Quest for Success
Picture a hip hop crew that excels in just about every style of the dance genre, from breaking to popping to krumping. Now picture that same crew playing their own instruments and directing their own videos. It might seem like an impossible feat, but for the talented members of Quest Crew, winners of season three of “America’s Best Dance Crew,” the skill and drive necessary to pull it off are all in place. Now it’s up to them to make it happen.
Coming Up
Quest Crew began its journey in a small, tight-knit dance community located outside of LA, Steve Terada, Hok, Brian Hirano, Ryan Confidero and Victor Kim had been dancing in another crew, and in October 2006 they broke off to start their own adventure. They later added D-Trix and Ryan Feng to complete the ensemble and made the Quest Learning Center in Artesia, CA, their home base. “We basically named our crew after the facility, but also it has deepening in that we’re always striving for the next goal,” says Terada. “We’re on a never-ending quest to find the next thing.” The bond between crew members goes deeper than a professional collaboration. The dancers count each other as the closest of friends—a bond they say has only strengthened since competing on ABDC. “Quest is more than just a bunch of dancers,” says Confidero. “We really hang out. One out of seven times we dance. Having gone through that crazy thing with my buddies is a big enlightenment. You share that story with six other people that will always understand.”
Reality Check
Quest Crew members are no strangers to reality TV. Before they came together as a group for ABDC, Confidero, Hok and D-Trix had each individually competed on “So You Think You Can Dance” with solid success. Confidero and D-Trix both cracked the top 10, and Hok was a top 12 finalist who participated in the Emmy Award-winning number “The Hummingbird and the Flower.” The boys were a popular part of the show, and were asked back to perform as a group in later seasons. “I think for us, it’s not about the fact that it’s reality TV. But SYTYCD happened to be a competition that was challenging me as a dancer,” says Hok. “I think it’s really nice because it’s televised and a lot of people get to see it. But the challenge is the thing that most attracts us.” Drawn to the challenge of stepping up their game for dance reality TV, Quest decided to audition for the third season of ABDC. Before they could move forward, however, they had a difficult decision on their hands. At the time, there were more than seven members of the crew, but only seven could compete on the show. “It was really hard to pick the seven for the actual crew,” says Terada. “We put it up to a vote to see who would be sticking around. Lydia [Paek] had a chance to audition with another group, so she opted out. Aris [Paracuelles] opted out also. Another active member, Andy Luo, has a day job. So it was pretty much up to us seven.”
Training Day
Quest Crew has an unconventional training method. Although some of its dancers take class at studios, many prefer to experiment on their own. Others teach class and grow from having to instruct. To balance the different learning styles, Quest has two different practices each week: one at a gym with a bouncy floor for trying new acrobatic stunts, and one in a studio in front of the mirror to test choreography. Prior to the show, the guys focused on pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone. “We made sure that we had a good amount of stunts and group stuff that we can throw in,” says Hok. “Obviously, depending on the challenge, we had to figure out what we can use and can’t. But we wanted to make sure we had the full deck of cards before we went in.”
Beyond physical training, Quest Crew prepped mentally by studying a variety of short films for inspiration. They recognized a similarity in structure between short dance routines and short films: both have to pack in the drama and get their point across quickly, otherwise they fail to impress. The guys also watched the entire first season of ABDC to prepare themselves for the journey ahead. “We kind of just analyzed what was effective, what looked good on stage, what the judges praised,” says Kim. “It was really effective. We took the positive things that we enjoyed while watching the show and applied it in our own Quest way.”
Lights, Camera, Action
From the first day on the show, Quest Crew came out to impress. Their explosive routines, stylish wardrobe, wacky hairstyles and goofball antics won over audiences and the judges. “My first impression was that I knew they were going to bring something totally different to the show,” says Shane Sparks. “They took everything to another level. They killed the game.” The guys kept things fresh and continued to apply their training techniques through the course of the show. “We did a lot of team building exercises,” says Confidero. “We would do hundreds of sit-ups every night just to seal the night. It was really a lot of brain work. During the show, we would spend three out of the five days just talking and thinking. We were able to see the way our minds worked.”
Quest came out strong, but according to Sparks, their real secret to success was in building momentum. Each week, they seemed to improve upon what they put forward the week before. “When you’re on a show for 12 episodes, you tend to see the best stuff after the first five. Then they start mixing and matching,” says Sparks. “But Quest Crew kept improving. It let me know those boys have a lot of arsenal. They’re always trying to expand their horizons.” Still, there was one week that Sparks felt the guys didn’t bring their “A” game, and the Beat Freaks came knocking at their door. “[The Beat Freaks] were the main source of inspiration for us,” says Confidero. “We always felt like we were in direct comparison to them.” After the Beat Freaks’ astonishing magic ball routine, and their show-stopping robot number, Quest knew they were going to have to step up for the finale week in order to compete.
Controversy
As if having a powerhouse crew like the Beat Freaks at their heels wasn’t enough pressure, Quest Crew got some backlash for their Whack Track week, when Hok danced with his pants and shirt reversed, making it appear as though he were performing stunts on his hands instead of his feet. Soon, breakers took to the Internet, accusing Quest of biting the move from Project Seoul, a South Korean b-boy crew. D-Trix headed to bboyworld.com and issued an apology for what he says was an honest mistake. “That was very embarrassing on our end,” says Hok. “As much as we thought we had seen a lot of videos, for us to not see that one was purely our fault. We didn’t do our studying. So hopefully something like that will never happen again. It just comes down to that whenever you think you’re the first one to think of something, someone else has done it.”
Victory Close At Hand
With the Beat Freaks on their tail, Quest Crew knew they would have to come out big in the finale. They saved their favorite routines for last, and blew away the competition. In the Hip-Hop Decathlon challenge, Quest showed a diverse skill set by tutting, threading, housing, waving and krumping their way to a standing ovation. In the Last Chance challenge, the dancers composed their own song, with Feng playing the piano while D-Trix headspun on top of it. It was the pièce de résistance of the crew’s repertory. “We’re probably most proud about our final week,” says Confidero. “That’s mainly because from the start, it’s been our dream to do that piece. We were saving a bunch for that piece. But, in order to do it, we had to make it through all those weeks of challenges. That was kind of like victory right there. We got to show the world what we’re meant to do.” Even with such a strong finish, the guys never envisioned actually winning the competition. “We kind of agreed in our heads that we weren’t going to win,” says Confidero. “In my head I was like, ‘How do I take this professionally and be a good sport?’ When they said Quest Crew, we really were not prepared to hear that at all. It took several months until we really believed it.”
Next Step
Quest Crew, ever searching for the next level, was not content sitting on their laurels and basking in the glow of their win. Instead, they’re performing and teaching around the country, filming dance scenes for “Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squekquel,” and shooting promotional material for ABDC season four. But they’ve got bigger ideas about expanding their crew concept to go beyond hip hop dance. In the early days of hip hop, a crew often specialized in one form, typically breaking. Now, spurred by the popularity of shows like SYTYCD and ABDC, dancers and crews are expected to master many styles, from freestyle to choreography. Quest Crew plans to take that expansion a step further. Many of the dancers have talents in other artistic venues. Confidero is a brilliant pianist. Feng is an art major and does photography. Hok can play the violin and paint. Their hope is to incorporate those talents into their future performances. “Coming with different personalities and dance styles, one of our challenges and our philosophy was to be able to create something with no limits,” says Feng. “We have such different backgrounds, that we didn’t want people to say that Quest is b-boys or poppers. We wanted people to say that we’re entertainers.”