Local high school dance groups and crews gathered at Barnes Memorial Park in Monterey Park on July 14 to compete in a 626 Dance-Off.
Seven crews from Alhambra, Temple City, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, West Covina and others from around the 626 area code, or simply the 626, performed their best numbers in front of a panel of judges. All the teams competed in the preliminary round, but only three made it on to the second round to perform again and test their chance at taking the title of the best 626 Dance Crew.
Temple City’s Girls Choreo, Alhambra’s All-Male Crew and the “Fire Ferrets” from San Gabriel made it to the second round. After the panel discussed and gave feedback, Temple City and Alhambra tied for second place, and the Fire Ferrets took the title as the best dance crew, winning a trophy and other gifts from the events sponsors, such as gift cards for every individual winner of $62.60 to Ray Ray Restaurant, free drinks at Factory Tea Bar for 626 hours (26 days) and a free meal at Cha Cafe.
626 Movemeant, hosted the event, which was a fundraiser for Janet Liang, a young adult whose cancer has recently returned and needs a bone marrow transplant. The event was also to raise awareness of the lack of registered bone marrow donors in the minority Asian-American community. Liang had found a match weeks before the event, and funds raised went to A3M, or Asians for Miracle Marrow Match, who also sponsored the event. This in mind, the admission was either $5, or free with registry in the bone marrow match database with A3M.
Several local 626 celebrities helped in both promoting the event and participating in it. The Fung Brothers emceed the event, and singers and dancers, such as Jason Chu, Victor Kim, Jonathan “Legacy” Perez and Kevin Lien, performed between dance segments. The judge panel (also including Kim and Legacy) was composed of local celebrities and dance instructors.
The 626 Movemeant will be hosting another 626 Night Market this coming Saturday. To find out more, visit their site here. Also, for Liang’s Helping Janet website, visit it here.
(Picture courtesy of Joyce Liu)