Expression crew is a South Korean b-boying crew that is famous for winning Battle of the Year 2002, making it the first ever Korean crew to win the title. The crew is also famous for its "Marionette" performance, a show it used to tour around the world performing.
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Expression Crew was formed in 1997, by Lee Woo Sung. In 2002, the crew won Battle of the Year, becoming the first ever Korean crew to do so, also establishing South Korea in the international hip hop community. After this, Expression went on to pioneer part of the hip hop movement in South Korea.
In 2003, Ducky and Hong 10, some of the top dancers in the crew, left for undisclosed reasons. Even with this event, Expression competed in Battle of the Year 2003 and won 2nd place, losing to Pockemon crew from France.
In 2004, for unknown reasons, most of the members left to either form a crew or join a new one. Rumors were rampant that Woo Sung had abused his power, evaded taxes, and even assaulted a member, Wake Up. In June of that year, someone claiming to be Woo Sung created an account on the website bboyworld.com and addressed the negative rumors about Expression.[1] Expression did not compete in Battle of the Year that year, presumably due to the circumstances, but the crew did put on a modified version of its BOTY 2003 showcase for Battle of the Year Korea. Later that year, former members of Expression, including Ducky and Hong 10, formed Drifterz crew. Other former members also formed a new crew, Maximum crew.
Since 2004, most of the world has hardly heard from Expression, with the general b-boying community assuming that Expression had broken up. Information about the exact status of Expression is scarce, but it can be gathered that it is more of a dance troupe now, as the crew now only puts on its Marionette performance and never battles or competes anymore. Expression also holds auditions for new members, an uncommon act among regular b-boying crews, making the theory of the crew being a professional "b-boy production team" even more reasonable. A suggested theory is that Expression is now more of a "b-boy academy", with Woo Sung training promising young b-boys, then using his connections to give them a future in hip hop.
Expression is known worldwide for its Marionette performance. Created in 2005, it is an abstract b-boying showcase performed mainly to music by French musician Yann Tiersen. The crew performs in Carnival type masks, with highlights being a glow in the dark performance and a puppeteer performance.
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