A force on the floor

There is a definite — and needed — bond between the young women of 8 Fla­vahz.

It’s a tightknit group from Hawaii and Los Angeles that dreams of being proclaimed the best hip-hop dancers in the country, with competition starting Wednesday night on MTV’s "Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew."

The dance crew hopes to surpass the success another Hawaii group, Hype 5-0, enjoyed two years ago when it fought its way up to the semifinal round.

Twelve-year-olds Camren Bicondova and Summer Waikiki and 17-year-old twins Tamara and Tiara Rapp will join their L.A. compatriots — Angel Gibbs, Charlize Glass, Kay Kay Harris and Jaira Miller — in representing themselves and the hard work of choreographers Marcelo Pacleb and Kelsey Park from local dance studio 24-VII Danceforce.

All of the Hawaii girls learned their skills at the studio, which has a reputation for developing talent that has backed up such pop stars as Janet Jackson, Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

8 Flavahz has been in rehearsal in L.A. since March 24, and taping of the first episode of the "ABDC" competition happened Saturday. Wednesday’s premiere will include a segment of the Hawaii girls at the Polynesian Cultural Center that was shot by an MTV crew just before the dancers left for the mainland.

"The group was originally called Flavahz Crew, made up of seven studio girls that include the current four. They auditioned last year for ‘ABDC’ but didn’t make it," said Jessi Bicondova, Camren’s mother. "But one of the show’s judges, D-Trix, asked them to come back the following year.

"Cam, Tam, Tiara and Summer later went to a dance convention in L.A. and met and hit it off with the four girls from there. They invited the L.A. girls to join them at the World of Dance competition here, where they met (choreographer Pacleb), and it was decided that they would audition with this new lineup."

This time around they made it, and MTV dubbed the crew 8 Flavahz, with each girl representing a color of the rainbow and, according to a news release from the show, holding fast to a motto to "honor and appreciate the diversity of all people through movement."

Before the intense rehearsal time leading up to the show’s taping, the crew conducted practices via Skype.

While on the mainland the Hawaii girls are keeping up with their schoolwork, with Camren continuing her online studies from the K12 International Academy. Summer attends Kamehameha Schools, and the Rapp twins are students at the Myron B. Thompson Academy.

In the case of Camren, online education is the way to go, considering that she regularly travels to the mainland for the Pulse on Tour dance workshops in L.A. and Las Vegas as well as other jobs. She has appeared on the Kids’ Choice Awards and the Disney Channel’s "Shake It Up" series, and has a role in "Battlefield America," a feature film about a group of misfit kids in the underground dance competition scene which is scheduled for a June 1 release.

Camren’s Navy father is stationed at Pearl Harbor, and her family moved here from San Diego when she was 9.

"My daughter has blossomed here in Hawaii," Jessi Bicondova said. "The whole ohana vibe has been great for our family."

Everyone concerned spoke highly of Pacleb.

"He can see the potential in the kids, and since he’s gotten some of his other dancers to work with top-notch acts, the kids can also see the prog­ress they can make," said Tani Rapp, mother of the twins and a third daughter who is in Europe performing with Cirque du Soleil.

"We used to watch all of 24-VII’s concerts," said Tamara Rapp.

Her sister added, "With the help of Marcelo, we’ve grown a lot as dancers."

For Summer, her hip-hop involvement has meant taking a temporary leave of absence from hula dancing in Kapua Dalire-Moe’s halau, Ka Liko Pua o Kalaniakea.

"I have a passion for both of them, hula and hip-hop," she said, "but this is more hard-hitting. We’ve been training for this over the past year."

"And we have each other to push ourselves harder," added Camren.