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I guess 30 year old men would feel embarrassed to say that they love watching America’s Best Dance Crew. But I’m 30, and I love watching it. I consider it a good show despite its cheesiness and brain-dead, saccharine entertainment that MTV usually provides. I guess I like the show because I like dancing, and I participated in the bboy scene about 8 years ago.¹

I have a few complaints about the show such as the weird camera angles, but it features good dancing and great crews. I saw all 3 complete seasons, and I’m going to list out my 10 favorite (in no particular order) America’s Best Dance Crew routines.

1. Beat Freaks : Freeze :: Link

I chose this routine (along with  Quest Crew’s OrQUESTra listed below) as one of ABDC’s best performances ever. When I first saw this routine, it blew me away. I had to watch it at least 10 more times; and every time I watched it, I appreciated it even more. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching this routine. 

I love Beat Freaks. They’re comprised of seven all-star female dance members. I wished they got Pandora though (another sick female popper who lives in that area) but oh well. They still hit very hard and know how to dance.  I love watching them perform.

2. Quest Crew : OrQUESTtra :: Link  (Skip to 35:00)

Quest Crew, from season 3, took the same bboying and athleticism of Super Cr3w and brought it to a whole new level. They’ve added in theatrics, art, drama, comedy, and clean “dance choreography.”

They display some intensely difficult and creative moves. For example: the head spin speed changes according to the piano music, the hollow back bending to music, and that weird side back flip at the end. SICK. They also show off their other creative side like the piano playing. Not to mention the whole routine looks nasty overall. I never get bored watching this over and over.

Not long ago, Quest Crew actually called themselves the Sick Step Crew. And while they called themselves the Sick Step Crew, So You Think You Can Dance featured some of the members of them a couple of times. And each member killed it on that show.

Also, did you know Lydia Paek dances for both Boxcutters and Quest Crew? She decided to dance with the Boxcutters since Quest Crew had their max 7 members for the show. Of course, I doubt that she could hang with the Quest Crew anyway. So she made a good decision.

3. Quest Crew : Hip Hop Decathlon :: Link

This routine probably helped Quest Crew catch up with the Beat Freaks in season 3. It appeared that Beat Freaks had the upper hand until the final routine, where Quest Crew totally surpassed them. I kind of wished Beat Freaks stepped up even more at the end instead of coasting². Then it could of made the last show a little more interesting.

Quest Crew saved almost all their tricks for this routine. They totally killed it. They represented every dance style perfectly. Not only they showed perfection in every style, they also brought their usual theatrics and comedy. 

4. Fanny Pak : Flash Dance :: Link (Skip to 28:00)

In season 3, the show went nuts on how Beat Freaks and Fly Kicks became the first all female crew in the top 3. In actuality, I consider Fanny Pak as an all-female crew. The group has 4 girls and 3 gay guys. Therefore, I consider them an all-female group.

Anyway, this Flash Dance routine displays their creativity and great style. They totally owned this challenge.

5. Fanny Pak : Get Your Freak On :: Link (Skip to 29:20)

I really like Fanny Pak. Not many people like their style. I felt the same way in the beginning and didn’t like their quirky style. But I slowly realized their awesomeness.

They show a lot of creativity and excellence in their dances. This routine illustrates that because the judges gave their first standing ovation.  

6. JabbaWockeez : Apologize :: (Link) 

This routine put JabbaWockeez on the map. It featured their miming and creative dance skills. It also shows that putting on a white mask and matching gloves gives off an interesting and cool illusion. Nothing more to say–one of my favorite routines from season one.  

7. Kaba Modern : Technologic :: Link (Skip to 50:00)

The kids of Kaba Modern can dance very well–especially Mike Song and Tony Tran. Everyone gives Kaba Modern credit for having precise and clean isolations. I agree with that. 

I like this routine a lot. Kaba Modern actually danced this particular routine many times. They actually shortened this routine for ABDC, but I’m glad they showcased it to the mainstream audience. 

8. Super Cr3w : Get Up Offa That Thing :: Link (Skip to 40:00)

Super Cr3w: the “new-old school” bboys. I call them new-old because they rose out of the bboy scene in the early 2000’s. At around year 2000, bboying started to become popular again. And a lot of revolutionary dancers popped out from that time³.  I actually recognize Do-Knock and Ronnie from 8 years ago when they started bboying. 

I like Super Cr3w and glad they won. But I’ve seen all their tricks before, and their routines look jaded to me. I think Fanny Pak should have won season two. But to the people who never saw bboys, Super Cr3w probably looked awesome to them. I have no beef with them winning.   

Anyway, this routine looks awesome. I heard they danced this in Battle of the Year, but I couldn’t find the original routine. Not only they showed off their awesome moves, they dressed up as ninjas. You can’t go wrong with ninjas. 

9. Beat Freaks : Hot N’ Cold :: Link

I have one complaint with this routine: the wack camera angles. Stupid MTV, they needed to show this routine facing them the whole time in the first section instead of changing the angles around. I saw some clips of them rehearsing the robot part, and it looked unbelievably sick. MTV’s crappy camera movement ruined the overall effect.

Oh well, it still looked good. Beak Freaks didn’t dance their cleanest routine (they kinda messed up in some places), and I didn’t like their costume (only because it hid some of their precise robotic movements). Even with my nitpick complaints, they did an awesome job overall. 

10. Kaba Modern : Thriller :: Link  (Skip to 19:15)

I wanted to add another Beat Freaks or Quest Crew routine for #10, but I didn’t want Quest Crew and Beat Freaks dominate this list. So I’ll put one of my other favorite Kaba Modern routine up.

When I first watched this rouine, I loved it. They introduced tutting and even finger tutting to the mainstream audience. They also didn’t go with the whole zombie theme for Thriller.  They actually updated it to have a more futuristic feel. I thought that brought it to a whole new level in originality.

This routine doesn’t blow me away compared to the top-quality routines of season 3, but they danced a solid routine overall.

1. don’t ask me to bboy anymore. I haven’t practiced in years. I’m very rusty, and I will look wack. I’ll just stick to my crappy house dancing. [↩]
2. I’m sure they didn’t it just seemed like they did [↩]
3. Of course, the real old school bboys started back in the 80’s [↩]