unforbidden dance

Harry Shum Jr. Introduces The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

A quasi-street-dance collective most famous for performing an interpretive dance at this year’s Oscars — and having Glee’s Harry Shum Jr. as co-choreographer — the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers has now spawned a namesake series of episodic web shorts. Each one shows a step in “the Uprising,” in which fictional members of the Legion discover their extraordinary dancing abilities. Yes, “extraordinary dancing abilities” was the important part of that sentence. The first episode, “The Tale of Trevor Drift” — which you can watch here — features a gravity-defying break routine. The second episode is almost entirely composed of what might be described as a roundhouse leap battle. Surprise: Narrative doesn’t seem to be the LXD’s strong suit. And Shum’s character, Elliot Hoo, while listed for episode one, hardly makes an appearance. We support director Jon M. Chu’s ambition to create stars for all dance genres, and it’s encouraging to see a cameo from the ever-hilarious Ryan Hansen. But to move beyond a glitzier So You Think You Can Dance, this series needs some credible drama. And maybe more Ryan Hansen.

Harry Shum Jr. Introduces The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers