Jawn Ha

One of the most confident and hard-hitting dancers of Mos Wanted Crew is Jawn Ha. Jawn Ha is a top instructor from the top dance studios and is highly respected throughout the dance community. He is one of the main choreographers for his dance team GRV. Jawn Ha has competed in big dance competitions such as America's Best Dance Crew, The Bridge, and Body Rock. In 2010, GRV placed 3rd in Body Rock. Most recently, the winners of the Bridge 2012 was GRV. Jawn Ha has helped his team place in several big dance competitions and has traveled around the world to teach other dancers and inspire them.

One of my favorite dance pieces from Jawn Ha is his dance to "Snap" by Audio Push. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G99Oe-cLDE. The routine is so smooth and clean, yet hard-hitting to match the mood of the song. Jawn Ha's style is stands out to me because he dances stationary. He uses more of his upper body to hit the beats of the music rather than his feet. Jawn Ha is most famous for his dancing when he literally hits every single lyric and beat of a song. In his dance to "Daddy's Lambo" by Yelawolf, Jawn Ha goes nuts when it gets to the fast parts of the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jstUrGMAun4. At 0:52 to 0:56, Jawn Ha dances to the fast rapping of the song and uses mostly his upper body.  His musicality is just insane. When I first saw this routine online, I screamed and went crazy. Jawn Ha is too good of a dancer and does not get the recognition that he deserves.

Jawn Ha is well-known throughout the dance community. He travels to workshops around the world to teach dancers and inspire them. The public needs to recognize the many talented dancers out there, and Jawn Ha is definitely one of them. By simply following dancers and watching their dances online, people can learn so much more about the dance community and become involved. Here is Jawn Ha's Youtube link. http://www.youtube.com/user/JawnHizzaw

The Bridge, Dance Competition

The Bridge is another hip-hop dance competition held annually in California at Lakewood High School. This competition features both adult competitive teams and junior teams. Though not as big as Body Rock, The Bridge is still a well-known dance competition that teams prepare for. Most recently, The Bridge 2012 was on December 2, 2012. All of the tickets sold out and the auditorium was packed! Big teams such as CADC from UCI took the stage and entertained the crowd throughout the night. This competition is one that definitely needs more attention from the public.

The winners of The Bridge competition of 2012 were GRV. GRV's performance brought the heat to the stage. With amazing dances choreographed by Bam Martin and David Lim, GRV hyped the crowd and brought them to their feet. Here's the link to the 1st place performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbSxqhLimPM. In the beginning of the routine, the music is smooth and relaxing. Then, the rest of the songs are hard hitting and filled with "swag". The 2nd piece of the routine was choreographed by David Lim. Notice how sharp the movements are and how they hit both the lyrics and the beat of the song. The ending piece was choreographed by Bam Martin, a member of Mos Wanted Crew. The footwork is unbelievable and incredibly fast. GRV really stood out the most in this competition and deserved 1st place. All of the other teams deserve recognition too.

The junior teams that competed at The Bridge were amazing. The 1st place winners were Breakthrough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uqse7zHtuE. Breakthrough is a junior team from San Diego and one of the cleanest, in my opinion. My favorite piece is their opening number. The footwork and the hard-hitting really caught my attention. The second place winners of the Bridge was the Organization (ORG). For those of you who don't know, Allan Nguyen, the captain of the Fountain Valley Dance Team, is currently on ORG and he competed in the Bridge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSa2vkV4kY. Many students from Fountain Valley High School went to the competition to support Allan.

The Bridge needs more attention throughout the community. Many dancers that compete in this competition are just so talented and need to be noticed by the public.

Body Rock, Dance Competition

Body Rock is one of the largest international hip-hop dance competitions held annually in San Diego. This famous competition attracts thousands of people. Participants in the competition come from all over the world, including teams from Japan, New Zealand, Germany, and Italy. All of the international teams compete with the top professional teams of the nation for a spot to win first place at this famous dance competition. Not only does this competition feature adult competition teams, but junior teams are allowed to participate also. Well-known junior teams such as The Organization practice hard throughout the year to prepare for this competition. Teams that compete range from four members to almost thirty members on stage. Body Rock is a competition that people do not want to miss!

