housing foundation to that song (which you wouldn’t normally expect) was exciting.



Samurai

Next up, the winners of VIBE Japan bring a ninja/samurai themed set (appropriately enough). The stand out moment has to be the closer to Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,” that begins at about 4 minutes in. I won’t say it flowed that well with the rest of their songs, but the choreography matched both the theme of the song, as well as of their entire set.



Underground Flow (Exhibition)

For the first exhibition set, 4 man bboy crew Underground Flow performed. Made up of the Lor brothers Villn and Mpact, (featured in the Bboy film Among Bboys), as well as Bgirl Val Pal and Bgirl Logistx (who is only like 12 years old. What). It was a rather safe set, with a bit of a down tempo song, but they definitely were able to highlight each member’s individual strengths well.



Three23

When I first saw this upload on the YouTube channel, I thought it was an exhibition set based on how long it was. Factor in all the production value (lights, smoke, stage props, backgrounds) and it definitely wasn’t your typical competition set. But it was definitely Three23 and a celebration of who they were, of all the different parts that make up the whole and how you’ve “Never Had a Friend Like Them.” as their last song tells us. Featuring highlights from the Area Kidz, Jaira Miller and Kaelynn “KK” Harris from 8 Flavahz, Lil Tight Eyez from Street Kingdom, and The Escsntrcs, this routine definitely wasn’t lacking talent.



Chapkis Dance Family

Bringing another Ninja/Mortal Kombat inspired themed set, Chapkis Dance Family were super clean throughout, especially for the large group sections. Some specific examples include the bullet time at 1:25, to the thousand hands at 3:50, to everything from 4:40 until the end. But honestly any single section was very well done and executed.



Frenemies (Exhibition)

A sort of super crew led by Vinh Nguyen of some of the best dancers in the community, this time they led a fun chef/restaurant themed set. I can’t believe they actually pied someone 2 minutes in, but that just shows how much fun these guys are having – if you watch what’s going on in the background as well, you’ll get some fun stuff. By far the cherry on the cake of this piece would be Vinh’s Jealous choreography at 5:30 in.



Rogue Makers

I think of all the crews that competed, Rogue Makers (an offshoot of Mischief Makers) had the most “technique” in their set (that is, contemporary/classical influence as opposed to more street-based foundation). It’s always nice to see all the different styles that the community has to offer. Unfortunately I don’t have as much experience in technique, so it’s harder for me to comment on their piece. However everything from 6 minutes on, using the cloth and changing costume (the only real significant costume change I believe) was super artistic and breath-taking.



Brotherhood

The first of two Canadian crews to compete, they came with a Sons of Anarchy theme (which sadly I don’t watch). Based on what I know about the show though, their all-out aggressive choreography definitely matched their theme spot on. I think what impressed me the most is how they can come with smaller numbers than a lot of other crews, but still fill the stage just as much – they just have t hat much presence to them.



Mischief Makers (Exhibition)

Being a spiritual successor to Fanny Pak (and affiliated with Maker Empire), these dancers brought a theatrical flair by bringing a Grease Inspired piece. That of course means an obligatory (at 6 minutes in) “We’ll Be Together” set, which coincidentally was my favorite part of the routine, just because of how much fun it was. It showcases how these dancers definitely have a range to their technique – I could definitely see Broadway influences in this piece.



CADC

In one of the more creative themes of this competition, CADC brought a hypnosis set. I think what I really love about this piece isn’t any one particular choreo set or blocking formation, but rather how they used everything all together to create an atmosphere that fit their theme – something a bit surreal, something a bit hazy/lazy, something otherworldly. This reminds me of a lot of South Asian collegiate dance groups actually, who do themes very well.



SGBM

I gotta admit some bias – SGBM is probably one of my favorite competitive crews out there. Maybe it’s just how they always look like they’re having fun on the stage (not that other crews aren’t – just that it’s super apparently with SGBM). Maybe it’s cuz they jokes in (often self deprecating – I spy a selfie stick) Maybe it’s because they throw in straight up foundation into their sets for super funky songs (my all time favorite to this day being their 2011 set to “Working Day and Night”). Regardless, I really love this set. Of course the highlight would be the aforementioned foundation portion to a funky song, this timeit being the song of the moment, “Uptown Funk,” about 3 minutes in, which may actually be my favorite segment in all of Vibe



Kinjaz (Exhibition)

When I dance, one trick I like to do is to take on “personas” to help guide me as I dance. Sometimes I’ll be a ninja, sometimes I’ll be a drunkard. And sometimes, I just wanna be a little kid who still laughs at dick jokes. Kinjaz taps into that last one in this performance. A lot. But that’s part of what makes them who they are – being able to embrace that inner child and have fun with their friends/brothers… while happening to have some of the best dancing in the world. While I won’t say I liked it more than some of their other sets, it definitely was an embodiment of who they were. Tony Tran’s set about 12 minutes in was especially good as far as the dancing went. There were also a lot of nice throwbacks – for example Mike Song’s Wii dance, and a reference to “The Sacred Box,” one of their earliest routines. This was less of a dance performance, and more of an experience.



