July 7, 2010 (2010-7-7) – September 22, 2011 (2011-9-22)
The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, commonly calledThe LXD, is an Americanweb series that premiered onHulu. The series follows two groups of rival dancers: the Alliance of the Dark, who are the villains, and the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, the heroes, who discover they have superpowers referred to as "the Ra" through their dance abilities.[2][3] The entire story takes place over hundreds of years, beginning in the 1920s, up to the year 3000.[4]
50% of the sales of the official LXD T-shirt went to support the work of the nonprofit organizationInvisible Children, Inc.[13][14]|group="fn"}}Puma was the lead sponsor for the series.[15][16]
The first two seasons ofThe LXD were released in 2010 and the third premiered in August 2011.[24] Shooting first began for the series in February 2009.[4] It took 18 months to complete filming for the first two seasons.[4]
Season one focuses on the back story of the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, the "good guys".[25] Each episode introduces each of the characters and their specific dance ability.[6] The season premiered July 7, 2010 onHulu.[17][26] The first twowebisodes (Chapters in the series), "The Tale of Trevor Drift" and "AntiGravity Heroes", were both released July 7. The remaining eight were released every Wednesday afterward.[17]
Chapter (Episode)
Character(s) introduced
Dance style(s) showcased
Date released
The Tale of Trevor Drift
Trevor Drift The Observers The Illister Alice Wondershaw Brendan Broman
Season two tells the back story of the villains of The LXD[25] which consist of Organization X—called The Ox—and The Umbras. The second season also premiered with twochapters, "The Legion" and "Lessons", which were released October 26, 2010. The remaining webisodes were released every Wednesday after with the exception of Wednesday, November 24 due to theThanksgiving holiday.
There is episode titled "Super Ballet" that was supposed to be presented as part of the series narrative. It was left out of season two because Chu felt it didn't fit into the storyline. He eventually released it in 2012 whenThe LXD became available on YouTube.[27] The dancing performed in the episode is a mix of ballet and tricking.
Season three tells the back story of how the LXD was formed and what led to the Ox and the Umbras uniting to become the Alliance of the Dark.I.aM.mE, a dance crew from Houston, TX who won season six ofAmerica's Best Dance Crew, makes an appearance in season three as the Reanimators.[28] Ceasare "Tight Eyez" Willis, the creator of the dance stylekrumping, also appears in season three[28] as the character of Style Ripper, one of the LXD Elders. Season three premiered on August 11, 2011, with twochapters: "The Extraordinary 7" and "Ashes". With the exception of September 1, the rest of the chapters in the season were released weekly on Thursdays.
Chapter (Episode)
Character(s) introduced
Dance style(s) showcased
Date released
The Extraordinary 7
Annabelle Black Diamond The Countess Groove Guardian Joe Drift The Mignifisick Sir Swoop Style Ripper Ringmaster Winston
The LXD is the most viewed original web series on Hulu.[29] AdvertisingAge.com gave the series a favorable review stating "...each episode of 'LXD' packs a wealth of narrative sophistication into its eight or nine minutes. Combine this with the theater-worthy production values and a cast that exerts itself to an ungodly extent, and the end result is—pun time!—extraordinary."[30] Mashable.com called the series "...a game-changer in the way that web series—and the arts—are presented online. Oh yeah, and it’s stunning."[31] In its review of season one, PentacleBlogs.org praised the dancing but felt the acting was weak: "At best this Hollywood narrative approach makesThe LXD series seem a bit clunky and cheesy, and at worse it detracts from the enjoyment of truly great dancing."[32]
After their performance atTED 2010,The LXD received the longest standing ovation in TED history.[33] In November 2010,The LXD won a Media Vanguard Award for "Best Original Web Series."[34] In January 2011, the series won a Digital Luminary Award in the "Original Web Content" category.[35] In February 2011, it was announced that Jon Chu would win the Pioneer Award at the International Digital Emmy Awards for the series.[36] At the announcement,IATAS President and CEO, Bruce Paisner remarked "Jon M. Chu is one of the most up & coming directing talents of our time and we look forward to honoring him for his innovative contributions to the field of digital entertainment with our Pioneer Prize."[36]
^Chris Scott, Harry Shum, and Galen Hooks are the main choreographers; however, other choreographers have been brought in throughout the series. Jonathan "Legacy" Perez choreographed season one's first episode, "The Tale of Trevor Drift".[9] Jamal Sims choreographed season three's episode "Can't Dance".[10] Dee Caspery choreographed season three's episode "Mess in Aisle 7".[11] Kenneth "Free" Crawford and Mike Song choreographed season three's episode "Reprogram".[12]
^Venum, Lil Demon, Flipz, Cloud, and Luigi are all members of Skill Methods b-boy crew.[19]
^Luigi was a competitor atRed Bull BC One 2010,[20] a competition where the world's top 16 ranked b-boys battle each other.
^abcdeJean Oppenheimer (November 2010)."Lethal Dance Moves".NXTBook.com. American Cinematographer.Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved2010-11-04.
^MacKenzie, Carina (May 6, 2010)."'Glee' Tour update: LXD will join New Directions on the road".Zap2it. Archived fromthe original on 2010-08-08. Retrieved2010-12-16.As announced via a YouTube video on May 6, LXD will join Shum and the rest of the "Glee" cast on the road for the 2010 Glee Tour. Opening night is May 15 in Phoenix. The tour will also hit Los Angeles and Rosemont, IL before wrapping up on May 30 after five performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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