SYTYCD 7: Dancer Analysis – Adechike Torbert

Yay another twelve hours and it’s the final Top 4 Dancer to come to the limelight. So let’s look for some smooth, creamy, dark chocolate.. aka Adechike Torbert. Just like in the previous posts, there is a post asking which routine of Adechike’s did you enjoy the most.

The previous posts in this series: All-Stars, Kent Boyd, Lauren Froderman and Robert Roldan

Las Vegas Callbacks
For one reason or another, Adechike opened up with a tap solo. He must have done a stellar job because he was passed through to hiphop and ballroom. From there he was asked to dance for his life and as thus did a contemporary routine that wowed the judges.

But here’s my question. If Adechike opened up with a contemporary solo rather than a tap solo. He still wouldn’t have done well in the hiphop and ballroom rounds, so would he still have the chance to dance for his life after ballroom?

Meet the Top 11:
– Wade Robson’s Jazz
Now surprisingly enough, Adechike seemed to melt into the background for me in this piece. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing either. I simply couldn’t pick him out in the routine throughout the piece unless the Top 11 was dancing by themselves and even then.

– Sonya Tayeh Jazz
In this piece it was easier to see Adechike and as thus was easier to see what he’s doing. It’s clear that his technique and ability is off the charts. He’s a very strong and very athletic dancer… but then how is his connection when doing the partner dances?

Week 1: Top 11 Performances:
– Jazz w/ Kathryn choreographed by Travis Wall
Right off the bat we know what Adechike needs to work on: personality, characterization, living through the dance, etc… that seems to be the M.O. for most of the dancers this season, fine tuning. But in a dance where a girl is throwing herself all over the guy and it’s suppose to be the guy’s dream sequence one would think he’d enjoy it more…

Week 2: Top 10 Performances:
– Contemporary w/ Allison choreographed by Mandy Moore
This piece was a lot better than last week, no question about it, but he still needs to fine tune his movement and his connection to his partner. He still needs to stop thinking about dancing and just dance, and he’s doing it… bit by bit.

Week 3: Top 9 Performances:
– Hip Hop w/ Lauren Gottlieb choreographed by Dave Scott
Wow, talking about enjoying the dance. This is the first time I think I’ve seen Adechike really enjoy the dance from start to finish. Then again, this is hiphop and hiphop does funny things to people because it’s so different from jazz and contemporary. Maybe it’s just his partner too since Muscles seems to be obsessed with Cushion’s… well… cushion πŸ˜€

Week 4: Top 8 Performances:
– Jazz w/ Courtney choreographed by Mandy Moore
I really liked this routine. I thought Adechike was relaxed, composed and enjoying the moment. So I was surprised to hear that the judges weren’t too thrilled about it. Do I remember the routine weeks later? Not really, but after watching it through, I enjoyed it a second time as well. I’ll admit he didn’t shine like the previous week, but it could be that he’s more acting than living through the dance.

– Bollywood choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan
Again this is a week where Neil, Mark and Ade were all available… and could have easily filled this role with ease. In fact they could have asked Mark to fill in for Bollywood since it would probably fit his style of dance best… golden opportunity people! Anyway, when watching this dance I had the distinct feeling that Adechike was dancing what was suppose to be Alex’s part while the assistant ended up dancing what was suppose to be Adechike’s part… which is probably why this piece didn’t do Adechike much justice…

All in all this week was pretty stellar. Nothing extremely memorable, but he is starting to show that he’s having fun while dancing and performing in front of the audience… which is key. So to me, he’s growing and that’s enough for me.

Week 5: Top 7 Performances:
– Salsa w/ Anya choreographed by Liz Lira & Danny Davalos
Ok wow, that was like every trick in the book thrown at them. What’s interesting is that if Adechike reminded me of Mambo dancer Emmanuel-Pierre in regards to look, but at the same time he was a but rough around the edges… overall a pretty strong routine.

– Contemporary w/ Kent choreographed by Dee Caspary
White chocolate and dark chocolate is one of the best combinations in the world. Adechike needed this strength of a routine to balance out the other routine of the day. He was living in that moment, breathing that moment… that you believed what he was trying to do.

Wow this was a very good week for him. Adechike needs to continue on this upward trend. If anything I would consider this to be his “breakout” week. Everything seem to come together at just the right moment, let’s see how long this would last.

Week 6: Top 6 Performances (Round One):
– Lyrical HipHop w/ Comfort choreographed by NappyTabs
O.M.G. this is the most emotionally connected that Adechike has even been with a piece, it was beautiful. It was danced beautifully and it felt like the entire room was breathing in sync.

– Paso Doble w/ Jose choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin
This dance had the chance the possibility of being really really great. So much testosterone that you would have to pull these two men apart before they tear each other to pieces… but something fell flat. There was no really power, no real drive, nothing exploded for me that I had hoped to see. Though, I think Adechike danced it far better than Jose, it still could have been done better overall.

This week was very up and down. With one really good piece and one not so good piece Adechike proved his prowess in the hiphop but lost it all in the Paso Doble. Oddly enough Adechike seems to glow so much more when doing HipHop as opposed to doing much anything else. If he could channel that energy, that joy when doing HipHop into other styles he’d be golden.

Week 7: Top 6 Performances (Round Two):
– Jazz w/ Courtney Galiano choreographed by Tyce Diorio
This was fun, though I had the slight impression that he was holding back for some reason. I don’t think he completely let loose, though I do think he came close. He did show that he had a lot of fun and was enjoying himself and as long as he continued to live and enjoy in the moment he’ll shine more in his dancing.

– Foxtrot w/ Lauren Froderman choreographed by Jean-Marc GΓ©nΓ©reux & France Mousseau
Considering this is his first time doing a true ballroom dance, I didn’t expect his posture to be perfect. His personality and characterization fit the dance, but I wish he could have tried harder. Nevertheless this was a fun piece, but not a strong one.

This week was an ok week for Adechike, it wasn’t extremely memorable, but it wasn’t bad either. In comparison to the previous week, this balanced out in a different way (if that makes any sense). No real strong pieces, but no weak ones either.

How to Grow
This is another dancer that’s used to working solo. Unlike Lauren that purposely dances to the audience, Adechike simply dances and lets the dance speak for itself. Adechike needs to work on living in the dance and as thus in the moment in order to continue growing in the competition.

In Conclusion
Ok, this boy is a favorite of mine, and apparently of America’s too… He’s done a lot of different styles thus far and did all right in a lot of them. What I think he needs now is to have a routine that’s all about personality aka Broadway, or a routine all about having fun like a ChaCha, Samba or Jive, or a good strong hard hitting HipHop.

Because he hasn’t really peaked yet, he still has a chance to wow the audience and judges on some level. He’s had an “breakout” performance in his hiphop with Lauren Gottlieb, but has faltered a little bit since then and as thus has had to climb up again (so to speak). He has a chance to do it, but whether he could beat out the immense fanbases of Kent and Lauren remains to be seen (though the fact that Lauren has hit Bottom Three once already shows that he could possibly overtake Lauren when she’s having a stellar day while he had a good day).