In 2011, the first place winners of Body Rock were the S**t Kingz. This is a team that consists of four professional dancers from Japan that have inspired dancers around the world. People were surprised how only a group of four dancers were able to beat teams that consisted of almost thirty people. Here's the link to the 1st place performance of Body Rock 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucCe_krBFL0. The S**t Kingz are extremely entertaining to watch. Performing an intense five-minute routine is extremely tiring with only four people because there is no time to switch out during the dance. S**t Kingz earned a well deserved 1st place. The second place team of Body Rock 2011 was the Choreo Cookies. This is a team from San Diego, CA. Here's the link to the 2nd place performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKekdEWXiCk. There was a lot of people performing in the routine so dancers could switch out without being tired. Overall. Choreo Cookie's routine stood out from the others because the dance told a story. Most of the dances in the competition were upbeat and hard-hitting hip-hop songs. Choreo Cookies was more towards the lyrical side. When watching the routine, take notice of how the dancers on stage told a story through their dancing.

Body Rock is a memorable dance competition. Teams from all over the world train extremely hard to prepare for this one competition. Most recently, the Body Rock 2012 winners were ReQuest. These female dancers from New Zealand also competed in America's Best Dance Crew. Here's the link to their performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5roN-2yPN4Y. Notice how in sync all of the dancers are. Their whole routine was sharp and clean, with hardly any mistakes. ReQuest really stood out and deserved 1st place this year. However, all of the competition teams that compete in Body Rock are amazing and all deserve to be noticed. 

Vinh Nguyen

Jabbawockeez. The name is known throughout the world as the champions of America's Best Dance Crew Season 1. One member of Jabbawockeez stands out the most, and that is Vinh Nguyen. Vinh Nguyen is currently the director and choreographer for Super Galactic Beat Manipulators (SGBM), a competitive adult hip hop team. He is also a member of Movement Lifestyle, which is a brand that promotes events, merchandise, and has its own studio. Vinh Nguyen is also a close friend to Keone Madrid. He has traveled around the world teaching at classes and workshops. Vinh Nguyen is also a part of Kingdom Made and loves to give back to the community.


In Vinh Nguyen's fun and groovy dance video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WX7FdYEE7U, he dances to a song by Chris brown. Vinh's footwork throughout the video is phenomenal. This entire dance is hip hop choreography, but starting from 0:59 to 1:29, house dancing is included. Vinh Nguyen kills every single beat of the song. In addition, the different formations changes are executed flawlessly. The transitions are 0:15 to 0:20, 0:25 to 0:30, 1:08 to 1:10, 1:12 to 1:14, and 1:20 to 1:22. When dancing in groups, transiting to a different formation without mistakes is very crucial in dancing because it is a big factor that the audience notices. Vinh Nguyen's facial expressions vary throughout his dance and makes it very entertaining to watch. Here's a link to his crew, SGBM, that competed in a very big dance competition known as Body Rock and placed 3rd in 2011,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzD7TpCgLFY.

Vinh Nguyen is well-known throughout the dance community. He is on the list of my favorite dancers because his footwork is amazing and his execution in his dances are flawless. You can check out more of Vinh Nguyen at his youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/v1nhnguyen. Stay tuned for more amazing choreographers and dancers still to come.

Ian Eastwood, The Young Lion

Once again, we will explore Mos Wanted Crew. However, this time we will look at their youngest member, Ian Eastwood. Ian is a tall white boy who has been dancing for about ten years and is currently 19 years old.  Mos Wanted Crew is not the only dance group that Ian performs with. Ian is also a part of Kub Skoutz, a dance crew made up of some of the most famous hip hop choreographers in the world. Kub Skoutz has performed for famous artists such as Britney Spears and Justin Beiber. They can also be seen on television in Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. Ian has had a lot of success for his age and continues to pursue his dancing career. 

