Season two of the epic dance web series "The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers" finished this week with a two part episode "The Good, The Bad and the Ra." Here are the direct links to the videos:
This is the massive multi-dancer battle that we've all been waiting for, with each episode introducing new characters and adding to the tension of the final confrontation between the LXD and the Ra. While the two episodes certainly had their flaws in terms of pacing and acting, they were overall incredible performances by all the dancers doing amazing tricks and stunts, fantastic choreography, and intricate pattern work.
I loved the overall aesthetic of the two episodes, hearkening back to spaghetti westerns, with the dancers in leather coats, ten-gallon hats, and boots, battling in a dusty saloon and out in the empty street of a frontier town. I thought it was original, clever, and not too cheesy in execution.
Lots of crazy dancing in these two episodes that I will have to see again. I was really impressed with b-boy battle that begins on the stairs, with the dancers throwing each other around, doing aggressive uprocking, and fantastic use of the space to emphasize the violence and energy of the combat. That's what a b-boy battle should look like!
But by far the best piece was the showdown between the Ra's main popper and Mad Chadd, both backed up by other sick poppers. I've never seen better tutting that in this piece, and it builds nicely and flows from section. It was a worthy confrontation as a culmination of the season.
There's a whole third season coming up, which should ramp up the madcap mashups of dance styles and aesthetics. Although I've been mostly down on Season Two, at this point I'm pretty excited to see what John Chu has up his sleeve.