Poreotics (Exhibition) (click for link because it’s on Facebook)

To kick off the second half, Poreotics was a pretty solid choice to get the crowd hyped for the coming routines. They brought their shades, they brought the humor, and they brought top class popping and animation choreography. Some highlights from me dance wise – the breakdown of the “Wild West” section starting at 1:20, the Suit and Tie segment at 7 minutes in, and the Hey Ya acoustic set as their closer right after Suit and Tie. Also, it’s interesting to see how they interpreted Uptown Funk compared to the other crews that used it in their routines (which I think is something I love in general about dance – being able to see how the same music can be interpreted differently). It’s also great to see that they still retain their inherent ability to work the crowd through their dynamics – be it through bringing in some Indian Jones inspired boulder chase sequences, or hyping them up directly.

Of course, I can’t discuss this set without talking about how there were actually eight people dancing on stage, which with Dumbo competing on Dancing With The Stars in Vietnam, means there were three “reinforcements” on stage Sunday. After reaching out to the crew for comment, they confirmed there are no official roster additions, and declined to provide specific names as to who these mystery dancers were (though social media sleuthing may lead to answers, but I’ll leave that up to you, dear reader.) In any case, the performance definitely did not suffer from these reinforcements, as this whole routine was great fun, which is, I think, part of what is at the core of who Poreotics are.



Kaba Modern

For some reason, when watching this set, I really got a sense of nostalgia of watching old school dance competitions. Which makes sense, Kaba Modern was one of the first to really help shape the scene. And that’s not a bad thing either – it’s good to know your history and pay tribute to it. Through their costumes, song selection, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a throwback-ish piece, but with modern sensibilites in mind. The set at 2:40 especially felt like classic Kaba Modern to me. This piece also felt a lot more intimate – by having fewer people on stage, while their visuals may not have been as imposing as some other groups, each piece mattered more, and it brought a sense of closeness between dancers and audience.



GRV (Second Place)

So this is the first of the placing crews that performed. I think each placing crew embodied some aspect about dance (not that this is all that they exhibited or that they’re the only ones to show this – just what they are the best example of this during the night). In GRV’s case, they represented “Dance As Control,” and by Control I mean control of one’s own body, of one’s energy, or having the physical ability to execute moves in exactly the right way you want to. Not only did they bring mad energy, they also had the cleanliness to make it look great, both in execution of their isolations, but also in their formations and blocking.

While I say that there was a lot of energy, let me qualify that – they actually structured their set very intelligently, with ebbs and flow to the energy. It started with a downtempo, chill set that lasted 2 minutes, which was immediately followed by Bam Martin’s super intense set that lasted about a minute. This again was followed by a downtempo segment for a minute, Followed by a super precise hard hitting piece featuring Jawn Ha that lasted another minute. The final two minutes was a fusion of those two extremes to AWOLNation’s “Sail,” led at hte start by Sorah Yang before bringing eveyrone out. This last segment had a weird dynamic where you felt this pounding power pulsing from them, but it was restrained, if barely. I think that ebb and flow and control of their energy to let it out in bursts, combined with top notch choreography and blocking really was part of what led them to placing.



Praise Team

So while Praise Team didn’t place, I sincerely believe that they were very close to doing so. They are simply one of the most creative Mega Crews out there, as evidenced by them coming back year after year with themes that not only are fun to watch, but that they embody fully in their routines, from costume to choreography and everything in between. If GRV was “Dance As Skill,” “Praise Team is “Dance as Creativity.” After all, who else would be able to come up with a routine to Up, including using balloons as props, mixing up their choreography to match each of the characters, all to one song (not counting the Up theme at the start), and be able to highlight their lead characters, without interrupting the flow of the routine.

