yoko.cool / Red gloves and high jumps with Academy of Villains (6:16)

If you were to twist my arm, I would say that I prefer crisply executed choreography and attention to musicality over anything else. It’s the reason why I tend to favor choreographed routines rather than freestyles or battles (though extraordinary freestyle will have me raving for days — see this previous WAWD), and synchronicity over narrative. Maybe I’m just someone who prefers “safer” performances because I think that if you add extra flair and don’t do an excellent job, then it looks bad.

Academy of Villains uses a ton of flashy power moves, and its members incorporate costuming into their repertoire. Normally I would say this doesn’t add much to a performance for me, but this execution is so good that it blows me out of the water. If the amount of air (4:51) these guys get doesn’t impress you, perhaps you’ll be entranced by how they use their red gloves throughout (just some examples: here (2:49), this entire segment from 4:08 to 4:31, and this waacking bit, starting at 5:09). Plus, they open with a marching band drummer — okay, I admit it, some gimmicks will DEFINITELY work on me.

Watch video! (Please please please watch it in HD, and make sure to turn off the annotations).

Yoko

PS: Here’s another video (7:01) of AoV really taking advantage of costuming. The Bohemian Rhapsody ending is insane.

PPS: If you’re interested in seeing what sort of stuff I’m usually into, check out GRV’s performance (6:01) at the same competition. The choreography might not be especially flashy, but man is it clean — and it landed them in first place, just ahead of AoV. Well deserved, in my opinion — plus, they performed to a medley of California- and LA-related songs. Straight to my heart.