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The Following is an inside look at the movie “Step Up 2 The Streets” as written by Daniel Ferro on February 12. Daniel is a professional web designer and b-boy who served as an extra on the set of the movie.

For those that hate to read long reviews, I got to see an early screening of the movie. I’ll summarize it here then elaborate:

1. Good: Surprisingly funny, with good music video-style choreography. Decent acting.

2. Bad: Storyline is as unoriginal as it gets, there is nothing ’street’ about any of the dancing or clothes or people, there is next to no breakdancing.

3. Ugly: Most of what you see in the trailer that is jaw-dropping good is not in the final movie.

The Dancing
What was immediately obvious to me, and made me so very sad, is they cut out just about all the breakdancing. They went out and hired some of the United State’s best breakdancing talent, K-Mel, Crumbs, Rainen, Shorty, Luigi, Toys, Cricket, and they barely got to breakdance. They were basically reduced to being in an NSYNC video, their individual talents wasted.

In addition, this movie is supposedly about ’street’ dancing in Baltimore. There is already a street dance native to Baltimore, It’s called Baltimore Club. The closest example I could find is this youtube video, but only the first guy to go out. And there are far better dancers..at least that video will get non-Baltimore people a taste of what its about. THAT is street dancing in Baltimore. And street dancing in general is bboying, no contest. A true Baltimore ‘Street’ competition would feature Bmore club dancing and bboying. Not Christina Aguilera music video dancing.

Why does this happen? Why do all these recent dance movies end up looking like a 2-hour Usher video? Here is a brief history:

The 1980’s
The dawn of the music video era. MTV comes online, and with it, music videos. The only available choreographers are trained in classic studio dancing: Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern, Interpretive etc. The music videos are of kind of edgy, ‘cool’ groups and rap artists. The problem is these studio dances aren’t very..masculine. Or aggressive. Or in any way ‘cool’. So the choreographers take what they know, and slightly masculinze it. They take jazz dancing, some tap, mix it up..borrow some breakdancing and popping and funk dance movements and mix it up..dub it “hip hop” dancing. Ever since this era, music videos still feature this brand of “hip hop” dancing. It’s what you see when NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and the like dance in their videos.

My issue with this “hip hop” dancing you see is it’s a piss-poor imitation of real club and street dancing. Why didn’t the music video producers hire street dancers then, if they wanted an edgy dance? (I am speaking of head choreographers) Because they are scared..they’d rather hire “professionals’. They don’t seem to understand all you’ll get out of them is studio/classic dance. The only way to get real street dancing is to hire street dancers. believe me, they are more than capable of choreographing amazing dance numbers. And yes, as I mentioned earlier..they did indeed hire some of the best breakdancers…but not as choreographers..and as I said also, they barely got to do any breakdancing.

What’s worse, is when these choreographers and studio-trained dancers do breakdancing, funk, popping etc. they do it WRONG. It’s a BAD imitation. It’s offensive. It’s like having an Asian character in a movie played by a white person doing a really bad imitation of an Asian accent..its just extremely offensive. Breakdancing, funk dancing, etc are very hard dances. They are markedly different than jazz, tap, ballet. You can’t just learn it in a month.

Hip Hop is, and always will be: bboyin’, Graffiti Writing, Mcing, and Djing. Period. Bboying/breakdancing is the only hip hop dance. When are Hollywood studios going to learn that hiring music video choreographers like Jamal Sims, Hi-Hat, Dave Scott etc. will NOT get you authentic club and street dancing? All you end up getting is a music video. Tell me, when was the last time you went into a dance club and a group of people dressed in the same outfits went out into the floor and did their interpretation of Brittney Spears ‘Crazy’? Never. Music video choreography exists only in the world of music videos and dance studios performing a “hip hop” dance number. It’s a sad, pathetic imitation of the real thing.

Here is a clip from the movie showing the music-video dancing I am talking about.

For ONCE I thought a studio might get it right..that maybe, since they hired some of the United State’s best breakdancers..it would finally feature authentic street battles. We literally just hold dance contest called battles on the streets, usually on linoleum. And its spectacular. Its nothing like this music video shit. That barely works in a music video, and in real life..performed at a club..it looks so ridiculous. This movie, daring to call itself ’street’ is a slap in the face to all authentic street dancers.

VERY few studios teach breakdancing, locking, etc. You typically have to go into the underground dance scene in any city and learn from the dancers, usually in a living room, garage, or even on the dance club floor. Rarely do we have an actual dance studio to practice in. These dances were born and bred in the streets…by people typically completley untrained in jazz, ballet, tap, etc. It’s it’s own evolutionary branch of dancing.

