THE CREW
IllFX Entertainment
IllFX was founded in 2008 by members Joey Braunwarth, Edgar Gilbert Reyes, Cody Jaxon and Katherine Burrowes. Drawing on experience from Joey and Edgar’s previous crew “Tru Source”, this new hip-hop crew was created as a flagship, for a new collective of budding young artists. Originally containing six members including Kelty Sinclair and Jaclyn Sim, IllFX crew hit the ground running and quickly established themselves as one of the strongest groups in the city, when they debuted at “Werk It” Fundraiser at Whiskey Night Club.
After this breakout performance, the IllFX Dance Crew gained fast exposure, opening for such artists as Sean Kingston, Jabbawockeez, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Girlicious, Bubba Sparx, Boyz II Men and Americas Best Dance Crew, and going on to win the Ceili’s “Calgary’s Best Dance Crew” competition, where they were also featured on Breakfast Television. IllFX was then offered the opportunity to showcase every Sunday night at Tantra nightclub. This opportunity led to the first Urban Knockout Championship, which brought together singers, dancers, crews and emcees in one room to compete. To judge this competition, Edgar called on his long time mentor and internationally renowned choreographer Luther Brown, as well as DoDat dancer/choreographer Mark Samuels and choreographer to the stars and Calgary native, Sean Cheesman.
IllFX continued to contribute to the Calgary Dance community, participating in such festivals as Slammenberry Jam 2008, Alberta Dance Explosions 2009, Artists Emerge 2009 and also part of the Calgary Stampede Rocktagon stage show with Bradley Rapier’s “The Groovaloos.” In 2010 IllFX was put on hiatus as choreographer Edgar Gilbert-Reyes participated in Season 3 of “So You Think You Can Dance Canada”. He received rave reviews from top choreographers from around the world, and finished in the Top 10.
After a year of silence from this once thunderous crew, founding members decided to reunite, and give the IllFX dance crew a revamp and introduce new members. Most members have an association with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, many of whom participated in the PTP (Professional Training Program) and 3 members having been a part of the Professional Company. The Crew now standing at 10 members includes the founding members as well as Cory Beaver, Natasha Korney, Ashley Brodeur, Sarah Adam, Kelty Sinclair and Kaleb Tekeste. Once again the crew has exploded, being featured in shows across the city such as the 1st street Festival, UKO Round 2 and many corporate events (Enmax, Telus, PWC, ESPY and many more). At the end of the year, the group was contacted by international platinum selling recording artist “Raghav” to perform at the CityTv New Year’s Eve Bash, which was a live national broadcast. IllFX continues to maintain its dominance in the Calgary market, and continues to develop recording artists of their own. This roster includes Joey B, Kes, Katherine Burrowes, and Dru. One of the biggest collaborations to date has been with the band “The Groove Academy”. Their amazing theatrical dance show features current hit songs, performed by world-class musicians and is the next major step in the IllFX legacy.