About Jabbawockeez
The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008. The group was established in 2003 in San Diego California by dancers Kevin "KB" Brewer and Joe Larot. They participated in dance competitions with the idea of striking a balance between dancing to the music, and dancing as an artistic expression.
By 2004, the Jabbawockeez's members included Gary "Gee One" Kendell, Randy "DJ Wish One" Bernal, Phil "Swagger Boy" Tayag, Ben "B-Tek" Chung, Kevin "KB" Brewer, Chris "Cristyle" Gatdula, Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio, and Jeff "Phi" Nguyen. Tony "Transformer" Tran joined the crew in 2013. The Jabbawockeez does not have a group leader; choreography for their performances, as well as music, design choices, is made as a collective unit.
The dancers began performing wearing ski masks and gloves. The mask and glove motif was adopted as a tribute to the 1970s San Francisco strutting crew Medea Sirkas. Gary "Gee One" Kendell and Randy "DJ Wish One" Bernal were both members of the MindTricks dance crew who were active in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jeff "Phi" Nguyen explains, "There's no lead dancer in our crew. Our philosophy is that when you watch us perform, you have to watch us as a whole... When we put on, it's not about who we are or where we came from. We're all one." The name Jabbawockeez, coined by Joe Larot, was inspired by the fantastical monster from the Lewis Carroll nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". Over time, the group switched to their signature white masks and gloves which better fit their persona and image. In San Diego, through Gary's connections, the Jabbawockeez added b-boys Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio and Chris "Cristyle" Gatdula to the group. The original eight-member iteration of the Jabbawockeez began performing as a group in 2004. This lineup consisted of Gary, Randy, Phi, Phil, Kevin, Joe, Rynan, and Chris.
Jabbawockeez rounded out their numbers with additional members, bringing their total to eleven. Phoenix native Jeff "Phi" Nguyen had met Rynan Paguio at various Los Angeles area auditions and performances and earned a spot in the Jabbawockeez in 2004 by battling Kevin Brewer. The Jabbawockeez also brought Kaba Modern alumnus Ben "B-Tek" Chung and b-boys Eddie "Eddiestyles" Gutierrez and Saso "Saso Fresh" Jimenez into the fold. Stylistically, the Jabbawockeez style of dance features an eclectic mix of various urban styles, primarily popping and b-boying, along with a careful synchronicity to self-created instrumentals which one member dubs "Beat-Kune-Do" . In 2007, the Jabbawockeez appeared on the second season of America's Got Talent. Performing with nine members, the group was eliminated in the Las Vegas callbacks episode. In 2008, they auditioned and were accepted onto the first season of America's Best Dance Crew.
The Jabbawockeez auditioned as a seven-member contingent for the first season of America's Best Dance Crew , because of crew member limits imposed by the show. Originally, the ABDC group was supposed to consist of Gary Kendell, Phil Tayag, Kevin Brewer, Joe Larot, Rynan Paguio, Chris Gatdula, and Phi Nguyen; however, when Gary died that year, and Joe suffered a knee injury during the audition rounds, the group chose Ben Chung to replace Joe on the show and left Gary's spot vacant, proceeding with six members. They eventually went on to become the winners of the show. The win earned the crew $100,000 .
Since ABDC, the Jabbawockeez have appeared in Pepsi, Ford, and Gatorade commercials, and performed on Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly. They also made a cameo appearance in Step Up 2 The Streets, launched their own clothing line, and toured with New Kids on the Block, and Jesse McCartney. Along with the ABDC season two winner, Super Cr3w, Jabbawockeez were the opening act for the Battle of the VMAs ABDC special. The group made an appearance on Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model in the episode "Dance With Me" to help the contestants learn how to convey emotions with their bodies. They starred in Shake It Up, a Disney Channel comedy show. On February 15, 2009, they accompanied and danced with NBA All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal in his NBA All-Star Game player introduction. On October 16, 2009, they performed in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the University of Florida's Gator Growl. They performed for DECA's 66th Annual International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City. Jabbawockeez returned to America's Best Dance Crew on June 5, 2011, to perform on the Season 6 finale. On May 19, 2013, they were backup dancers for Taylor Swift's performance at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards. They appeared in Season 7, Episode 2 of The Bachelorette with Ashley Hebert. They starred in DaBaby's "BOP on Broadway" music video in 2020. They are featured on NBA 2K23 as a part of the halftime show.
Map & Directions To Venue