The ironic thing about the movie..is it’s supposed to about studio-trained dancers versus ’street’ dancers. And really, they are both studio dancers. Barely an ounce of authentic breakdancing. The one character that is a good bboy, Monster (luigi) is said in the movie to be a ’stunt guy’. As in, he knows how to fall…so they use this ability in their final battle. Why not just say, hey! He is a bboy, and a damned good one!? Thats why movies like You Got Served and this one are so offensive..they pretend to say this is street dancing..when all it is, is studio dancing. This movie just made me so sad. They had the weapons..some of the best breakdancers on earth..and they ended up doing a
dance sequence.

In what world is this cool?

If you attempted a freeze like that at a legit underground dancing competition you’d be laughed at so hard. Actually..even at a regular dance club you’d probably be laughed at. I wonder how hard Jamal Sims had to think to come up with THAT pose. He must have stayed up all night. Unless it was hi-hat who’s responsible for that masterpiece. And this just solidifies my point: this type of music video dancing is an insult to actual breakdancers, funk dancers, and poppers. Even House dancers. If you had put breakdancers in charge of the choreography no way in hell we would have used that freeze…or those clothes/outfits for that matter.

The Actual Movie /Storyline

Unoriginal as hell. Remember how I discussed the offensive nature of pretending to be ’street’ in regards to the dancing? Well the same applies to the clothes.

Exhibits A-D: Briana Evigan’s outfits.

;

She is supposed to be a ’street’ dancer, and so the studios drank Liquid drain-o and decided THIS is what street clothing entails:Anyway, Briana plays Andi, a ’street’ dancer (you can tell by her ’street’ clothes) who has to shape up or ship out, so she is forced to enroll in the Maryland School of the Arts. There she meets Chase (Rob Hoffman) who is a studio dancer with a slight edge. Andi gets kicked out of her crew the ‘410′ because she spends too much time at MSA.

(side note: it’s hilarious, in the movie they call their practice “rehearsal”. trust me, no breakdancer or street dancer calls it rehearsal. That’s a studio term. We call it practice. period. anyway….)

Then they assemble a rag-tag team of geeks to make their own MSA crew to battle the 410 crew at a fictional street battle called..yes..’The Streets’. This is where the movie shines. The nerdy team of MSA dancers is very funny, and its great entertainment. This is the movie’s saving a grace, a natural ensemble comedy element. reminds me of ‘Revenge of the Nerds’. Then the rest goes exactly as you expect..OMG! Im kicked out of MSA..OMG all is hopeless..I can not dance..then last minute dancing and saving the day etc.

There is a romance, but its very….forced. There just isn’t chemistry. I’m not sure why..but it really doesn’t feel like Chase and Andi are into each other at all. I don’t think it’s acting..i can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the writing. But Step Up 1 had a far better romance.

Rob Hoffman is great as Chase Collins, he is funny and acts his part well. Adam G. Sevani as ‘Moose’ is amazing, fantastic dancer (like a new Michael Jackson) and funny. Briana acts her role well, but loses credibility as someone from ‘the streets’. Black Thomas as ‘Tuck’ overacts to the point of comedy, and I am not sure why they cast him, he does next to no dancing, just a lot of animated yelling and gesturing. Maro Koda as Jenni Kido is hilarious as well, she steals her scenes and is a fantastic dancer.

The final dance number is excellent music video choreography..but again..that’s all it is. Would have looked great in a Kanye West video or something..but has no place in a real underground dancing competition. Overall it’s a funnier ‘You Got Served’ with less breakdancing.

What is also upsetting is it’s set in Baltimore..but you barely see Baltimore. You see 3 sets the whole movie: MSA Interior/Exterior, Dragon Club, Warehouse. What about the inner harbor? What about the beautiful scene in Step Up 1 over the key bridge? Why didn’t they showcase our city? Why film here and not even FILM Baltimore? There is one shot of the inner harbor from far away..that’s about it. I was hoping they’d dance there..or in Fell’s Point…something to really show that hey we are in Baltimore. But nothing.

Dishonesty By the Studio
Did you watch the Step Up 2 Trailer? How about the amazing Dance Mash-up? Well, if you go to see the movie hoping to see many of the moves in either of these..youll be disappointed. Many of the dance sequences shown in both clips are NOT in the final movie. On the set I saw some amazing breakdancing sequences..that are now cut from the movie. In fact, just about all the breakdancing was cut or severely toned down. Why? Hard to say..if they wanted it to be about music-video choreography aka Paula Abdul dancing, why market it as a breakdancing movie? Why call it ‘the streets’ and have all the promotional videos and photos feature breakdancing?

