Jabbawockeez dance crew: early career, members, awards

Publish date: 2024-03-16

Jabbawockeez is no ordinary dance crew. Over the years, the group has perfected the act for which they have won awards and achieved several feats as a hip-hop dance crew emanating from America. The group performs with some sort of dexterity and uniqueness that would make you want to watch them over and over again.

The dance crew Jabbawockeez has been exciting fans since 2003 and has very much been at it.

Who are the members of that dance crew and how have they fared since they started to perform together at a single unit? What has been the group’s career trajectory and what laurels have they been able to win for their efforts and uniqueness in the dance business in America?

In this article, we shall explore the Jabbawockeez dance crew to know more about what it is all about.

What is Jabbawockeez?

For some of us who haven’t heard anything about Jabbawockeez, it is important that we get some information about what it is all about.

The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew.

The group rose to prominence when they won the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008.

Jabbawockeez was established in 2003 in San Diego, California.

It was a group formed by dancers Kevin “KB” Brewer and Joe Larot.

They participated in dance competitions with the idea of disrupting the existing dance scene.

At the time they felt that dance crews were clones of one another; were dancing to the “top” of the music instead of digging deep into the music, and they set out to do something different.

With Jabbawockeez, they showcased freestyle dance, were able to strike a balance between dancing to the music, and dancing as an artistic expression.

Jabbawockeez  early career

The dancers began performing wearing ski masks and gloves.

The mask and glove motif was adopted as a tribute to the 1970s San Francisco strutting crew Medea Sirkas.

Gary “Gee One” Kendall and Randy “DJ Wish One” Bernal were both members of the MindTricks dance crew who were active in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Members of Jabbawockeez

Jabbawockeez’s members included Phil “Swagger Boy” Tayag, Ben “B-Tek” Chung, Chris “Cristyle” Gatdula, Rynan “Kid Rainen” Paguio, and Jeff “Phi” Nguyen. Tony “Transformer” Tran joined the crew in 2013.

The Jabbawockeez does not have a group leader; choreography for their performances, as well as music, design choices, is made as a collective unit.

The original eight-member iteration of the Jabbawockeez began performing as a group in 2004.

This lineup consisted of Gary, Randy, Phi, Phil, Kevin, Joe, Rynan, and Chris.

Jabbawockeez on America’s Best Dance Crew

The Jabbawockeez auditioned as a seven-member contingent for the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew (ABDC), because of crew member limits imposed by the show.

Originally, the ABDC group was supposed to consist of Gary Kendell, Phil Tayag, Kevin Brewer, Joe Larot, Rynan Paguio, Chris Gatdula, and Phi Nguyen; however, when Gary died that year, and Joe suffered a knee injury during the audition rounds, the group chose Ben Chung to replace Joe on the show and left Gary’s spot vacant, proceeding with six members.

They eventually went on to become the winners of the show. The win earned the crew $100,000 (USD).

Jabbawockeez awards

After all these years of providing excitement for dance fanatics, what awards did the Jabbawockeez dance crew win?

The first significant achievement of the Jabbawockeez was winning season 1 of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008.

In the 2008 AXA (Asian Excellence Awards), the Jabbawockeez were voted as the Favorite Reality TV Star, where they also performed with Kaba Modern on stage.

On August 5, 2012, they were the first dance crew to be awarded the Living Legend of Hip Hop Award from Hip Hop International.

They were the recipients of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Set It Off Competition 2013, where the Jabbawockeez received the award via video and presented BabyWockee for her number.

Source: GhBase.com

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