Some of San Diego's best young hip hop dancers hit the stage for two performances Saturday in "Full Out 2006," the ambitious creation of choreographer/mentor/dance team director Erik Saradpon. Together with a spoken word artist, a beatboxer and two singers, the 20-act dance showcase was a full-out marathon that lasted nearly three hours.

Saradpon's "Grand Opening" was light-hearted hip hop with a Charleston twist. With 24 dancers of every shape, size and color, it served as a metaphor for Saradpon's inclusive "hip hop is love" philosophy.

Complete with fringed flapper dresses and dapper duds, the crew performed slides, spins and all of the acrobatics hip hop is famous for, and of course a snappy version of the Charleston with pendulum arms and alternate leg swinging. Some of the young gals struggled in their high-heels and there were a few near-misses as groups reassembled, but the dancers never lost their cool or intensity. The rousing musical mix, also by Saradpon, contrasted extreme tempos and dancers worked the syncopated rhythms well. Tight unison sections and dazzling mini-solos were tied together in smooth transitions, such as wonderfully simple pony-hops to get the dancers on and off stage. One of the most memorable performers was an amazing tiny tike, perhaps a kindergartner, who popped and isolated his tiny frame like a pro.

FORMALity All Stars, Saradpon's eight-man dance team, was the bronze medal winner of the World Hip Hop Championship in 2005 and USA gold medal winners in 2004 and 2006. Dressed in basketball jerseys, six of the guys performed daring back flips from a standing position and strutted their stuff to a mix of Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." Saradpon's sister female crew, Hi-Fi, moved with sharp elbows and tough girl confidence.

Another dance team from Saradpon's Formality Dance Academy, FLIPSIDE, moved as a finely tuned gang in "Kick Push," directed by Phillip Geniza. [This team took 1st place in the teen division at the San Diego County Fair] With bandanas around their necks, the little tike star plus ten men swung their arms like powerful windmills. They seemed to have no fear of hitting their fellow dancer in the chops, even when clustered tightly, which created great tension. And while they seemed tough, they were really nice guys inside and weren't afraid to have fun. In one marvelous section, they wiggled their butts and torsos like giant hopping corkscrews, and you just didn't want it to end.

The FORMALity dance team Primary Source took first place [correction, 3rd place] in the youth division, ages 6-12, in the hip hop competition at the San Diego County Fair this year, and it was easy to see why they won. In "Break it Down," directed by Kristen Aguinaldo, their loose hair was flying as they did hard hitting pops and broke in and out of groups with remarkably fine spacing. Breakthrough, a 19-member girl-guy team that took third in the teen division at the fair, masterfully interpreted syncopated rhythms in "Settle Down." Directed by Emmett Agapay, the movement came from the shoulders. As dancers happily ran to regroup and change lines, there were some near misses, but they were only slight.

Culture Shock, one of San Diego's best-known hip hop troupes, presented an energized, untitled piece by master choreographer/artistic director Sherman V. Shoate. The piece revealed technical excellence and Shoate's fun side. Dancers all wore brilliantly colored shoes, their faces glowed with enthusiasm, and they exuded personalities. A guy rode in on another guy as he crawled across on all fours like an old horse. Another guy wore a Santa Claus cap. Dancers traveled across the stage while spinning and also spun dizzily in tight formation, a delightful sight to behold.

Beatboxer Alex Vasquez sounded like an electronic drum set and slipped in little phrases in "One Mic." A singer from Rancho Bernardo by the one word name Passion performed twice, and his voice and guitar helped break up the non-stop dancing. [Since the performance I've learned that Passion is from San Francisco, not Rancho Bernardo. Obviously the cheering crowd made it tough to hear the full introduction. My apologies. KE]

The group Mystic Stepper from Santee performed a work directed by Phillip Geniza. Two teams, one tiny tots, the other teen/adult, merged to perform the usual hip hop faire. The very young girls wore shorts and knee-highs and were cute as buttons, but it was unsettling to see them shake their booties and thrust their pelvises like sexually active adult women in a Janet Jackson video. This routine stood out in sharp contrast to the rest of the show that was at all times tasteful and age appropriate, and it did not fit.

Saradpon's teams FORM and FLIPSIDE, merged to perform "Legacy," and while it was a mixed crew, it was an example of how and why hip hop has made it cool for men to dance again. YEAH! This work was filled with masculine slides and serpentine arms, and the dancers took risks. They leapt off folding chairs their movement created dazzling floor patterns; unison sequences were sharp. The men and women moved as a powerful unit that seemed to shout out "community."

Performances in the second half included Freestyle Bass't, spoken word artist Mark Montillano, "The Answer," by Saradpon, Mesa Mafia from Mesa College, singer Krystie Cruz, Rising Star Glitz, Hi Fi Raw, FORMALity Thuggish, and a grand finale. Many of them were quite impressive, but no mortal human being can savor that much talent after nearly two hours, much less write a reasonable review about it. Pity those stuck performing in the second half, however glorious, as the audience was surely fried by then.

This show, no matter how entertaining, was simply too long and moved like a giant lumbering beast! Just like the movie "Titanic," three hours of anything, even grand dancing, is too much. Even the most devoted friends and families of the performers were worn out by intermission. (The 8:00 show was a sell-out and was expected to be even longer because it included an awards segment. Ugh!) And granted, it often bordered on the "kid recital" type, and that's okay, as every artist starts somewhere. But this show suffered from a flawed program design that was not fair to anyone, the dancers or the audience.

If Saradpon wants to take the confidence, acrobatics, complex rhythms and grand artistry of hip hop to concert stages, and garner respect from the arts community, he must learn to edit. Less is always more in dance.

He must also hire a crack-the-whip stage manager to keep acts moving like lightning across the stage. No pauses. Period. The "MC's," Joey Cruz and Dennis Phermsin, enjoyed themselves, but their pseudo comic banter was far too long and juvenile. Rather than simply introduce the next act, their skits just made the giant program drag on even longer. Saradpon obviously wanted to include lots of groups, but it would have been better to divide the performances into two shows, or cut some of the acts.