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Lauren Gottlieb, Mike Vargas and Lauren Valentine Teach Dance Moves

A Chance to Dance put out some really great YouTube videos of amazing dancers doing some great dance moves. Plus, they slow down the video and highlight the keys to doing the dance move the right way. You’re going to really enjoy these videos if you love dance. Plus, I love the first one because I adore Lauren Gottlieb.

Enjoy!

Pivot En Dehor, by Lauren Gottlieb

The Cheat Gainer, by Mike Vargas

The Leap, by Lauren Valentine

Check out the full season of Chance to Dance streamed online in case you missed it.

October 11, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Nigel and Simon Lythgoe Talk about Male Dancers

This is a really interesting video which should spark an interesting discussion about the lack of male dancers out there. Plus, the stigma that’s associated with male dancers.

One of the most interesting things that Nigel said in the video was the reasoning for why he didn’t encourage his son to go into dance. Nigel is right about it on many levels. I’m glad that some of the misconception is changing, but it’s going to take a lot of time to change the stigmas. Shows like So You think You Can Dance and A Chance to Dance do a lot to help change people’s perspective on dance.

Check out the full season of Chance to Dance streamed online in case you missed it.

October 10, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

Nigel Discusses the Challenge of Hip Hop Dancers

Over the next couple days I’m going to post some of the remaining videos that A Chance to Dance put out that we weren’t able to post in our coverage of it. Plus, these videos all have universal appeal to those interested in dance. So, this will be a good way to enjoy the SYTYCD off season.

In this video Nigel discusses the challenge of Hip Hop dancers in a company with Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt. Gives you an interesting view on how Nigel looks at Hip Hop on SYTYCD.

One thing I’ve found interesting about this subject is that they’re totally comfortable having a Hip Hop dancer with no training in contemporary get on stage and do something that’s so far above their head. Why not have a contemporary dancer get up and do popping and locking? I get why they don’t have them do b-boy work. That’s dangerous. However, I think they could do more dances that are a stretch for contemporary dancers as well. It would make the show more entertaining if they did.

Check out the full season of Chance to Dance streamed online in case you missed it.

October 9, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

A Chance to Dance Company Goes on SYTYCD Tour and Other Juicy Speculation

A Chance to Dance is over now, but you can still catch it streamed online. It’s a great watch if you have a weekend and need something fun to do. If you love dancing, you won’t be disappointed.

Although, the dancers on A Chance to Dance are really just getting started with their careers. As we saw on the Chance to Dance finale, most of the dancers are going to be going on tour with SYTYCD.

Marianya is planning on going to the tour stop in Chicago I believe, so we should get a full report on the tour early on. Plus, I’m quite sure that Amanda will find a tour stop as well. You can see all the SYTYCD tour stops on the AEG website.

While we wait to hear exactly how they’re going to merge the Chance to Dance company with those from SYTYCD, it’s fun to speculate about what things they might do.

First, I bet the opening dance and finale dance will be phenomenal since they’ll have so many dancers to work with. At least I hope they make those new dances that combine all of the dancers into a montage of beautiful dancing.

I also wonder if they’ll do big group dances. I think in some past tours they didn’t do some of the group dances because they didn’t have enough dancers. I wonder if they’ll do those now with all the dancers from Chance to Dance joining in.

Another interesting possibility is if some of the Chance to Dance dancers get an opportunity to do some of the SYTYCD dances. Maybe it won’t happen, but what a wonderful opportunity for those on Chance to Dance if it happens.

In other speculation, I wonder if some of the dancers from A Chance to Dance will show up on the next season of SYTYCD. That would be fun. I don’t think some of the dancers are as versatile as they need to be to have success on SYTYCD, but I’d still love to see them.

Finally, this is my best speculation of the whole post. I haven’t seen the ratings for Chance to Dance and the other critics talking about it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was Nigel’s attempt to try out another dance show. How cool would it be if Nigel took A Chance to Dance and expanded it to a full series as opposed to the 7 episodes we got this year. The dynamics of a company are interesting and there’s something beautiful and refreshing about not knowing what to expect next in the show. I hope they do this, but we’ll see. I’m sure Nigel is keeping an eye on how to create a dance show to replace SYTYCD once it meets its final demise.

October 8, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

A Chance to Dance Episode 7 Pictures

As Katie said, the finale of Chance to Dance came way too fast. The finale was a great show with a lot of entertaining dances. We got some pictures from the finale event where they performed. Since it was a DizzyFeet fundraiser, it looks like there were a few other performances that evening as well. Check out the pictures below to see who else was there:

October 4, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

A Chance to Dance Week 7 Videos

This video does a spotlight on Laura, and then shifts its focus to Sarah and Patrick. I like that they focused on Laura a little bit, since she was cut from the tour. She is a sweet girl. It was also nice for Sarah and Patrick to have a bit done on them, since they weren’t selected for the duet piece. Toward the end, Sarah talks about how she was happy for David and Joni, and I felt like that showed how close all these people were. It would have been easy to be bitter about it, but I didn’t get that impression at all from Sarah.

