In week two of their search for the best dance crew in the country, host Dalen and judges Emile, Arthur and Khabonina take us to Bloemfontein and then Durban.
The Bloem vibe was incredible, created by outsiders such as Jiawa Flaxi who have appeared on the show before. The trio from Limpopo showed the judges they had grown, but sadly Emile still didn’t like them, while Arthur gave them the nod. It was then up to Khabonina to break the tie.
“I am only saying this response because it looks like you are fighters,” she said with a long pause that suggested we were in for a surprise. They even broke for a commercial and left us hanging. But if you listened closely to what she had said, there was no need for the Simon Cowell-like suspense as she had already given her answer away.
Once again we go into the different neighbourhoods to look for the various dance groups that have street credit worth bringing to the show. A good find in Bloem was the pop and snap crew, Trounce. After seeing a sample of what they can do, it was sad to hear them announce they will not be taking part in the competition, citing clashing school schedules.
Let’s get into the nitty gritties of how the show went last week.
HAPPIEST FEET OF THE WEEK
This one goes to Hardcore. Starting out in a single line, and the dancer in front seemingly floating without visible means, we knew we were in for a treat from their energy, diversity and polished moves. Their letterman jackets also made them look good. If you rewind you’ll see how they cleverly executed their gravity-defying moves. They’re in the Top 10, no doubt.
KEEP YOUR DAY JOB
Masterminds is easily the most shocking thing seen on TV this year. The interesting thing is they don’t even know it. They tell us before we see their act that (a) they plan to show something that’s never been seen before and (b) they’ve been together for two years. With that in mind we obviously thought we’d be blown away.
When the judges joined them on the floor they must have thought it was because their performance was so good the officials could not sit down. Poor kids. The question is: just who was the mastermind of those lame dance moves?
TOP JUDGE NUGGET
As usual the outspoken Khabonina takes the cake once again. After seeing Black Converse (pictured) do their thing, the vibrant judge seemed to have stumbled and fallen into an Afrikaans trance.
Even if those dancers did not understood a word she said, her jubilation gave her away.
R-R-REWIND THAT
“You know, one thing about Virus, once they step in, they never step out,” said a member of the crew before they went on stage. It was shocking to see them usher out an even worse routine than they had in Joburg. My two left feet could have done it a lot more justice than that.
Their problem is they concentrate more on being a cool crew than on the actual dancing.
CRYSTAL BALL WHISPERS
It was great to see Spar10ns return to the show after their great performances last year. Boyz With Swag also brought a fresh vibe to the episode with their props, dives and somersaults. Hypnoteez seem like something out of the Step Up movies, but they killed it. I was unsure about Toxic Fusion and their Bollywood-meets-hip hop description, but once they were on stage, they surprised me.
• Step Up or Step Out airs every Sunday at 6.05pm on e.tv.