The Kinjaz story

Where it started

Movement in the shadows

It started in a freestyle circle. In 2004, at freshman orientation at UC Irvine, Mike Song and Anthony Lee danced in the same circle on Social Science Plaza. They recognized each other again during welcome week, and started making pieces together.

Their early pieces were set to music from Naruto. One crowd lost it over one of them, and that was enough. Anthony left his sales job, and in 2010 the two of them named the crew Kinjaz: kin, for family, and ninja.

In 2012 came the first video on the Kinjaz channel, KINJAZ : A Dance Anime. It opens on “an elite brotherhood of warriors who were trained in the stealth arts”, in rice hats and red masks. The masks stayed.

Kinjaz members in rice hats and red masks, seated in a dark room, from the 2012 video — **2012** · KINJAZ : A Dance Anime, the first video on the Kinjaz channel.

Twenty-some crew members in matching black shirts with red sashes in a cabin, between two Kinjaz banners, holding a signed welcome board — **November 2014** · The first Krewsade. Every name on the board is signed with a thumbprint.

On television

In 2015 MTV brought back America’s Best Dance Crew for an All-Stars season, built around past champions. Kinjaz was the only new crew in it, and finished runner-up.

In 2017 came World of Dance on NBC: Season 1, from the premiere to the Division Final, and in 2018 a guest set at the Season 2 finale with Keone and Mari.

Dancers in lit panels behind a figure in a rice hat on the World of Dance stage — **2017** · World of Dance on NBC, Season 1. The sensei and the dojo panels.

The Kinjaz crew lined up in black jackets and caps, black and white — **2015** · The ABDC Season 8 crew.

The crew sitting in a circle on a ballroom floor during rehearsal — **2015** · ABDC rehearsal. Everyone on the floor.

The crew watching their first episode on a big screen — **July 29, 2015** · Watching the ABDC premiere, Los Angeles.

The crew in masks and matching jackets on the America’s Best Dance Crew stage — **2015** · On the ABDC stage.

The crew grew into what it calls kin: dancers, plus the filmmakers and designers behind Vibrvncy and Kin Aesthetik.

“Kin at all costs”

Four dancers in a warehouse: three in mid-air, one in yellow and black balancing on one hand — **2015** · BAIT × Onitsuka Tiger × Bruce Lee.

Masked dancers crouched in formation on a red-lit stage — VIBE, Orange County.

A figure in a rice hat and a Kinjaz jacket facing a festival crowd from the DJ booth — TroyBoi × HARD Fest, live.

With Sinostage in Chengdu, Kinjaz started Arena: a competition first held in western China in 2015, which went on to Singapore and Los Angeles.

In 2017 the Kinjaz judges’ showcase there, “Fear None”, became the fan favorite.

Masked Kinjaz dancers in olive jackets mid-move under a huge red Kinjaz mark on the Arena stage — **May 2017** · “Fear None”, the Kinjaz judges’ showcase at Arena China in Chengdu, to Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.” and Problem’s “Betta Watch Yo Self”. Past 6 million views.

Dancers in white on a blue-lit stage at Arena — **2019** · Arena, Chengdu.

The Dojos · 2016 to 2021

Five doors.

In 2015 the fans helped build a home. The Kinjaz Dojo asked for $100,000 on Indiegogo and got 123% of it. It opened in Monterey Park in 2016, and by 2018 the crew’s words were on the wall.

“Respect all… fear none.”

It didn’t stay in Monterey Park. With Sinostage, Kinjaz opened Dojos in Chengdu and Beijing and a Kinjaz Komplex in Shanghai. In January 2020 came the Kinjaz Komplex in downtown Los Angeles: a dance room, a production studio and a gym under one roof.

2016
Monterey Park
The first Dojo, funded by the fans
2017
Chengdu
With Sinostage
2018
Beijing
In the middle of the city
2019
Shanghai
Sinostage × Kinjaz Komplex
2020
Los Angeles
The Kinjaz Komplex

2020Then the pandemic closed every door. The last dance at the Komplex came in early 2021.

The Dojo didn’t end there. It moved online, and kinjazdojo.com now brings Kinjaz classes to dancers around the world, far beyond five rooms.

Visit the Kinjaz Dojo

Kinjaz spent three years working with Nike in the shadows. In 2021 it became the Air Sesh: a shoe made for dancers, designed by Tinker Hatfield with Kinjaz, and Nike’s first shoe built for dancing since 1977.

The crew in matching black jackets, posed outside — **2021** · With Nike.

Hands meeting in the middle of a circle of crew members, shot from below — **2021** · Hands in.

Dancers posing beside a graffiti-covered wall — **2021** · The Air Sesh shoot.

A collage of the Air Sesh campaign: the shoe, the crew and design sketches — **2021** · Nike Air Sesh.

A collage of sample testing and early sessions with Nike — **2021** · Kinjaz × Nike, the road to the Air Sesh.

In 2022 Kinjaz performed at Coachella, and Jackson Wang joined the crew.

The crew in red suits and masks on the Coachella main stage, the Kinjaz mark behind them — **2022** · Coachella, on the 88rising main stage.

Jackson Wang Joins the Kinjaz title card — **2022** · Jackson Wang joins the Kinjaz.

Bring Kinjaz into your room.

Stages, tours, broadcasts, launches and the culture in between. Tell us what you are making.

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