The trendily-dressed and -coiffed teachers of hip hop studio 3rd Street Beat in Edmonton, Canada teach a variety of moves in this two-disc set designed for novices, instructors, or dance students. Following a warm-up routine, the choreographers—solo or with backup dancers—cover eight routines based on contemporary hip hop styles: “Youth,” pop-like “New School,” aggressive “Street,” “Theme,” “Club,” “Funk,” “New Age,” and “Old School” (including krumping), with each music-backed segment broken down into bite-size steps (with helpful front and back views of the dancers). Back2Basics also includes featurettes that outline specific techniques (including locking and other combos), a “Dance Hall” cardio fitness routine, and a nutrition guide, as well as DVD extras such as outtakes and freestyle segments. Sure to be useful for beginners, as well as more seasoned viewers hoping to bite off some moves for their own dance floor strutting, Back2Basics is recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams-Wood)
Back2Basics
(2008) 2 discs. 220 min. DVD: $49.95. Music 4 Da Soul Records (avail. from most distributors). PPR. Volume 23, Issue 6
Back2Basics
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.