THe COMMunITY

JabbaWockeeZ is an all-male hip hop crew from San Diego who won the first season of the reality dance competition America's Best Dance Crew. Since winning, the group has gained greater exposure by appearing in various music videos and commercials, touring internationally, and performing with Shaquille O' Neal at the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. They are known for wearing plain white masks and gloves in order to encourage audiences to focus on their movements as a group instead of on individual dancers. Their name is derived from the Lewis Carroll poem "Jabberwocky."

Before ABDC

The earliest origins of the group began in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1990s, where founding members Gary "Gee One" Kendall and Randy "DJ Wish One" Bernal were both members of the MindTricks dance crew. Sacramento natives Phil "Swaggerboy" Tayag, Kevin "KB" Brewer, and Joe "Emajoenation" Larot also joined the MindTricks crew together. Tayag, Brewer, and Larot all later moved to the San Diego area, but thanks to Gary Kendall's travelling schedule as a performer and dance instructor, the three maintained their connections to the MindTricks group. Phil, Kevin, and Joe began performing while wearing white masks and gloves as a trio called "Three Musky." The mask and glove motif was adopted as a tribute to the 1970s San Francisco strutting crew Media Sirkas.

What began as an effort to start a Southern California chapter of the MindTricks crew later evolved into JabbaWockeeZ. The name "JabbaWockeeZ", coined by Joe Larot, was inspired by the fantastical monster from the Lewis Carroll nonsense poem. The white masks and gloves from Phil, Kevin, and Joe's performances as Three Musky were adopted as the visual signature of the group. In San Diego, through Gary's connections, the JabbaWockeeZ added b-boys Rynan "Kid Rainen" Paguio and Chris "Cristyle" Gatdula to the group. The original seven-member iteration of JabbaWockeeZ began performing as a group in 2003. This lineup consisted of Gary, Randy, Phil, Kevin, Joe, Rainen, and Chris.

BEHIND THE MASK

CHUNG AKA ’B-TEK’, 26 - MISSION HILLS, CA Who is your favorite fellow ’Dance Crew’ member and why? My whole crew is nasty. Each member brings a unique flavor to the table without it our body would be incomplete. CHRIS GATDULA, 26 - LAS VEGAS, NV What is a source of inspiration for your dancing career? My source of inspiration is to not fall behind my crew. So I’m just trying to keep up with them. And I also want to make sure I’m on top of my game cause there’s a lot of dangers coming up and I ain’t trying to get smoked. KEVIN BREWER, 31 - SACRAMENTO, CA Is there anything that we should know? I like to inspire and to be inspired. Connecting with people is something I enjoy also, because life is fleeting, we should build each other up and fellowship and enjoy one another. I like Mexican food too. RYNAN SHAWN PAGUIO, 26 - MURRIETA, CA Is there anything else that we should know? I just got married in Nov. 24, 2007. I am a sexy guy when you close your eyes! I’m Filipino. I need to pay my bills. I love hip hop. JEFF NGUYEN AKA ’PHI’, 26 - PHOENIX, AZ Is there anything that we should know? I like Vietnamese Pho! I’m a Virgo and like long walks on the beach! I’m single and ready to mingle! If you’d like, you can call me at 1-800-vietnamese tease! PHIL TAYAG, 23 - SACRAMENTO, CA Do you have a job? If so, what do you do to pay the bills? I dance, I hustle to pay bills.

JABBAWOCKEEZ GALLERY