Breakin' Convention 2010 Unity and Unity Youth

You'll probably remember Unity from Move Like Michael Jackson, and their youth division, Unity Youth, from Got To Dance, but beside the TV appearances there's a deeper side to Unity that you'll see during their performance of Venus Vs. Mars Part 2 at Breakin' Convention 2010.

Interview with Tashan Muir, choreographer for Unity and Unity Youth
By David Barros


Venus vs Mars Part 2: What's it about?

It's a follow up to part one which we did last year, an in depth piece to make the audience realise how the first one came about. The first, performed at Serious About Streetdance was about domestic violence, this one showed how it happened. This is a prequel (although it's named part 2).
What I've done this time is incorporate the youth group. There are two young people in the youth group and it shows how they met at the start and how the violence started happening over the years.

The first one I had all the ideas, but it was rushed to get the routine out. We got a really good response to it. It's good that happened as we've been able to go in depth with it and explore it, hopefully it can grow into something bigger and better in the future.

What's the message?The message that we're tying to put across is domestic violence is something that happens. It's a thing where you hear about on the news. Loads of stuff happens in news every day, domestic violence is a thing that seems like it's not spoken about. A lot of women and men lose their lives for it, kids have to go into adoption and lose their welfare because of it. That's something we have to take. It's something I've gone through, and something others I didn't know others had too.

Finally, someone's speaking about it in a way that's positive because its a dance piece.

1) Women and men need to speak up

2) Let's tackle the problem.

Where did the idea come from?
My past. Going through it as a kid. It wasn't just about physical abuse, it was mental abuse. Just listening to people talk about it, that's where it comes from.

What should people take away from it?

The awareness. If you go through situations like that in your life and turn it to a positive, it's a good thing, also for the dance community. A lot of the dance community dance because they love it and coz they express themselves. If there are happy and sad issues, put it into your dance and see what can come out of it.

A lot of people say UK hip hop dance theatre isn't as good as the rest of the world. Breakin' Convention is the platform dance groups can use to express themselves. Hopefully we can push that along and others can express themselves and think about where you can take your dance: that's the message we want to put across.

Hopefully when people see it they will say "UK hip hop theatre can make it."

Dance2HelpHaiti Fundraiser demonstrates hip hop's sense of community

I said it before in my report and I'll say it again - Dance2HelpHaiti was an event that should be remembered for being turned around the in the shortest time - and it showed the community that hip hop holds.

Off their own backs (with the support of Sadler's Wells), Zoonation and Impact Dance set up a fundraising day for the victims of Haiti earthquake, and hundreds of people turned up.
So many turned up, in fact, that the total amount raised stands at £2,458 (if you include those who donated online).

What's more, the choreographers involved, namely Kate Prince, Simeon Qsyea and Kenrick Sandy, took time out of choreographing for next week's So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) to be there at such short notice.

Choreographers, when commissioned for big jobs such as SYTYCD, won't usually have a lot of time on their hands, considering the time they need to travel, teach and rehearse. Yet after a few phone calls appointments had been moved around and all were able to make the time to do the fundraiser.

It made me think back to the Mr Wiggles Pioneers lectures where Wiggles and Billy Bizzness talked about this sense of 'community' in hip hop - well last Sunday was just that! Which is why I decided to ask: did Dance2HelpHaiti show the unity of hip hop dance today?

"The fact that we had hundreds of people pass through today shows what it's all about," said Hakeem to us afterwards. "It shows you can fall back on the community. There is a community, they (you) can tap into it, it shows that people do care about other people."

Check out Kate Prince and Hakeem talking about the unity of hip hop (from 2min, 54sec):


Further credit must be given to the dancer from Unity (and that's not a pun on the topic of this blog) who even reached out to our writer, Archie, who was watching as I took a class, and asked her how she was. It's stuff like that that brightens a person's day and shows how accepting people in hip hop are.

After leaving were were discussing this and she said to me "Even stuff like today brings people together and shows community - asking a complete stranger how they are."

I said "That's not just being polite. That's hip hop."

If your hip hop or street dance teacher isn't teaching you about the hip hop community or its history, find a new class.

Read the Dance2HelpHaiti report here.

You can comment below!

Animaineax win Move Like Michael Jackson!

For several hours we waited in the the BBC Television Centre in White City to be taken into the studios for the live final - a nine o'clock broadcast has to be prepared in advance - we were there at five! I've sat in studio audiences before, but this was long!

Interestingly, as we tweeted earlier, someone who had seen the rehearsals predicted Animaineax would be the winners. They were right!