Going from the top, they devoted 2 minutes to setting the story of Up, ie the saddest 5 minutes of any Pixar movie ever. I think from a competition point of view, this may have hurt their chances since, while it was very cute and well done, it still was an opportunity cost of potential group dancing. Regardless, I loved this segment and it really adds to the piece from the storytelling/creative aspect. Next, it goes to the one song that is used throughout the rest of the piece, “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit. Again, this just adds to their theme well, as it fits in with the lessons we learned from the movie of enjoying being who you’re with and family. Choreography wise, there isn’t as much distinction between their characters as their Wizard of Oz set in 2013, but they way they block themselves to highlight the characters of Carl, Russell, Dug, Kevin, Charles and the other dogs is not only super clean and and flows seamlessly from one to the other is mindboggling, with so many different shapes and lines being created. Their final segment, using the balloons that may or may not have paid off – there were definitely some dropped balloons that cost them points, but thematically and artistically (especially if you watch the choreo up close), it’s simply astounding at how they were able to come up with it. I can’t wait to see what they cook up next.



Academy of Villains (Exhibition)

Academy of Villains always had a flair for the edgy, what with their skeleton theme and all. However, leave it to Pharside and Krystal to twista that into a Dia de los Muertos set. I feel as if theis piece had a bit of a different feel to it than their usual choreography pieces – it’s obviously structured a bit different, and there is definitely a bit of experimentation here outside of their comfort zone (always a good thing for a group’s growth). Also special shoutout to Boogie Frantick and Marie Poppins for joining up with the Villains for htis set. Some highlights for me include the luchador section about 3 minutes in for matching the theme, the krump segment about 3:40, the acoustic “Beat It” about 5:50 in, and their Skeleton-garbed closer.



ACA Hip Hop

It may be only their second year competing at Vibe, but ACA Hip Hop definitely weren’t planning on letting themselves be left behind. Their opener was one of my favorite segments in the whole competition, (everything up till about 2 minutes in) was just super precise and crisp. There were definitely a lot of different flavors to this piece, which also just showed off the group’s diversity.



Team Millenia

I’ve seen a lot of different people refer to the theme of this set in a number of ways. Robots vs Humans, Space Invaders, etc. Regardless, Team Millenia did a great job showcasing their story of a struggle between two groups, one an oppressor and one the oppressed. They were able to distinguish between the two groups not only through their costume, but also their dance (see 4:50 for the strongest case of this). It was one of the more theatrical competing pieces, with a wide range of dancing from contemporary/technique inspired dance, to waacking and tutting. Very solid overall, showing their long heritage.



Common Ground

When I heard that Common Ground was gonna do a Battle Royale set (ie the original Hunger Games), I thought “this is gonna be good.” And it was. (shameless plug, I also have an anime blog you can check out here). Now I get that it may have been hard to follow, especially if you don’t know the source material. But as someone who is familiar with it, I think they adapted it pretty well, especially between specifc. Their song choices, from rock, to metal to rap to electronic, captured the spirit of the show. Actually, now that I think about it, they danced to a lot of songs and genres you wouldn’t expect in a competition set, so props to them for that. Likewise, their choreography matches the different themes of the different segments from the story they chose to highlight. Mitsuko’s section at 2:45 best highlights this. They are similar to Praise Team in that regard, though I think they focused a bit more the theatrical aspects and a bit less on Praise Team’s blocking. I also appreciate the costume change they had at the end to signify that everyone died except for the last two.



Entity (Exhibition)

This exhibitor brought straight up contemporary/modern dance to the stage. From what little I know about that style (not much), they definitely are very skilled. I wish I knew more to be able to comment intelligently, but alas I can’t do them justice in this write up. Just watch for yourself and be amazed at how the human body can move.



Cookies (First Place)

First off, leave it to Cookies to have a piece that really directly ties into a real life social issue. Props to them, GRV and The Company for donating their winnings to World Vision. Showing how the community really can make a difference in the world (as if we needed to be told that…) Also a note to all the non-dancers who watch this piece and get annoyed by the audience screaming “ruining” it (as I’ve see in comments in various content aggregators using this piece as their next viral dance piece) – please understand that VIBE is a community driven event, put on by the community, for the community, to showcase the community. We give energy to each other and show our support through yelling. A piece that didn’t have anyone yelling support from the audience would feel much less powerful.

Moving on, if we’ve seen Dance as Skill and Dance as Creativity (which don’t get me wrong, Cookies definitely has), I would say they best demonstrated Dance As Experience. By that, I feel like you can’t simply label this as a mere dance piece anymore, but it clearly remains so instead of being purely performance art. It’s actually kind of infuriating that it’s hard to explain why – but as a viewer you are simply pulled through the full range of emotions, as if your feeling given human form. And I guess that’s the point of dance – it expresses things that you cannot with your words. I would not expect to see this taught in a class. This is not merely something I can take in with my eyes and my ears, but with my entire body and being, my heart and soul.

