It’s been 21 years since Strip-headlining dance crew Jabbawockeez first formed in the Bay Area. Now numbering more than a dozen dancers with nine on stage six nights weekly at their eponymous theater inside MGM Grand, Jabbawockeez present a show so fresh and so clean that every return visit feels new.
That could be due to seeing Timeless, their third Vegas production, with different audiences each time. Jabbawockeez draws some of the most enthusiastic spectators that attend any production on the Strip, with hip-hop and body rock fans making a pilgrimage to a veritable house of worship. The first-timers can be identified by how excited they are to hear OutKast emanating from the speakers as B-boys wearing white masks and matching bucket hats take the stage and commence creating choreographic miracles.
Timeless has a loose storyline of our breakdancing heroes traveling the universe in search of the “ultimate playlist,” which the soundtrack to the show is tantamount to. They travel back in time through eras that influenced them, physically interpreting the Busta Rhymes and Nirvana ’90s, Vision Street Wear ’80s and Soul Train ’70s in hilarious outfits and wigs.
The expert comedic acting talent on display may be unexpected, but it’s crucial to the success of the stage show. Sometimes it’s drawn on to interpret narration, sometimes to act out songs. It’s in full effect during audience participation segments that include karaoke and possibly coaxing a front-row onlooker into coming onstage. It also is the culmination of 21 years of cultivation.
Founders such as Joe Larot, Kevin “KB” Brewer and Gary Kendell are well known among longtime fans as Jabbawockeez prime movers, with Kendell’s unexpected passing from pneumonia and meningitis the year before Jabbawockeez won the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008 creating a void.
“Gary was, he was like a mentor for all of us in the style that we do in our crew,” says the narrator of the JBWKZ the Legacy: ’03 to Infinity video on the Jabbawockeez's YouTube channel. “He’s the reason for the style that we have. He’s like the Yoda of our crew pretty much. He’s our brother. We love him very much, very dearly.”
Notice the several references to Kendell in the present tense. His spirit is very much alive onstage, paid tribute to with love at every performance. The anonymity of the masks makes it easy to imagine him being up there among his disciples, who are now mentors to a new generation of Jabbawockeez and inspirations to fans who discovered them after ABDC.
Now TikTok is where fans of street dance go to learn new steps, except now they can record and upload their own emulations. Timeless is now more than a can’t-miss residency on the south end of the Strip. It’s a master class in movement that’s inspiring for dancers and nondancers alike, with the added value of being able to buy a Jabbawockeez mask.
MGM Grand, 702.531.3826 or mgmgrand.mgmresorts.com
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