Randomly generated drawing of a panda

yoko.cool / The most scrumptious of Choreo Cookies (6:20)

Choreo Cookies, on stage, in formation

If you were to look up “Yoko’s most preferred dance crew style” in this fictitious dictionary I just made up, you’d find Cookies (formerly known as Choreo Cookies). They are the golden standard of clean, sharp performances and choreography that boggles the mind without any of the acrobatic showy stuff.

I’m dedicating an entire paragraph to this 10-second wave that moves through the dancers from the right to the left, then slowly makes its way back. Bonkers!

Also, note the angle from which this video is taken. Not many official videos are shot from this high up, and I don’t think every crew would look great when you can see down to the back to way you can here. Cookies is different, though — every single performer on stage is utilized, and whether front and center or all the way in the back, serves a purpose. Take this David Banner “Stutter” portion (3:27 – 4:13); notice how:

  • the standing women gradually peel away from the men in the center,
  • the six people are still and move only to emphasize hits, and
  • throughout all this, six women in the front slowly move across the floor, hitting beats with their fingertips, a flick of their head, a kick of the leg.
  • You need to watch it like four times, is what I’m saying.

The final part of the performance might be familiar to some early WAWD readers — it’s the same Justin Timberlake “That Girl” bit choreographed by none other than the amazing Keone and Mari Madrid. Watching only the two of them perform it is great (here it is: skip to 4:04), but to see it in this larger context is something else. The crowd goes SO FREAKING BANANAS at the end, it brings tears to my eyes. Seriously, my eyes are wet right now.

Watch video! Please please please in HD.

By the way, if you feel like taking a step deeper into the world of obsessive dance video watching, here’s another performance of the same routine, shot a bit closer. The blocking is actually far better in this one, and I would have chosen this as this week’s feature video if it weren’t missing a big chunk of it (taken out due to music copyright infringement claims, boo).

Yoko