Here are some official promotional photos from the movie…that are NOT in the final movie:

Dishonest much? Here is some more dishonesty from the studio: The credits! They didn’t credit HALF the camera people for starters (no B camera 1st and 2nd), or half the actors. Looking at the credits, you’d think like 5 camera people worked on it, and 5 actors. It’s a huge insult to not credit many of the camera operators who worked for months on the film. Even many of the main dancers didn’t get a screen credit. Disney, what the fuck is up? It’s just polite to credit people in your movie.

Did you notice Channing Tatum, star of the first movie in the trailer of this film? Seeing that..you’d think he maybe has a relatively major role in the movie? Wrong. He has a maybe 5 minute cameo. Again, dishonest trailer editing. General studio dishonesty.

One other item..in the trailer..did you happen to catch this clip:

Ok well..those two guys are friends of mine. They were extras on the set that day, cast as bartenders. The director happened to catch them dancing and placed them in the movie doing that move. Wow so the studio has to pay them more right? more than being just an extra? Yes..but Disney didn’t do that. They tried to get away with paying them about $100 each. They had to go to SAG (screen actors guild) and file a complaint in order to get Disney to pay them properly…and even then I feel it’s too low an amount. That clip of them doing the 2-man helicopter is featured in EVERY promotional video..the TV spot, the dance mashup video, the music mashup video, the trailer..everything. And watching it you’d think they are main characters in the movie. Wrong. Again, Disney, what the fuck is up?

Here is another example, a bboy named ToysRUs is used in all of Step Up 2’s official photography and advertisements, and he was even on the front page of myspace. Here is his photo as used in just about all of Step Up 2’s ads:

Here is a quote from him as he posted on myspace:

“tell me why Step Up 2 the movie is using a picture of me for almost all of their advertisement and i am not getting any credt for it or being paid…. as a matter of fact myspace’s homepage has a picture of me on it doing an air flare…

sigh
shit suck balls….
fuck bitch damn
ass cunt dick”

It’s dishonest, again, because that scene in the photo is NOT in the final movie. And because poor Toys didn’t get paid the rate he should have been, or credited in any way.

Well, maybe when how she gets served when she saves the last step up 2 the yard comes out they will get it right.

Honestly though, if you want to see what REAL street dancing is, watch PLANET BBOY coming to theaters in march.

Well, maybe when how she gets served when she saves the last step up 2 the yard comes out they will get it right.

Honestly though, if you want to see what REAL street dancing is, watch PLANET BBOY coming to theaters in March.

Short trailer of planet b-boy

Long Trailer of Planet b-boy

A quote from a good friend of mine that gives a good balanced view of why I am upset and also I didn’t want to blame the director or actors..they are good people:

“We were surprised because we all were ACTUALLY ON SET with all the dance scenes and I’m good friends with the actors and friends with the director….

The director had a vision, he loves bboys. Every time i was on set there were always cyphers, battles etc and they filmed ALOT of it. which is why I thought, finally! a movie that is going to showcase bboys especially because the main characters are street dancers and bboys.

But once through post editing, Disney decided to pull a fast one, cutting out a lot of shit the director wanted in the movie. A lot of the dancers were surprised. I still recommend people go see it, because i mean it is a fun dance movie, just don’t go in there expecting it to showcase bboying and tell a bboying life story.

This was my first time dancing in a major motion picture so I am a little upset, but believe me, this will not be the only time.”

Other critics agree with me regarding the uninspired choreography:

“…dripping with stagnant, trendy dance choreography no better than the worst rap video imaginable (oh yes, a trampoline factors into one sequence)…gaudy choreography more reminiscent of a Kenny Ortega masturbation session than awe-inspiring foot magic. Where are Ozone and Turbo when you need them?”
http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=16997&reviewer=404

“…essentially resembling a longform music video interrupted by a perfunctory plot.”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=10671

“…these dance-feud and performance set pieces…come across as too tightly choreographed to be truly improvised, and thus undercut some of the loose-limbed energy present in other sequences.”
http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=37341

“The filmmakers hardly miss a cliche along the way, which wouldn’t be so bad if the dance sequences were more convincing.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/movies/reviews/5498456.html

Daniel Ferro is a professional web designer and b-boy who served as an extra on the set of the movie. He can be contacted at dia digital designs or through his myspace page

Links
Daniel Ferro’s Myspace Page
Daniel’s Personal Pictures from the Set of The Movie
Step Up 2 The Streets Official Website