The Prancing Elites - Season 2
The Prancing Elites (From left: Kareem Davis, Jerel Maddox, Kentrell Collins, Tim Smith, Adrian Clemons) return for Season 2 of "The Prancing Elites Project, premiering Jan. 19 on the Oxygen channel. (Michael Wong photo courtesy of Oxygen)
If you've been wanting to see more of The Prancing Elites, you're about to get your wish: More dancing, more drama, more wardrobe malfunctions.
That's right. Prancing Elites wardrobe malfunctions. Let's just let that sit there for a minute.
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, Oxygen Media launches Season 2 of "The Prancing Elites Project," a reality show based on the continuing adventures of its namesake dance troupe. The Prancing Elites is a quintet of gender non-conforming gay black men who practice a style of dance known as "J-Setting," marked by distinctly feminine moves and traditionally dominated by women.
From a local point of view, the show is the first nationally aired reality show to be set in the Mobile area and to feature a cast of characters from the area. From Oxygen's perspective, Season 1 was the network's highest-rated new series of 2015 among all key demographic groups, particularly younger women.
That season included plenty of struggle and plenty of triumph. Major developments included one character revealing to his teammates that he had HIV, but overall the focus was so positive that one writer referred to it as "inspiration porn." (He also praised it as an "imperfect diamond of a new reality series ... in a sea of otherwise gaudy costume jewelry.")
Mobile fared well, overall: If it was where the Elites often faced rejection by conservative Southerners, it was also where, like clockwork, such setbacks were followed by support, acceptance and affirmation. Meanwhile, the camera work and editing made Mobile look simply fantastic, a destination blending small-town character and big-city action.
It's been said that the secret to show biz is to "always leave them wanting more." Clearly, Oxygen executives felt that the Elites had achieved that, because the channel doubled down on Season 2, expanding the show from half an hour to a full hour per episode. And that raised a critical question: Would Season 2 offer more, or just more of the same?
The answer, based on a preview screening of Tuesday's premiere, is emphatic: "The Prancing Elites" Season 2 definitely is bringing more depth to its subject matter. The novelty is largely gone, the producers know it, and they aren't mining it for diminishing returns. They're exploring what happens, good and bad, when a group of underdogs are tested by the experience of getting the fame they never thought would come.
Some familiar features are still the same, as we get reacquainted with ditzy Adrian Clemons, introspective Kareem Davis, wary Jerel Maddox, demure Timothy Smith and their often embattled leader, Kentrell Collins: The troupe is playful to a fault, especially in practice; members still feel they're fighting for respect, even from their own families; and the five are fish out of water when seated at an upscale restaurant.
As the premiere spends some time reintroducing the cast, something becomes very clear: With more time to explore the Elites' lives, one result is that the show will spend more time on their relationships outside the group. This means that the boyfriends of several of the men will be much more visible, and the Elites' homosexuality will be even less abstract than before. We see that the group's stature is giving its members opportunities to be leaders, as when Clemons draws on his experience to help teach and inspire a young female troupe. Davis also has a leadership role, helping his boyfriend's dance team develop - but they're competitors, in a sense, so this could bring him into conflict with his own team.
As a good premiere should, the Season 2 opener sets the stage. Up until now, "The Prancing Elites Project" has been quick to wipe away every tear, and every dust-up in practice has been followed by a triumph on the stage. But not this time, as a poor performance leaves the teammates questioning their motivations and their commitment to the troupe, and wondering whether the success they've begun to achieve is the success they wanted.
All in all, the premiere suggests that the producers of "The Prancing Elites Project" will have no trouble filling the show's additional running time. Over the course of its run, Season 1 allowed viewers to get comfy with the idea that failure wasn't a real possibility. The Season 2 premiere convincingly suggests that it is. The stakes have changed.
"The Prancing Elites Project airs at 7 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, Jan. 19. For more information, including outtakes, sneak peeks and previous episodes, visit http://www.oxygen.com.