This was such an emotional clip! It’s truly amazing how much a life can be changed in only a month. I loved watching these dancers reflect on their experiences and how it has affected their future. The dancers in this company are good people, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the past month. I’m disappointed that the SYTYCD tour won’t be coming anywhere near where I live.

October 3, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.

The Grand Finale and Shocking Ending to A Chance to Dance

Well, the finale is finally here. That didn’t take long, did it? There’s been a few teasers that something “shocking” will happen, so I was excited/nervous to see what that was. I was thinking some of the dancers weren’t going to be able to dance in the gala (that would have been terrible). Luckily, that wasn’t it.

Overall, I thought the gala performance was beautiful. It was such an interesting combination of different dance styles, and all of the dancers really blended together well. Here is the full performance from tonight’s episode:

I was happy to see that Eldon was doing better from last week’s episode. His fate seemed up in the air, but he definitely did a great job.Here is one of his greatest moments:

And here is another one of my favorite clips from last night. This is David’s solo from the night, and I thought it was incredible.

Overall, this has been a great journey. Can you believe they put together this performance in just a month? I sure can’t. When I was in high school, I was in a show choir, and it took us a month to learn simple steps (then again…we definitely weren’t professional dancers — I’d never really danced until I was in it!) I felt so bad for Tanisha though, but she held it together so well. Not a lot of people would have been able to keep their emotions in, and pull it off some graciously.

I loved seeing everyone in the dressing room, the energy in there was so high. I’m sure they were all going on adrenaline. It was obvious that all of the dancers had grown close throughout this whole experience.

So the big shocker was revealed toward the end of the episode. Only eight of the twelve dancers would be in the opening act for the SYTYCD tour. I’m still trying to figure out why that is. You could see the hearts breaking of the dancers — both those that stayed and those that got let go. I think Laura’s was the saddest to watch. She looked so sad, and understandably so.

In the end, the ones that wouldn’t be going on the tour were Laura, Michelle, Jen, and Courtney.

This will be one of the last posts on a Chance to Dance I’ll be doing, and I have to say, I’m a little bit sad. I’ve grown attached to these dancers, and have looked forward to watching the show. I think this stroke of genius from Nigel Lythgoe has changed the lives for everyone that was on the show, whether or not they made it to the gala. Here are some final thoughts from the Ballet Boyz:

September 28, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.

My Favorite Dancer on A Chance to Dance – Laura Gruener

Laura Gruener
In case some of you missed my tweet about Laura Gruener, I’m absolutely in love with her dancing and personality and can’t wait to see her dance in the finale of Chance to Dance tonight. If you’ve missed the previous episodes of Chance to Dance, you can still stream them on Facebook for really cheap. It’s well worth the investment and you can watch all the episodes commercial free.

I think you have to see the whole series to know why I just adore Laura. From what I can tell she’s a real sweetheart that’s incredibly sincere. I think the picture below does a great job capturing the special, natural happiness that she has:
Laura Gruener

I also did a little searching online to try and find out more about Laura before she was on Chance to Dance. I found a few pictures of her including one when she must have been 11 years old in some ballet company:

Even better is that I found a couple YouTube videos of Laura Gruener dancing at the PA School of Performing Arts. I think you’ll enjoy the videos of her dancing:

Now I’d really love to see her audition for So You Think You Can Dance. I’d love to see her do other genres. Either way, I look forward to seeing her dance tonight in the finale of A Chance to Dance.

I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

A Chance to Dance Episode 6 Pictures


Some more great behind the scenes pictures from A Chance to Dance. Plus, I love the picture where the Ballet Boyz are doing the lifts. They still have it. Look how well they can balance in a lift. Amazing!

Eldon’s picture makes me sad to see him laying down injured like that. Must have been really hard for him. Enjoy the pictures!

September 27, 2012 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

A Chance to Dance Week 6 Videos: Learn to Dance and See What’s Coming Up Next

This week, Ovation TV posted some  fun dance how-to videos.

The Samblé

Cheat Gainer

Spinning Arch

So get together with some friends, and try out some these dances move! I think I’ll stick with just watching them, but it was kind of a neat feature.

And here’s another look into the this Friday’s episode. Looks like the competition is back on. I can’t wait for the season finale, I can tell it’s going to be good.

 

September 26, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.