Del attended the early parts of the Houston auditions for America's Best Dance Crew Season 6 and talked to many of the auditioning crews. Thanks for the report and the videos Del!
All in all my short experience at the South Auditions was very enjoyable. I wish I could've stayed a little longer and maybe gotten a word with more crews, but hopefully I've provided enough info for everyone. Good luck to all the crews mentioned and everyone else that went out to audition in Houston! Hopefully the South represents well this season on ABDC. Here's what I can tell you about those that the Houston crews met:
STAK'D: Group of really fun people with eccentric personalities. The one thing I could tell from talking to them is that they truly do love to dance. They might be all fun and games when it comes to the talk, but when asked about how serious they are about what they do it's all 100% heart. Don't mistake them for being too hokey or a crew that can't bring out some fire, because I think that's their X factor. The element of surprise!
Second 2 None: Now here's a crew that has auditioned before with generally positive feedback, but when asked about it they stressed that this time they're the real deal. Biggest thing coming from them is that their last audition was kind of subdued by a certain member or two not quite being up to the task. This time around they've got their true lineup with someone that (most readers would be surprised to find out) has been a huge help due to the new rules regarding the auditions. Before anyone says it, they're not pulling a gimmick and they were as fearless as ever going into the audition room. Either way, I think they've got a great shot at going somewhere this year (and that goes for ABDC and the scene in general), but we'll have to wait and see
Mad Skillz: Very very confident crew here lol. They're one of those crews that you can tell lives up to the "southern swag" that so many groups down south advertise. A lot of confidence coming from them and they promised to stay true to themselves and the south when trying out for the show (citing a few southern crews from ABDC "imitating" once they got near the big stage). They've got a nice style, but since I didn't get to see much from them we'll just have to wait and see how all of that translates to their ABDC efforts.
The youngest member of Mad Skillz even challenged Pacman during the group freestyle session. Yeah, he straight up got in Pacman's face and laid down the gauntlet. Of course, Pacman then proceeded to utterly destroy any and every dancer within a 50 mile radius, but you've got to admire the courage of the kid.
Finesse: An all male group with a pack of twins nestled in. These guys were probably the first crew at the auditions (there at at least 7am before anyone had arrived), practicing their set for hours on end until it was time for everyone else to roll in. I must say that they did have some nice moves and from the small freestyle session they gave me they all definitely have something different to bring to the table. With that being said, they all appear to be pretty young so the experience factor might not quite be there yet. I could see the pressure of this year's hard look at the south getting to them a little bit, but I have hope that they'll prove that point wrong.
Collizion Crew: Another all male crew! Very fun group of guys that told me that their foundation was popping, but everyone in the group knows their own tricks of the trade. There's a lot of variety between them (including a bone-breaking member), but they all have that main style to fall back on. Even with the 3 crews from Season 5 setting a standard on the show, Collizion wasn't hesitant to say that they're the best crew in Atlanta and that they'll take the title home for the south. Their confidence has me anxious to see what they were able to do in the audition room, but we'll just have to wait and see if they make the cut.
I.aM.Me Crew: Last but certainly not least, there's IME. There's really nothing extra I can say about them (because, let's face it, we all know who they are), but I'll still try my best. Coming off the heels of Pacman's SYTYCD run, he said that this was the best thing that could've happened for them all. The crew came at a perfect time and I honestly couldn't agree more. When you see this crew you get the sense that they're a family (especially with them cracking on Emilio all the time). Once the casting people got the crews to freestyle all eyes were on the I.aM.Me members whenever they even took a step toward the circle. Looking at them all I don't think that I can spot a weak link in the chain and that's probably their greatest strength. With so much spotlight on them it seems as if everyone's going to be looking for a fault, but all of them are adamant in their claims of being 6 traits to one identity.
Click here to return to the first page and to leave comments. Thanks again Del!
All in all my short experience at the South Auditions was very enjoyable. I wish I could've stayed a little longer and maybe gotten a word with more crews, but hopefully I've provided enough info for everyone. Good luck to all the crews mentioned and everyone else that went out to audition in Houston! Hopefully the South represents well this season on ABDC. Here's what I can tell you about those that the Houston crews met:
STAK'D: Group of really fun people with eccentric personalities. The one thing I could tell from talking to them is that they truly do love to dance. They might be all fun and games when it comes to the talk, but when asked about how serious they are about what they do it's all 100% heart. Don't mistake them for being too hokey or a crew that can't bring out some fire, because I think that's their X factor. The element of surprise!
Second 2 None: Now here's a crew that has auditioned before with generally positive feedback, but when asked about it they stressed that this time they're the real deal. Biggest thing coming from them is that their last audition was kind of subdued by a certain member or two not quite being up to the task. This time around they've got their true lineup with someone that (most readers would be surprised to find out) has been a huge help due to the new rules regarding the auditions. Before anyone says it, they're not pulling a gimmick and they were as fearless as ever going into the audition room. Either way, I think they've got a great shot at going somewhere this year (and that goes for ABDC and the scene in general), but we'll have to wait and see
Mad Skillz: Very very confident crew here lol. They're one of those crews that you can tell lives up to the "southern swag" that so many groups down south advertise. A lot of confidence coming from them and they promised to stay true to themselves and the south when trying out for the show (citing a few southern crews from ABDC "imitating" once they got near the big stage). They've got a nice style, but since I didn't get to see much from them we'll just have to wait and see how all of that translates to their ABDC efforts.
The youngest member of Mad Skillz even challenged Pacman during the group freestyle session. Yeah, he straight up got in Pacman's face and laid down the gauntlet. Of course, Pacman then proceeded to utterly destroy any and every dancer within a 50 mile radius, but you've got to admire the courage of the kid.
Finesse: An all male group with a pack of twins nestled in. These guys were probably the first crew at the auditions (there at at least 7am before anyone had arrived), practicing their set for hours on end until it was time for everyone else to roll in. I must say that they did have some nice moves and from the small freestyle session they gave me they all definitely have something different to bring to the table. With that being said, they all appear to be pretty young so the experience factor might not quite be there yet. I could see the pressure of this year's hard look at the south getting to them a little bit, but I have hope that they'll prove that point wrong.
Collizion Crew: Another all male crew! Very fun group of guys that told me that their foundation was popping, but everyone in the group knows their own tricks of the trade. There's a lot of variety between them (including a bone-breaking member), but they all have that main style to fall back on. Even with the 3 crews from Season 5 setting a standard on the show, Collizion wasn't hesitant to say that they're the best crew in Atlanta and that they'll take the title home for the south. Their confidence has me anxious to see what they were able to do in the audition room, but we'll just have to wait and see if they make the cut.
I.aM.Me Crew: Last but certainly not least, there's IME. There's really nothing extra I can say about them (because, let's face it, we all know who they are), but I'll still try my best. Coming off the heels of Pacman's SYTYCD run, he said that this was the best thing that could've happened for them all. The crew came at a perfect time and I honestly couldn't agree more. When you see this crew you get the sense that they're a family (especially with them cracking on Emilio all the time). Once the casting people got the crews to freestyle all eyes were on the I.aM.Me members whenever they even took a step toward the circle. Looking at them all I don't think that I can spot a weak link in the chain and that's probably their greatest strength. With so much spotlight on them it seems as if everyone's going to be looking for a fault, but all of them are adamant in their claims of being 6 traits to one identity.
Click here to return to the first page and to leave comments. Thanks again Del!