As far as specifics of their dance, they performed to a single piece, “Brother” by Matt Corby – that in and of itself is super impressive. Cookies’s style is always really hard to pin down. There’s no specific foundation or technique to pin down, simply amazing, inhuman (in a good way) movement, that expresses the rawest, purest emotions with the highest degree of musicality we can attain. . From joy to fear, to sadness, this piece has it all in the most unadulterated form. The use of blankets as prop was highly risky, but leave it to them to manipulate them in so many creative ways. The bed section at four minutes is also super impressive for creative use of their props and setting. The dynamics of matching the song, speeding up and crescendoing in intensity before coming down just contributes to the overall feeling of the piece. I loved the “playtime” section at about 6 minutes, as it really brings out a sense of childlikeness (in a different way than the Kinjaz…) The final segment, adding another person to the formation that mirrors the beginning, is the cherry on top to remind us of what they’ve focused their piece on.

Congratulations to Cookies for taking this art to a whole new level, transcending what we all conventionally think of as dance to do good with their craft.





220

As my friend Esosa says, 220 is super underrated for the work they do. Their piece may not have been the most flashy, but it was super consistent, crisp, with pretty fresh choreography every time, to a variety of types of songs. Their closer at 4:45 really highlights this aspect of them, as I can’t really see any errors at all in what they do, and they keep pulling out new concepts in blocking or choreography.



The Company (Third Place)

The final group to compete and one of the place winners, this piece that the Company brought was very different than anything they usually do, at least stylistically. They’re known for their precision (which they brought as usual), but usually to different songs. In fact, the way I know them best is through their Urban Paradise sets of them having mad musicality to a single song. Here, they went with the rather risky move of doing a purely nonverbal medley. In a sense, while it was risky by removing any context the audience might have to interpret their movement, they also drew attention to their moves and could focus on the dancing and musicality for which they are so renowned for. If we’ve already seen Dance as Control, as Creativity and as Expression, this is Dance As Something Personal, or alternatively, Dance As Art. By presenting something inherently beautiful, The Company has left something for us, the viewer, to interpret what it means. By removing distractions of words, of costume, and so on, they allow us the maximum freedom to interpret their piece as we wish. Some may focus on a story, others on the feelings and emotion they convey. The Company has shown how this dance is not merely for the performers, but also for the audience as well.

Moving into specific portions that I particularly enjoyed, the segment from starting about 1:10 had a rather calming, zen like effect on myself, despite the amount of movement going on. This also happened at about 3:50 in, through about a minute of the routine. Even if not all the movements were the most hyped or the most complicated, the manner in which they executed them, and the sync and cleanliness had really made it all stand out. Another thing I enjoyed – for about three minutes, they didn’t have anyone leave the stage – this is pretty impressive given the amount of formations they had, as well as the way they had the other members use their bodies to frame the dancers. Something about the kneeling and breathing growing larger and larger just added to the whole piece, whatever it is you get out of it.



Culture Shock LA (Exhibition)

If there is one disappointment I have with this piece it is that they named the set “Piano Man” without using the Billy Joel at all. That aside, this was a great way to close the show. To perform a 15ish minute set to live piano music, first takes skill on the pianist (I really wish I knew his name to give him his due credit). To cover a variety of songs in a variety of genres, in a consistent manner between practice and now is takes talent (I heard Oompa Loompa Song, Tetris, Heigh Ho, the Up Theme, Kiss the Girl, the Jaws, Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park themes, among others. EDIT: After some research, I’ve learned that Ryan Conferido from Quest crew was responsible for this beautiful piece. Great job Ryan!

And for the dancers to be able to dance to this single instrument ( as opposed to tracks with various sounds to hit) in the variety of styles that the performance of this length with this many dancers offers also takes incredible talent and hard work. For this piece to also range from happy and humorous to serious and touching and everything in between takes an incredible collection of talent that the family called CSLA has, as only a family can go through that range of emotions. Some specific moments that stood out to me – the “I Want You Back” segment at 1 minute in, Jolee’s solo to “Runaway” at 3:30, and the “Stay With Me” segment starting at 11 minutes in.

More than anything, this piece really encapsulated the night better than anything else could. A collection of dancers from different backgrounds and histories and teams, bringing together their talents to create art on stage for their love of dance. An extended dance family, if you will.

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I desperately await the day when I am able to attend VIBE myself; when that day comes, I pray that it will be even half as amazing as this VIBE was. Everyone, exhibitor, competitors (whether or not they placed) gave amazing performances that they should absolutely be proud of.

Till Next time, Stay Funky

Ninjaboi