America’s Best Dance Crew: Life After Winning the Title!

I’m sure at some point in your life, there was a moment when you wished you could do amazing back flips and stand on your head just for the heck of it… I know I sure have! By watching dance shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew, audiences all around the world can ogle at the fact that there really are people who can do these amazing stunts on a daily basis. And not only can they do these stunts, but they can also perform them.

As a fan of America’s Best Dance Crew, along with millions of other people who tuned in each week, there was one crew in particular that stood out from the rest. Maybe it was their clothes, maybe it was their creative routines... or maybe it was their hair. All I know is that this all-male group had something special from the beginning. After all their hard work, the Quest Crew finally came out on top, winning the season title of America’s Best Dance Crew. D-Trix (whose real name is Dominic Sandoval), one of the members of the Quest Crew, took the time to talk to Youthink about the ups and the downs of being a part of this televised hip-hop phenomenon.

YT: What is your favourite style of dance?
D-Trix: Wow, I’d have to say...like, we don’t really have a style, or a name for it, so I guess just improv or free styling, like everything all at once. I don’t know what that name is, so I guess we’ll just call it improv.

YT: Growing up, did you have all the support from your friends and family to dance and follow your dreams?
D-Trix: Well, the majority of my friends, we supported each other but the thing is that we didn’t really have anything to work for, except for maybe break dance competitions... but even then, it wasn’t really something you could make a living off of. My parents didn’t really see much of a future for it, probably also because there weren’t a lot of dance shows back then and it wasn’t as big in the media. So it wouldn’t really sell, so I wouldn’t really make money off it. So we were kind of like shooting in the dark, just dancing in our garages for reasons we don’t even know. And then opportunities like SYTYCD and ABDC definitely helped out the dance community and of course myself and Quest Crew.

YT: Before Quest Crew, what other dance groups were you in?
D-Trix: Well, I’m currently in two other ones as well, but these are the ones I grew up with since around 2001 and 2005ish. I’m in a world-renowned break dancing crew called Flexible Flav. And they are based out of Sacramento. We’ve been around probably around since 1999 as well. I actually got in that crew around 2001, I’d say, maybe 2000. And then I’m also part of an entertainment dance group called Step Boys, so I’m still running with them because it will always be family stuff, but just recently it’s just been more Quest stuff of course.

YT: How was being on So You Think You Can Dance different than being on ABDC?
D-Trix: SYTYCD was more out of the elements so basically I was just making a fool of myself on national TV because I didn’t really know what I was doing. So it’s like every week, you get thrown these dances and you only have like a matter of a couple of days or a few days... it’s really hours... ‘cause you kinda learn something that you’ve never done before and try to present it to the world, hoping that they don’t think you’re as dumb as you feel. Then on MTV it’s more our own art. We definitely came more prepared as far as chemistry with the crew. And just training up to that point so there’s more of what we do. So basically that’d be the big difference: So You Think is not really what you do, but you learn a lot and then MTV, you finally get to do what you’ve been training for your whole life.

YT: Before auditioning for ABDC, did you have any expectations about what the show was going to be like? If so, was it actually different from what you thought it would be?
D-Trix: It definitely was different because I never thought we would have won, so that was the biggest difference. Since I heard the Beat Freakz were going to be on the show, I honestly felt from the beginning that they were going to win. And just because of the reputation that they have, they’re just so amazing, I mean, everybody can tell that, you know. So I just felt that as far as being on the show, we were hoping to get on the show and just become memorable so people would remember who we were. Because I think that’s really important. I think that if you’re memorable, then you’ll still be able to do work and show America what you can do, regardless if you win or not.

YT: What was your favourite part about being on the show?
D-Trix: Oh man, ummm… I’d have to say, just being in front of an audience again, being able to perform with my brothers. Because you know when you work for something, we trained for this show for probably about little over a year, probably like a year and a couple months and being able to finally show people what we’ve been working at for that long. That feeling is just a pay off in itself. Win or lose.

YT: What was the hardest thing about being on the show?
D-Trix: Um… There’s a lot. Let’s see… Not crying. Yeah that’s probably the hardest one because like I felt like Quest had so much to prove. The girls were really amazing and everybody was really pushing for them to win and a male team has always won so we figured we had to work twice as hard. So, I’d have to say the hardest part was definitely not crying… I don’t know how I got into the other stuff… but yeah, just not crying because… I didn’t want to seem like a wimp on TV. That’s kind of sad, you gotta go back home and all your friends and boys are just making fun of you. So yeah, crying.

YT: Do you guys have a favourite routine that you performed?
D-Trix: Yeah. Our… I’m sure it’s everybody in Quest’s… is Orquestra... is the piano piece. And that is basically the ultimate definition of what quest is because we’ve been trying to…there’s so many people in quest, not really myself actually, but everyone else in quest has some type of musical or art talent and it’s something that they’re all so amazing at. Like dance is something that brought us together, but actually there’s other things that people have been working on their whole lives. Like Ryan with his piano, we finally got a chance to put something together that collaborates music and dance, so just that was an honour to do.

YT: It must have been pretty nerve-racking at the finale. Did you ever think that you guys would make it that far?
D-Trix: We didn’t think so, just to be in the top two with the beat freakz, like that was amazing for us. But nerve wracking wise, I don’t know, I think we just, I don’t know, we didn’t expect Quest I guess, we expected Beat Freakz. It’s just so hard because it could have went either way. And we took it as more of a bonus if we won, you know so it’s like we were already in the top two so if we win, that would just be a bonus because I felt like with the piano piece and decathlon, which was the week before last, that was enough, I felt, to make Quest memorable so that was the whole goal. So anything after that would just be a bonus.

YT: What were the benefits after being on ABDC?
D-Trix: Clothes. Clothes and food...Food! Like now when we go to restaurants, sometimes the managers recognize us and they give us free dessert. Yeah that’s like the best part, because now we don’t have to pay for dessert! Hmm... benefits? More Myspace friends. Definitely now we get to travel as a crew, you know, like before it was like me and Hok would travel a lot together and some would travel on their own or whatever the case may be. But now we finally get to make a living off dance, off of something we love. Some people in the crew quit school, quit their job, to train for this competition and now we finally get to make a living off of it. Just to know that we get to do that together and our parents are proud of us, like that’s the biggest come up after the show.

YT: What advice do you have for teens who want to make it in the dance world?
D-Trix: I’d have to say with whatever you do, work towards something. And whatever people might say towards that, if it’s positive, then of course you’re going to understand that and accept that. But all the negativity that you’re going to get, because everybody goes through it that’s trying to do something, whether it’s a friend that might be jealous or whether its parents that might not believe in you or whatever the case may be... Take that negative energy that you get and put it towards your art because it’s only going to make you ten times stronger. And I feel like when people have something negative that happened, for example like kids that go through their parents getting divorced and they feel like it’s the end of the world. But if you take that energy and you put it towards your art, you’re going to come out with something extravagant, something you didn’t think you could ever do. So just take the negative energy and turn it as a positive. That’d be my probably ultimate tip.

YT: Where would you like to see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
D-Trix: Making money without having to dance because our bodies are going to be dead and soft. Travelling and still doing stuff with Quest and really I want to see what the piano piece has started for us. I feel like that’s the beginning of something that can be extraordinary. And I want to see what Quest is doing in five years altogether as far as putting all those talents together.

YT: So what’s next for Quest Crew?
D-Trix: Besides travelling, all I’m going to say is...Christmas Day...Go to the movie theatres...and watch Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel. Visit Questcrew.com and that’ll tell you everything we’re doing.