In Ian Eastwood's most popular video on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWBqfG6uqg, he dances to a song by Tyga. Although the song is a bit explicit, the whole concept behind this dance is to express Ian's lifestyle in LA and to have a good time. The dancers in the video include members of Mos Wanted Crew, which are Brian Puspos and Bam Martin. Ian Eastwood's dancing is unique because of his height and his long arms. In addition, Ian seems to be extremely flexible, which makes his dancing extremely entertaining. My favorite parts of the video are from 0:00 to 2:33, which means everything about the video is great. Ian dances to both the lyrics and the fast beats of the song. The choreography in the video is very complex, but it is clean and easy to see the story behind Ian's movements. 

Ian Eastwood seems to be extremely popular with the ladies. Every event or show that he attends, the crowd goes insane. You can see Ian eastwood in Justin Beiber's Beauty and a Beat music video,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys7-6_t7OEQ. Ian Eastwood is still young, and people cannot wait for how much more great dancing there is to come from him. His strong passion for dance has earned him much success and has gotten him to where he is today. 

Keone Madrid, The King Of Footwork

If you do not know who Keone Madrid is, then you've been missing out on some of the most amazing dancing in your life. Keone Madrid is respected throughout the dance community. He was raised in San Diego, California, and started dancing in high school. He continued his dancing to a professional career and is now the director of Choreo Cookies, a competitive adult hip hop team. Keone has traveled around the world to teach workshops for people of all ages. He is currently married to his wife, Mariel Martin, who is also a choreographer for Choreo Cookies. Keone teaches at Studio 429 in San Diego every week.

For those of you who do not know, Keone Madrid's footwork is incomparable. His movements are crisp and sharp, allowing you to see every detail of his dancing. Here is a link to his most recent video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3YyUcU6lU0. Keone Madrid is in the middle of the group. This type of choreography would be considered lyrical hip hop. Take notice to how he dances to the music. The movements are linked to the lyrics and the notes of the piano. Keone's choreography has meaning behind it. He tells a story of the song through movement. My favorite part in the entire video is from 2:09 to 2:38. The footwork is just breathtaking and the work of a professional. 

Keone Madrid's main purpose to dance is not to win competitions or make money. His passion for dance is to give back to others and inspire them. Keone started a social entrepreneurship called Kingdom Made, where people make products and give back to the community. Here is the link to Kingdom Made, http://thekingdommade.com/. The Korean music industry also had Keone Madrid choreograph for a famous singer, Kim Hyun Joong. Keone madrid is an amazing dancer who loves to dance and helps give back to the community.

Vincent Ngo, My Inspiration

Vincent Ngo is a close friend of mine who is one of my biggest inspirations to dance.Vincent Ngo was a part of Mater Dei's All-Male Dance Team. He was trained under the founder of one of the largest dancing communities, Elm Pizarro. Elm Pizarro is the founder of the Boogiezone Community, and Breed, an exhibition dance team. Vincent Ngo was also associated with large dance teams such as Hip Hop Alive (currently known as The Organization) and Offspring, which is the junior team of Breed. Vincent is highly involved in the hip-hop community.

Vincent Ngo is currently a senior at Fountain Valley High School. Vincent is my mentor in dance. He choreographs and teaches me all that he knows about dance. My dancing has improved and has gotten me to where I am today because of him. My friendship with Vincent started out at a dance team car wash last year. When we first met, I had no idea that he knew more about the hip-hop culture and choreographers than me. Later on during the year, Vincent and I performed in several performances together.

For the dance team winter showcase, Vincent and I did a duo. The link for the winter showcase is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgRmGhSnk1o, After performing our dance. the crowd went nuts. I had no idea that dancing duos could be so much fun. Vincent and I both knew that we had to perform together again. For the spring showcase, we did another duo. The link for the spring showcase is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76Ufb7TyfM. This performance was our best one yet. Again, the crowd was crazy after we finished our dance. Comparing the two performances, both of us improved in our dance. We were both cleaner and sharper in our choreography.