To see videos, short biographies and links of the Move Like Michael finalists, click here to year our earlier blog.

Ash Mukherjee, Animaineax, Plague and Unity had made the finals of Move Like Michael Jackson. In preparation, all the stops had been pulled out and some of the groups were looking tense, except Animaineax, who were clowning about off camera.

We had a view of the stage from stage right, and it really looked impressive, even with a side view of the action. It's worth noting that some sections of the show were prerecorded, like the Junior Jacksons performance. Sorry to dispel any TV magic...

The dance off
Performancewise everyone looked tight tonight. Unity against classically trained Plague who brought their tap shoes with them made the winner an obvious choice for Jermaine to choose a winner, and it was obvious they wanted to win by bringing their additional game.
That's not to say Unity didn't wreck it, as they did their best set so far.

Animaineax against Ash Mukherjee was a difficult dance off to decide upon a winner. Ash was the only solo act left in the competition, and his style is so different to the street dance competition., while Animaneax came on stage in coourdinating colours and matching chairs, of all things!

Judges Jermaine Jackson and Mark Summers were big on praising all of the acts, and once again, Jamelia didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

But Animaineax's style won over Jermaine's eye, leaving the Philipino superstars up against Plague.
While Plague said "This means everything to us, we came to win," you might not know that Plague have been going for years and are fortunate to have members of the group perform in Las Vegas and have some members in Cirque du Soleil - while Animaineax (as a group) are just over two years old - does your heart go to the already privileged or the underdogs?

All that was left before telephone voting was for the finalists to do a piece of Michael Jackson inspired choreography to a track that wasn't by Michael Jackson to win over the public. Plague chose Daft Punk's Harder Better Faster Stronger while Animaineax went for the less obvious Leona Lewis song, Bleeding Love. Then there was about 20 minutes - yes, 20 minutes - for viewers to cast their votes.

Surprisingly, (because overuse of Leona Lewis's voice induces migraines, not because we don't like them) the public voted Animaineax as the winners. Either the general public has a sharp eye for musicality and original choreography with slick line changes or their fans were voting from inside the studio to have beaten Plague, who used sections of tutting and gumboot choreography from their previous set repertoire to wow the judges, and the voting public. Only no one could vote inside the studio, because there's no signal in there!

So Animaineax will be performing at the Michael Jackson tribute concert next year in front of the world. No doubt their booking fee is going to go through the roof! Not that the prize mattered to them when their names were being read out, as they were all too busy filming the moment with Jermaine Jackson on stage on their colour coordinated iPods!

Unity and Plague will be performing at at Kymberlee Jay's Serious About Streetdance in January, while Animaineax's Mark Calape will be a contestant in January's So You Think You Can Dance on the BBC. 

A big congratulations to Animaineax for winning Move Like Michael Jackson.

Click the video below to watch Animaineax rehearse their Bleeding Love routine, or double click to view it on YouTube with a choreographical explanation.


Special thank you

For the record, we were meant to go see the Move Like Michael Jackson final after we asked for tickets... but then there was a mix up between one person and the other, so we weren't on the list. If it wasn't for two people dropping out, and another person's help, the journey would have been for nothing.
So a big thank you to TK of TK Spin for hooking us up with show passes... and an ironic sounding thank you to Spin and Carlos Neto for letting me take your place... And apologies for the fraudulent visitor pass we were given!

Don't forget guys, you can catch up with the episodes a week after they've been broadcast on the BBC iPlayer for only one week - click here for the programme guide and catchup links.

We'd love to hear your comments! What do you think of Animaineax winning Move Like Michael Jackson? How about Ash being the only non-streetdancer in the competition, or Plague being runners up!
Leave your comments below!

Move Like Michael Jackson The Final Is Tonight!

It's Sunday and we're at the end of Move Like Michael Jackson. Yes, one week and the series is over already, without having to worry about the winners releasing a Christmas single at the end of it!
In just a few hours the dancer or dance group who is going to perform at the Michael Jackson tribute concert next year will be judged.

Last blog we posted a selection of videos from each of the finalist who are hoping to win tonight: Animaineax, Ash Mukherjee, Plague and Unity. With the public deciding who that winner will be, you better have studied those videos well!

We can't help but feel excited either, because we're going to be in the studio when the winner is announced!
We'll be keeping you up to date if anything interesting happens on Twitter, so search #movelikemichael to keep track.

The live final is at 9pm tonight on BBC3! Eee-hee!

