No matter where you were 15 years ago today, Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” was inescapable. The lead track off her 2008 album E=MC² reached its #1 Billboard peak on April 12, 2008, cementing its legacy among her most successful singles ever.
But for a certain subsection of gays—this writer included—”Touch My Body” will forever be associated with Fanny Pak, the queer-friendly dance group who performed the number on the second season of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew.
Before we dive deeper into this Time Warp, we’ll give you a chance to watch Fanny Pak cut it up to the Mariah hit because it goes hard:
As you might remember, America’s Best Dance Crew (ABDC) was a reality competition series that premiered 15 years ago—feel old yet?—featuring dance crews from around the world.
Its first season was such a hit for MTV that it immediately returned to for a second run in June of ’08, bringing 10 new crews into the fold, including our beloved Fanny Pak.
The Los Angeles-based dance team took its name from the fashionable ’80s accessory, and dressed accordingly in colorful, flashy apparel. Fanny Pak was also something of an anomaly on ABDC in that they were a mixed-gender crew.
And, though it was never plainly stated on the show, their vibes were extremely gay. Need further proof? For their first-week performance—where crews were able to pick the song they would dance to—Fanny Pak went with Kylie Minogue’s “Speakerphone” (a non-single from her ’07 album, X).
Need we say more?
But more than fashion and song choices, there’s something to be said about the queer sensibility that Fanny Pak brought to the show. Their numbers were conceptual, theatrical, and complete with stunts worthy of a Lip Sync For Your Life.
At the time, Out wrote that the crew “consistently stages awesomely inventive dances that, to the observant homosexual viewer, reflect an undeniable gayness.”
Just look at that “Touch My Body” performance again and the way it tells a story. Transporting the audience to the high school prom, you’ve got your heteronormative couples dancing, but then the punk girl shows up stag and poisons the punch. A gag!
The week after that performance, Fanny Pak choreographed a routine to Janet Jackson’s “All Nite (Don’t Stop),” which featured a kiss between two of the women in the crew.
During critiques from the judges for that number, choreographer Shane Sparks lamented that the guys of Fanny Pak didn’t dance “like guys.” You can see the dancers’ faces drop in that moment. Thankfully, “Lipgloss” singer Lil Mama came to their defense, saying that’s what made them “hot” and that it spoke to the world they came from.
The group has immortalized that moment on social media with a post from a few years back:
Sadly, they were eliminated just before the finale—ironically during an ’80s-themed challenge—ultimately finishing in third. Considering their overwhelming fan support, it was clear that America was ready to queer up the competition, but ABDC, sadly, was not.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention season 4 competitors Vogue Evolution, the show’s first openly queer dance crew who brought the moves of the ballroom scene to the stage. That crew featured Dashaun Wesley and Leiomy “The Wonder Woman of Vogue” Maldonado, both of whom would go on to deliver Legendary, HBO Max’s gone-too-soon ballroom competition series.
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Like Fanny Pak, Vogue Evolution received its fair share of unfair criticisms, much of which reads today like thinly (and not-so-thinly) veiled homophobia and transphobia. In this era of Drag Race‘s global domination, it’s interesting to see just how far queer representation on reality TV has come.
For their part, Fanny Pak would go on to win a one-off dance battle special tied to MTV’s Video Music Awards, and would later be invited to compete on ABDC season seven with a slightly updated roster. They’re still going strong today.
We’ll leave you now with what had to have been their most iconic number from their original run, their scary-good performance to Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On.” If you’ve never seen, prepare to be obsessed!
MrMichaelJ
Yeah, uh, there’s door wide open right there about certain communities and manhood.