For the Aloha dance this year, Vincent decided to form a group of dancers and perform in front of the school to promote the dance for ASB. So, Vincent choreographed a piece and taught it to 4 other dancers, including me. We then performed in front of the bowl during lunch the Friday of the dance. This performance was very fun for us because we were able to show the school what hip-hop dancing is like. We wanted to spread the hip-hop community and encourage others to dance. The link for the performance is, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9mOPLGdCYQ.



For the Friday Night Live talent show last year, Vincent, our two other friends named Brian Khong and Steven Le, and I performed under the name 714 FV SMOOTH SASSY BOYZ WITH A Z. Our group won special recognition at the end of the show. Our dances made the crowd go crazy, and the girls  screamed for our names. I will never forget how fun this performance was. The link for our talent show is http://vimeo.com/39921916.

Vincent Ngo will always be one of my biggest inspirations to dance. I am encouraged to continue dancing because Vincent really made dance such a fun experience for me. Stay tuned for more dances by Vincent Ngo.

Andrew Baterina, The Inspirational Dancer

Andrew Baterina is one of the most inspirational choreographers out there. Previously a part of Soreal Cru, Andrew competed in America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 and reached the finals. Eventually, Andrew founded a dance studio in Houston, Texas, known as SoReal Studios. But it does not stop there. Andrew Baterina's reputation made it to Korea and the famous Korean pop star Jay Park had Andrew join his tour and become his choreographer along with Daniel Jerome. Andrew's dancing has allowed him to work with very famous people around the world. He is a choreographer who teaches for SoReal studios and workshops around the world.

In Andrew's most famous video with over 2 millions views, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdrysSg54MU&feature=plcp, he dances to a song by Chris Brown. It is extremely sensual, so viewer discretion is advised. Andrew's style of dance is very precise and sharp. In the video, Andrew's movements are very fast compared to the slow pace of the song. However, this is because Andrew dances to both the lyrics and the beats. He creates a story in his dance to allow the audience to relate to it. Andrew is also famous for his footwork and glides; check out 1:29 to 1:31 in the video. Overall, this dance is very solid. It has clean footwork and is very entertaining for his audience.

Andrew Baterina's nickname is Andrew Ballerina. This is because people admire his footwork so much that they compare him to a ballerina dancer. Andrew shows that dance can create wonderful opportunities work or interact with other people. Dance has allowed Andrew to work with Jay Park in Korea. Andrew is definitely one of my top choreographers. Check out more of his work at http://www.youtube.com/user/andrewbaterina.

Daniel Jerome, From A Garage To Traveling The World

Daniel Jerome is a dancer who's reputation is vastly growing. Personally, I have been following Daniel Jerome for three years. Daniel started out as a high school student who breakdanced. He always danced in his garage recorded himself, and posted his videos onto his youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/djdanieljerome . Eventually, he started getting into choreography. As he continued to post up videos of himself dancing, people started to recognize his talent. His talent made way to Korea's top pop stars. Jay Park, a famous Korean pop star today, had Daniel Jerome join him on tour and become his back up dancer. Daniel Jerome started dancing for fun, and now is a well-known professional choreographer.

In one of Daniel's videos, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXNNyBISVsI, he dances to a song called Wish, by Tyga. What separates Daniel Jerome from other dancers is his musicality. He uniquely interprets both lyrics and beats of a song into his dance. For example, in the video at 0:45 to 0:47, the lyrics of the song are "throw my money out, not the club raining." Daniel Jerome expresses these lyrics by throwing money in his dancing. Daniel is talented in telling stories in his dancing and hitting beats with accent.

A high school student who started out dancing in his garage now travels around the world and dances with famous pop stars. Daniel Jerome has done what some people would call impossible. His dancing has given him wonderful opportunities in life and he continues to inspire other dancers. Check out more of his videos on his youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/djdanieljerome.

Bam Martin, The Most Underrated Dancer

People who watch Mos Wanted Crew dance are not giving enough recognition to one of its most underrated members, Bam Martin.  He is a professional hip-hop choreographer for a famous collegiate dance team known as GRV of Cal Poly Pamona. An interesting fact that most people do not know about Bam Martin is that he used to be a jazz dancer. Bam Martin is one of the most entertaining dancers of Mos Wanted Crew. His dancing always gets the crowd hyped and excited.