Move Like Michael Jackson - Videos of the finalists Animaineax, Ash Mukherjee, Plague and Unity

Last night the finalists for Move Like Michael Jackson were announced, so today let's take the time to appreciate some of their work.
Here are some videos fresh off YouTube and a few links of  Animaineax, Ash Mukherjee, Plague and Unity if you hadn't seen them before the show


Animaineax
From their MySpace:

ANIMAINEAX'S has the most important thing a crew needs and that's LOVE!!!!
6 brothers who only discovered each other last year in 2008! These crazy bunch of pinoys were in different established crews.
Jeffrey who was in Boy Blue and Zoonation.
A’Jai who was in Boy Blue and Avant Garde.
Marlon and Albert who were in Anarchy Cartel.
Ryan who was in Dialight.
And Swarf who was in Dance2xs, Bird Gang, Pink Mafia, Dialight, Flo’Ography and Zoonation.

Read the rest at their MySpace

Animaineax's (performance) names are: London, Rynamo, Swarf and Albertron.

Quite fittingly we've a Michael Jackson routine for you. This is the same routine Animaineax used in their Move Like Michael Jackson audition, filmed a few months before the show at their class:

The same routine was performed at the Michael Jackson tribute show Come Together in August

Plague
From their MySpace:

Plague is a Hip Hop based dance crew that was formed in 2000 and holds prestigious titles including 3 times UK HipHop Street Dance Champions and World HipHop Champions 2005. Plague have featured in performances from Mariah Carey, George Sampson, Kylie Minogue, Alesha Dixon, Westlife, Lionel Richie, Jamelia, Misteeq, Estelle, Houston, Africa Africa, Cirque Du Soleil, Pied Piper, Samsung, T-Mobile, Puma, Nike, L'oreal, MTV Base, Juste Debout, UK BBoy Championships, Formula One Grand Prix, Olympics 2008 Closing Ceremony plus many more.

Read more on their MySpace page

Not sure why this is called Shadows of the Mist, I don't remember seeing any mist!


Unity
Can't find Unity's MySpace, sorry! If I write a little maybe that'll help? Correct me if I get my facts wrong.
Unity are a former community dance group from London who have grown closer over the years dancing together, hence Unity. They are GWI and IDO World Champions 2008. They are, like other dance groups, split into age categories for performing: Unity and Unity Youth. Whenever these guys perform their supporters blow the roof off with their cheering.

Without further ado, here's their video reel:


Ash Mukharjee
From his MySpace

Born in Kolkata, India, Ash trained in Bharatanatyam under Guru Smt.Thankamani Kutti. A young principal dancer of Kalamandalam Kolkata, he was the winner of The Best Male Dancer Award, by Layavinyas, India. Having undergone training in classical ballet under ex prima ballerinas of The Royal Ballet, Brenda Last and Doreen Wells, and Latin and Jazz Theatre Dance at London Studio Centre, Ash is the first Indian National to have been nominated for a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award UK 2007 for his critically acclaimed contribution to the 2006 Place Prize winning piece. He is currently an independent dance artist who has recently been featured in Time Out London’s Rising Talent Issue and Dance Europe as one of Europe's three emerging dance makers.

Read the rest on his MySpace



The finals are on Sunday at 9pm guys!
If you need to catch a repeat, check this guide!

Move Like Michael Jackson - the criticisms!

So episode 4 of Move Like Michael. Everything's good,  right? So let's throw in a few critiques!

It's real nice seeing so many street dancers make it through. That's obviously the angle TooMuchFlavour is going to take, it's what we do!
But on the flip side, everyone seems to have this preconceived idea that Michael Jackson only ever did street dance.
Did he? Check out this clip:


Do your homework!

The second critique is the audience's influence on Jermaine's decision. Yesterday I said don't boo Mark Summers. Today I say don't cheer who you want to win!
Of course that will never happen anyway, people are just showing support, but this may be down to the studio location: some of the dancers travelled across the country, others caught a bus to the studio, so there's a big difference in who will get the loudest cheer, and when it's a close call, are you listening to? Your heart, or the screams of the dancer's crew in the audience?
Quite a predicament, no?

Finally - sorry, but it has to be said - Jamelia: why? Judges aren't hard to come by, so why did the producers choose a judge that doesn't have a clue what they're talking about unless it's the way the dancers are dressed?

I won't go any further on that one.

On that note I'm signing off.

Through to the finals are Plague, Ash, Unity and Animaneax. Tune in tomorrow!!