KALANI: Asian is the majority instead of the minority in Hawaii, besides being an all out syck crew. As far as Hawaii goes, a Kaba Modern esque type of crew would be bananas. How are you received in the Cali. area? Are you supported by mainly Asians or all races as a whole?
Lawrence Kao: It may seem as if the majority of people that support us from Cali are actually mostly Asian, but as a whole our supporters come from all races. Whoever watched the show seemed to enjoy what we were doing and received us positively.
Cindy Minowa: Well we come from a majority all Asian industry so I feel like that's all we know. To be honest I have no idea how we are viewed from other communities. I'm sure if they aren't Asians or have an interest in the dance community, they probably have no idea who we are haha. In general I feel the support everywhere I go. For instance, I got hook ups on my new phone because the workers at the t-mobile store recognized me from the show! (And they weren't Asians) Yay! :)
KALANI: As far as your "performance/battle" with Jabbawockeez at the Asian Excellence Awards, was that the first time you danced with Jabba after the ABDC final? What did you take away from the award show appearance?
Lawrence: Yeah, that was actually the first time we danced with Jabba after the show. The award show made us feel as if we actually were an important aspect of the Asian entertainment community. The show appearance solidified the fact that we did inspire many, and did make us and others proud to be Asian.
Cindy: Yes it was our first and only time (yet) to perform with Jabbawockeez since the show. At the award show I met so many aspiring celebrities and I feel like I've been recharged with so much more motivation to truly reach for the highest goals. I've made a lot of connections and networking through the award show as well.
KALANI: From a mental, dancing style, networking, understanding the entertainment biz aspect, what did you learn from the show? How do you incorporate that into what you do now as a dancer, person, professional?
Cindy: I've learned that as long as you work hard on something you believe in, something good WILL turn out. You can't just sit there and dream. You gotta do something about it and make it happen yourself because you only live once. I constantly remind myself that there is always room for growth no matter what industry you're in or where you're are in life. As of now, I'm looking forward to continue to train as much as I can, not to book more giggs but because I want to do this for myself and be the best dancer that I can be.
Lawrence: Being on the show provided us with a glimpse of how the entertainment industry would be as a dancer. In the end it made us grow up a lot quicker as professionals in the entertainment world. We still have a lot to learn but are slowly developing different networking and business minded understandings of how to grow as individuals in the entertainment industry.
KALANI: What crews have you kept in contact with?
Jia: Well on the show being stuck in a hotel together definitely forced the crews to all get really close and everyone had a huge respect for what the others did. We made a contact list of all the crews so that everyone could stay in touch. Kaba has definitely remain very close to Jabbas and the Fyshies. We had a workshop in New Jersey with Iconic. Next weekend we will be doing a show in Boston with Status Quo and Break Skate, but for the most part I think everyone in Kaba has kept in contact with at least one person in every crew.
KALANI: In a perfect world Kaba Modern being an Asian hip-hop crew would be a non-issue, to some it is? How is that GOOD and BAD?
Jia: Honestly there are hundreds of all Asian crews out there; we are just the lucky ones to open America’s eyes to them. The good is that the whole world took notice that we were all Asian which created a huge fan base and because we were all Asian and did so well on the show we were also able to break many of America's stereotypes towards us. The bad is that America is still not used to seeing that many Asians on TV and we probably lost a lot of middle America’s votes and probably any real chance of winning the show. But as amazing as it was to have the whole world notice Jabba and Kaba breaking barriers as Asians I think we all look forward to a day when no one cares that we are Asian at all.
Cindy: I've never experienced any issue being an all-Asian crew. The only time I felt discriminated of my own race was when we went to Canada twice for a show. Both times we were stuck in immigration with very rude security workers and the room full of only Asians. One of the workers even made an unnecessary comment of how dumb I looked with my sunglasses. Haha.
KALANI: How much are you looking forward to coming out to Hawaii? You'll be out here long enough to really grasp and enjoy all the island has to offer. Has any of you been out here before? How will you all plan to celebrate Yuri's 23rd birthday?
Yuri: We probably mention how awesome Hawaii is going to be at least once a day! Unfortunately we'll be working most of the week with only two days put aside to explore the island! Only Cindy, Law, and Jia have been to Hawaii before so it will be the first for a lot of us! There’s a lot of things I want to do such as surf, check out the Polynesian Cultural Center, go to a luau, the list goes on! But for my birthday I just want to hang out with some turtles at the beach and swim with dolphins! I may work with island fire productions to throw an event but I would prefer a chill kick back at a private part of a beach too! Maybe all of the above? :)
Cindy: Hawaii is all I've been talkin about for the past 2 months! I've been to Waikiki before once about 4 years ago. For Yuri's birthday, I must cake her in the face then buy her lots of drinks! That's how I celebrate my family or close friends Bday.
KALANI: The youth workshop thing is a nice touch, how do you think that will go?
Yuri: We love to do workshops more than performances because we really get to work with the youth! I have a feeling that the turn out is going to be huge, a lot of fun, and probably the best day of our trip! We're looking forward to hanging out with all the youth!
KALANI: Being an Asian who sometimes hits the club JUST to dance, I already know we can "get down," thanks for smashing that stereotype and telling the world. Do you take any sort of pride, responsibility, good feeling for showing people that Asians love hip hop and dance like everyone else?
Yuri: During the hard times on the show, the times when we thought we were extremely burnt out, we would pray and constantly remind ourselves of everything that we’re presented. That pushed to work even harder. We are definitely proud to have represented all the different communities we are a part of just by doing what we love to do.
*special thank to the crew for taking the time in their busy schedules to do this…
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