JabbaWockeeZ's own Kid Rainen

by cynthia yoo | April 6, 2008 at 06:22 pm | 1049 views | 1 comment

MTV's reality show, America's Best Dance Crew crowned JabbaWockeeZ last week.

Luckily MuchMusic has been re-broadcasting old episodes, which is a goodthing, because the "other" reality-show Girlicious just hasn't been doing it for me.

JabbaWockeeZ owe a big part of their success to being an ultimate team -- donning masks and forcing the audience to watch them as a single entity, not individuals. Despite this focus on teamwork, one of the members, Rynan Paguio (a.k.a. Kid Rainen), emerged as a true standout during the 1st season.

Remember the "catching a bandana while doing a flare -- on beat!" move that generated so much talk afterwards? That was Rainen. The flare on the hood of a car? The gainer backflip during the Michael Jackson week? All Rainen. Perhaps the most memorable moment came when JabbaWockeeZ went up against Kaba Modern in the 2nd-last episode, and Rainen pretty much sealed Jabba's victory with an incredible headspin that seemed to go on forever.

In addition to JabbaWockeeZ, Rainen is affiliated with Footwork Fanatix and Killafornia crews, and also serves as the director of hip hop youth outreach organization called Culture Shock in San Diego.