The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

I just watched season 1 on Netflix streaming. Sure, the story is a little cheesy and disconnected in places, but wow, the dancing (what really matters anyway) and the music are awesome! And I'm not even a huge fan of hip hop dance or rap music, (which feels like it mostly stems from) but I still really loved this.

I really loved it when the story/segments were more dark, and I can't wait to see season 2, since it's supposed to be about the villains. For instance, I loved Dark Nurse, when the Bad Doctor dances with the one girl (don't want to give anything away), and even though it's not as dark, I loved the Tap Dancer.

I was super surprised, but happily so, to find out Harry Shum Jr. was in this, and did a major part of the choreography. He's not just a great dancer and a cute face on Glee. Loved his segment, which it also says he wrote. Nice!

Wow. Anyone who hasn't seen this and loves dance should watch it asap!

OK...think about this for a minute. imagine superheros that have no superpowers,no weapons or even real martial arts training...nope their special skill is, you guessed it...DANCING !! i'm serious. This is about the most cornball idea i've seen in a long time obviously made to cash in on both the superhero film craze and the unexplainable success of TV's "dancing with the stars" and "america's best dance crew" popularity. Made by the same guy the gave us the classic(haha) "step up" dance movie series i can't imagine this appealing to anyone but hard core dance fans whoever they are. If you ever wondered what the X men would be like if they were led by Paula Abdul check, this out but serious action fans should avoid this like a high school dance residual..

When i first saw a DVD of this show at my local video shop (season 1), I wasn't really interested but when i saw what the storyline was and who all the casts were on the internet, i came back the very next day and bought the DVD. This is probably one of the best series i have seen in a while. I was so intrigued that i even started to pick actors i had seen previously on Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D as well as finding out about the new upcoming dance stars. There is barely any dialogue in the whole series but that is probably the best thing about it because it tells a story not through words, but through music and dance. I have been impressed by the director, Jon Chu before (Step Up series) but this is a whole new level of entertainment. Those that enjoyed the Step up series as well as the TV Series, "So You Think You Can Dance" would really enjoy this series. Its a 10/10 from me.

I've only seen the first season. Maybe I need to look a little closer at their website to find the second season, which IMDb says has already been shown.

This is primarily a series of shorts (maybe 7-10 minutes each) about street dance. Some folks might not consider some of it to be dance, but more like gymnastics or illusion. It's a fine line.

But whatever you call it, the dance is entertaining. And the music is really good too. Certainly the production values far exceed any other web series I've seen (keeping in mind I usually watch Star Trek fan films of varying levels of quality). This is a very slick production, even for television.

Where it falls apart is with the story. By episode ten, you're rolling your eyes at the guy who introduces each episode in such a cliché (and some might say offensive) way. And while I can understand the desire to turn what you do into a superpower, this is not the way to do it. Probably the best episode was Duet, which was just a simple sort of long-distance romance dance between a guy and a girl (still, points lost for making this I think the only episode that isn't all male). Another episode that was interesting was one that takes off on the familiar tale of magic dancing shoes (forget the title). But most of the rest are kinda embarrassing to admit watching. It seems to take place in a world where nobody dances, unless they have this super dance power, and then they split up into the LXD, and the bad guys. This is the sort of thing that maybe your own dance club or whatever might make as sort of a home video to remember old times, but you wouldn't broadcast it to the world.

So, to sum, great dancing, great music, polished to a shine, but the story is absurd.

I rate Season 1 at 7/10. Barely. Each episode is short enough that you can focus on the dancing, and mostly ignore the story. I don't see much room for the dancing or music to improve, so hopefully the story improves in Season 2.

What I love about this is that to get the full impact of the story you have to be able to find it in the empty spaces filled by dance. If you're waiting for it to do the work for you, sorry. You'll miss out. If you watch it, and let the dancing tell it's own story you'll enjoy this very much, I think. I know that there were points where the dancing alone made me choked up. Sure, it's not your every day expression. That's what makes it worth the effort. Dancing is under utilized these days as a way to express deep emotion, or even tell it's own story. I think to some of the older cultures and am reminded they used dance as a way to tell their stories, express their emotions, and even pass along wisdom. For me, at least, that's exactly what this does.