All the right moves from Poreotics

MANILA, Philippines - Its signature popping and robotic routines seem easy and effortless, but the American hip-hop crew Poreotics — also known as Poreotix — pours in hours and hours just to bust those moves.

“It really starts with the song,” says the group’s main choreographer Dumbo, whose real name is Matt Nguyen, of the creative process involved in a one-on-one with The STAR, “and we let the rhythm inspire us and take us to where it wants us to be. It’s like writing, you start with a pen and a paper, and the words flow.”

Poreotics was in town over the weekend for a mall-hop, touring SM Supermalls ahead of their front act gig for Justin Bieber at the Mall of Asia Grounds on May 10.

Dumbo says that everyone in the group, which also includes Charles Nguyen and Can Nguyen (they’re not related to each other, but like Dumbo, are of Vietnamese origins) plus Filipino-Americans Law Devera, Chad Mayate and Justin Valle, brings their own energy to the table.

“Inspiration just kinda pops out of nowhere. We just kind of having fun and we’re just being ourselves,” says fellow member Justin who’s nicknamed “Jet Li.”

“The key there is to really enjoy, but to never compromise your style. Be humble enough to learn from the masters, but work on being unique,” says Charles.  

While fun and humor come naturally to this playful group’s every performance, the skill levels, however, stem from good mentors like Funny Bones, a pioneer in the hip-hop dancing community in Los Angeles, and also from hard work. “We practice three to four hours, three times a week. Do we have time for leisure? Sometimes,” Law says.

The Southern California-based Poreotics, whose ages range from late teens to early 20s, started out as a trio in 2007. The founding members were later joined by the three Pinoys. Poreotics finally hit the mainstream when it was crowned grand winner of America’s Best Dance Crew Season 5 last year and as the Team of the Year at the World of Dance Awards last January.

Their trademark accessory is the dark shades that — for the benefit of fans dying to know — they glue to their faces to keep them from falling off especially when they execute motions mid-air. The shades, at any rate, is a way of getting the audience’s view off the facial expressions and instead, making them zero in on their movements. It also gives off a robotic vibe, which is the core of their style.

Poreotics guys (from left) Charles, Can, Jet Li, Law, Chad and Dumbo during a presscon at SM Megamall promoting its front act gig for the Justin Bieber concert on May 10 at the MOA Grounds

These new kids on the block might be regarded a luckier lot in the sense that earlier America’s Best Dance Crew champs like the Jabawockeez and Quest Crew, which are also made up of mostly Asians (a number of Pinoys among their members, too), have somehow paved the way for Asian talent to take the spotlight on the hip-hop stage.

“We are actually proud that for the last five years, we’re kind of standing out,” says Dumbo. “It’s no longer tough being an Asian hip-hop dancer and be recognized. From what I’ve seen, when they know you’re Asian, they kind of assume you’re good at hip-hop dancing.”

“It’s the new stereotype. Asian is the new Black,” adds Justin.

Nevertheless, Poreotics also has its share of bashers online, with some carping that during the America’s Best Dance Crew stint, it took its self-deprecating humor too far and that it was unflattering to the image of the Asian-American community.

But Poreotics is truly playful on and off-stage. Charles says that viewers shouldn’t take everything they see on TV at face value because “you really have to be out there to know the real story.”

With the crew generating more media mileage by the day, things are looking up for them — from fanbase, perks to gigs. It also helps that the market of this dance genre has evolved and expanded, thanks to hip-hop themed movies, most recently of which is Step Up 3D, plus reality TV shows and the social media phenom that helped commercialize this once-underground “subculture.”

Then there’s the chance to travel, and for the Pinoys in the group, who trace their roots to Pangasinan, Bicol and Ilocos, to perform in their parents’ native land. Prior to their mall-hop, they also swung by Boracay with their manager, Danny Batimana, who has choreographed routines for the Laker Girls and Clippers Dancers.

“Bora is the best so far. We’ve been to Hawaii for like three times, and we thought it was already the best, but when we went to Bora, we were like wow. We loved it there,” says Justin. 

Apart from starring in Justin Bieber and Usher’s music video Somebody To Love and doing several shows for Disney, they recently got cast in the video for Bruno Mars’ latest single The Lazy Song that debuted last April. Their “playfulness” played to the hilt, they were the back-up dancers that monkeyed around — literally.

The Poreotics, which has put college on hold as it hopes to do all the right moves in the direction of its career, is expected to be busier in the next months.

 “Winning America’s Best Dance Crew has definitely opened a lot of doors for us. But we still try to be humble. My mom raised me to be humble. We are the same, regular guys, who still get to do household chores,” Law says with a laugh.

Dumbo says, “Fame is cool. I’m glad we’re getting known, but we really try to put fame out of the picture. We’re just happy to be still dancing.”