They grew up in some of Boston's roughest neighborhoods and found salvation in hip-hop dance. Now members of the troupe Status Quo are trying to survive their toughest professional challenge yet: capturing first place in MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew" competition, a reality show pitting nine of the country's best, most energetic young dance crews in a can-you-top-this showdown offering a top prize of $100,000 and a shot at showbiz stardom.
Episodes of "Dance Crew" are taped Tuesdays in Los Angeles for broadcast Thursdays at 10 p.m. on MTV. Status Quo has already made it through two rounds and will compete again tonight. They could be dancing on thin ice this time, though, as the field shrinks and the show's three judges - rapper Lil Mama, singer-producer JC Chasez, and hip-hop choreographer Shane Sparks - grow stingier with their praise and start channeling their inner Simon Cowell.
Hailed after round one's performance for their "street" style and athleticism, Status Quo nevertheless finished among the bottom four in viewer voting. In round two, competitors were asked to reinterpret classic MTV music videos using their own choreography. Status Quo clearly disappointed the judges with their take on MC Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" video, drawing comments like "You gotta pick it up next time" (from Lil Mama) and "You guys let me down" (Sparks) - despite pulling off acrobatics that another panelist (Chasez) called "amazing."
Each week, one crew from among the two lowest vote-getters is eliminated by the judges. The rest move on. Seven teams remain heading into tonight's show. The eventual winners also get a contract to tour with a hip-hop star, details of which MTV has yet to finalize.
"It's been good and bad," admits Ernest Phillips, 21, a founding member of Status Quo, speaking by phone from LA, where the group is ensconced in a hotel for the duration of their West Coast trip. "We know we need to work even harder."
Crew member Jamal Weaver, 20, notes the stylistic differences that set Status Quo apart from other Boston dance groups have been magnified in LA, and not always to their benefit in a competition where all the contestants are polished dancers and choreographers, with one team even performing on roller skates.
"We also act, we do skits, we might even do magic tricks," says Weaver. "They realize we're different." Mastering slick dance-video steps? That's not really their thing, concedes Weaver, who has been battling the flu for the past week on top of other pressures.
The rest of the Status Quo crew in LA are Joshua Green, 20, from Mattapan; Jayjion Greer, 18, from Lynn; Dwayne Hines, 18, from Roxbury; and Darius Rutledge, 21, from Dorchester. Nine more members stayed behind, MTV having limited the competition to crews of between five and seven dancers.
Tonight's theme, "dance craze," will have Status Quo performing its version of Soulja Boy's "Crank That." Whether they win back the judges' love or fly home, the group has made a strongly favorable impression on the show's producers, who view the Boston crew as crowd-pleasing underdogs from the 'hood.
"Status Quo represents the entire spirit of what the show's about," says MTV vice president Drew Tappon, who's overseeing the LA production. "They're young, not polished professionals, with so much talent and so much heart. You can't turn away when they're onstage. They've gotten plenty of praise in Boston, I know. But this is taking them into the national spotlight."
Status Quo was among 250 crews that auditioned in New York last December, according to Tappon. Another 500 groups tried out in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles. A dozen finalists were invited to LA before the field was winnowed further. "We didn't have the money to get home" from New York, recalls Phillips, adding that MTV has been picking up the tab since then.
A Roxbury native, Phillips reinjured a previously fractured ankle during last week's rehearsals and has been doing his best to ignore the pain. "It's bothering me now," he admits. "I'm icing it down, but it keeps swelling on me."
Phillips's ability to soar, flip, and land on his feet smoothly could hold the key to the group's fortunes on "Dance Crew."
He began putting together Status Quo three years ago, originally thinking it was going to be a rap group. "Since I couldn't rap," says Phillips, who goes by the nickname E-Knock, "I had to pick one, rap or dance. I chose dance." While other neighborhood buddies were drinking and drugging, he goes on, "I was the one dancing. I figured dancing was the way to get girls."
Weaver, the big fellow usually spotted in the middle of the dance action, is a former high school football and basketball player whose family moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, Roxbury to Mattapan to the South End. Kicked out of several schools along the way, Weaver says, he felt most grounded when he was dancing and singing. A member of an all-state choir, he's sung classical music in Symphony Hall, something few fellow crew members even know about, he says.
Currently living in Lynn, Weaver plans to enroll at Berklee College of Music next fall. He and Phillips work as dance instructors when not performing with Status Quo. Both also appeared on season three of Fox TV's "So You Think You Can Dance" reality show, but as solo performers, not crew members.
Status Quo, meanwhile, is known locally for its anti-violence message as well as its high-flying dance moves. The crew has thrilled audiences at venues like the Dorchester Idol Competition and Mayor's Youth Summit in Boston.
"We're not really performers; we're more entertainers," says Phillips. The distinction? "When you're performing, you're doing it more for yourself. When you're entertaining, you're doing it more for the audience." He pauses and adds, "A lot of crews have fight scenes in their routines. We like to make the crowd laugh. Because if they're laughing and happy, they're less likely to start talking and fighting."
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.
