B-boys in motion: 'You Got Served' offers brilliant acrobatics

Friday, January 30, 2004

By Barry Paris, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Only Tony Norman and a few other close confidants know that, in addition to being au courant on African-American street dancing, I am also adept at it myself -- especially head-spinning.

	'You Got Served' Rating: PG-13 for sexual and drug references Starring: Steve Harvey, Raz B, Lil Fizz, Lil Kim Director: Christopher B. Stokes

Not.

But "You Got Served" makes me wish I were. An urban fantasy aimed at black adolescents, it has a hot choreographic appeal akin to (perhaps inspired by) "West Side Story" 45 years ago.

Instead of Jets vs. Sharks, we have Blacks vs. Whites. The brothers are led by David (Omari Grandberry) and Elgin (Marques Houston). The spike-haired punk white boys -- well, we don't care about them, except that they're being aided by a black defector or two. The plot, such as it is, concerns several big-bucks contests between them -- dance-offs for fame and fortune. The dumb subplot concerns a split between nice-guy Dave and nasty-guy Elgin over Dave's romance with Elgin's sister (Jennifer Freeman). Nothing matters but the final big break-dance rumble, an MTV competition whose winner gets $50,000 and a spot on Lil Kim's new video. Whoopee!

All that is ridiculous. What's sublime is the acrobatic dancing, fabulously performed -- if only director Christopher B. Stokes were up to the task of filming it. He screws up Shane Sparks' nifty choreography with MTV-style short, tight, frantic shots that give no sense of the whole.

I understand there was a B-boy performance for the Pope recently -- John Paul II rocks! "You Got Served" does not render it brilliantly, but it's a nice taste of a brilliant art form that awaits its own Balanchine.

Barry Paris can be reached at 412-263-3859.

E-mail this story   Print this story