In his latest video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zXIDXuzpUg, Bam Martin dances with full on "swag". He dances to both the lyrics and the beats. The lyrics of the song are very aggressive, so the overall feeling you get when watching the video is hype and energetic. The way Bam Martin hears music is also amazing. He hits literally every beat of the song, all of the drum snares and small ticks. His musicality is not the only thing that's amazing about him. Bam Martin's facial expressions and body expressions are very professional and entertaining. When people dance, facial expressions are very important because it expresses your emotions when you dance. In the video, Bam Martin's facial expressions are angry, which fit the mood of the dance. In addition, his body movements have so much energy in them. He hits every single move extremely hard and defines his movements, especially at 0:26 to 0:30 in the video.

People are not giving Bam Martin enough credit for his works. Bam Martin is truly an amazing dancer and is very inspiring. Turning from a jazz dancer into a hip-hop dancer is no easy task. Check out more videos of Bam Martin on his youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/brianBAMmartin. 

Brian Puspos, The Ladies Man

Most people are familiar with the name Mos Wanted Crew from America's Best Dance Crew Season 7. If you haven't then you need to check them out! There is one particular dancer on the crew that is fairly popular with the dance community. His name is Brian Puspos.  Brian is one of my biggest inspirations and I've looked up to him ever since I started dancing. Not only is he great at hip-hop choreography, but he can sing! Brian Puspos is such a ladies man. Let's talk more about his legacy.

Brian Puspos was originally part of Soreal Cru, which was a crew that competed in America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 and lost in the finals. Later on, Soreal Cru disbanded and Brian Puspos left the group with some of its members to form a new crew called The Architeks. As time went on, Brian and other famous choreographers formed Mos Wanted Crew, the group which most people are familiar with today.

Brian Puspos to me stands out the most because of his musicality. When he dances, he isn't just hitting the beats to the song. His choreography tells a story. He puts so much feeling and emotion into his dance that we can understand his story through his movements. In this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abpwVRp6u3Q&feature=plcp, Brian Puspos expresses his bold personality of a ladies man. When you watch him dance, listen to the beats and lyrics of the song. Brian hits the beats with strong accents and tells 

stories through the lyrics. His musicality is just so unique. This is what makes Brian Puspos such a great dancer.

On my list of top choreographers, Brian Puspos is one of the best. Nobody can copy his style because it's just so unique. The way he interprets music is genius. In addition, his facial expressions when he dances are entertaining. Facial expressions are a huge factor in dance because it really shows your emotions through dance.

Stay tuned for more famous dance crews and dancers. For those of you who want to watch more of Brian Puspos, here's his youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/BrianPuspos

Just Dance!

It is truly surprising how people do not know about the community of dance. Dance isn't just a hobby that people do in their spare time, it is something special that brings society together. Of course, people can dance for fun. However, there is also competitive dancing for professionals that even big companies like Adidas sponsor. Dance is a way people can express their feelings through movement. Without dance, the world would be a different place.

I am a hip-hop dancer. I started dancing back in eighth grade with my friends. We all danced for fun everyday after school. Eventually, the middle school talent show came up. All of us had no experience in dancing whatsoever, but we didn't want to pass up the chance to show people our love for dance. So, my friends and I put together a dance routine and performed it in front of the school. We had the time of our lives. Teachers and students recognized our group as dancers.

I would not call myself a professional, but I can say that I have a passion for dance. I currently dance for my school dance team. I also take workshops outside of school. Most of my friends have continued on to competitive professional dance teams. As you can see, my life is surrounded by dance. 

There will always be people who try to discourage you from doing what you love to do. I encountered several of these people back in middle school. However, I didn't care about what they said and continued to dance. In fact, I embrace these people because without them, I would not have gotten this far in my dancing. I write this blog because I want to help spread dance in the community. I will post famous dancers and their choreographies. In addition, I will analyze their musicality and how they dance.