Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Former SYTYCD dancers have been tweeting about the Oscars for a while (as has Adam Shankman), so I was prepared to look for them. There were stunning performances to the nominated songs. The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers were amazing! I only managed to recognize Kayla dancing during the regular telecast (she was very prominent), but after watching Rickey’s video, I was able to identify more dancers – Kathryn, I’m pretty sure, and definitely Travis Wall. Among others that I’m sure you’ll catch. As always, Ricky has a great video from the Oscar performance, so check it out!

Rickey has a still of a Kupono sighting (HOW did he get that seat?!) and I think Kupono summed up Oscar night best via Twitter:

alohakupono

OSCARs was ABSOLUtELY RiDiCULOuS!!!! Now it’s off to the AFTeR PARtY for SCANDaLS of the YEAR!!!!!! 40 minutes ago via mobile web

But y’all, there is SO MUCH cool chatting happening on Twitter, you have to check out all your favorite dancers via John’s SYTYCD list.

I found some great videos for you. First, a “Meet the Choreographers” video with Adam and both Kayla and Travis as assistant choreographers. And a slew of fun audition videos, including a “Behind the Screen” one.

Yay to Adam for making his SYTYCD dancers so prominent at the Oscars. I hope he produces again!

Our dancers are busy! Here’s a quick one for y’all:

MollsGrayy

Yaaay can finally say I will be 1 of 4 dancers dancing with Paula Abdul on the hit tv show “Drop Dead Diva” sooo stoked! March 3-10!! 3 minutes ago

itsjeaninemason

Just got done with The Doctors filming!! Had so much fun with Jim! He was such a good sport and nailed the disco shuffle like a champ about 2 hours ago

channingcooke

Oscar fitting=success. Now spending some time with RoberTo before i take him to the airport :/ ..hes always leaving me about 3 hours ago

NAPPYTABS

Working on packages with the ABDC crews today & then Tab has rehearsal tonight with @JohnGillette about 5 hours ago

jakobakarr

Uh oh! Late start. Gotta take a speed shower and grab breakfast with @Jaimie_Goodwin before rehearsal! Going to Denver tomorrow! Woohoo! about 6 hours ago

MelissaSandvig

Wow. Just had a 10min conversation with someone only to find out he thought I said I was a “belly” dancer. I thought he was asking odd ?s! about 6 hours ago

PhillipChbeeb

On my way to Houston to Perform at fuse hip hop festival at the wortham theatre Feb 27 WWW.dancehouston.org for ticket info…come checkit! about 7 hours ago

Yippee. Some fun Tweets lately. Here are a selection:

HOTtamaleTRAIN
LOLOL nice shirt Nick. RT @NickLazzarini: http://yfrog.com/4i2epqdj /via @SYTYCDISM – OMG, I wish I could pack that for Australia! 4 minutes ago

JManrara
Woke up, had coffee w/ Tyce, going over my lines for class now, then lunch w/ Katie Shean & Courtney Galiano, & then 5Alive reunion! Yay! about 1 hours ago

Bearkaz
http://twitpic.com/14y5wn – I decided Evan would look sweet with a mustache and…BOOSH! about 1 hours ago

You know this made my day, being a devoted Kasprzak fan. There’s another great pic on Ryan’s page of the three brothers round Christmas time. Here’s the pic Ryan posted:

itsjeaninemason
Hold the phone: 5 ALIVE reunion dinner tonight!! Get pumped! I lahv family! about 2 hours ago

Hopefully, there will be pics to follow tonight’s reunion dinner!

xxsurfjonsurfxx
Still in bed….. Need to go shopping for tonight tho!!!! Yaaay family reunion…. Season 5 family that is!!! =D about 4 hours ago

dmitry_ch
Doing a photoshoot with @Chelsiekayh http://yfrog.com/37zfmuj about 2 hours ago

Here’s the pic:

NAPPYTABS
Monsters of Hip Hop tryin’ to get to 4,000 followers on their facebook! Help us get them there! We know what you can do followers! about 4 hours ago

jakobakarr
So sleepy today! This rehearsal is going to be a tough one to get through. At least I have @Jaimie_Goodwin to provide the giggles. about 4 hours ago

Billy_Bell
Clear talent meeting! @shaynalb about 6 hours ago

But this one may be waaaay better: @Jglove988 so when are you going to tell @jmanrara that we are together and you don tlike her anymore? about 24 hours ago in reply to Jglove988

adammshankman
First thing I saw when I woke up http://yfrog.com/338pdwj about 7 hours ago

Cute pic from Adam – he also Tweets about the Oscars choreography – go check it out.

MollsGrayy
Well just barely going to sleep… Its 5:38 am and I have to be at Millenium by 10am to teach a private lesson!! Then rehearsal all day! Ahh about 8 hours ago

alohakupono
MiA!!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously NeED you in my LiiiiiiiiiiiiiiFE!!!!!!!! I hope you’re doing good and I better see you on THURSDaY for you … about 12 hours ago

A sentiment I’m sure we all second. More Mia is necessary.

PeterSabasino
Getting ready to perform at a Haiti bennefit. I’m excited.. 3:59 PM Feb 19th

Just cause I love Peter…

Exciting news about the Five Alive “reunion” tonight. And the Dmitry/Chelsea photo session. Hope you enjoy.

Via SYTYCDISM, I saw this piece about Mia returning to the judge’s panel for Season 7’s New York auditions. No word yet whether she’ll judge anymore of the audition cities or any of Season 7 OR choreograph, but I personally take this as a great sign! What do you think? Do you want Mia back as badly as I do??

This was hard! There were a lot of routines that were equally good in my mind, so I had to work hard to limit myself to a Top 10. I gave myself 5 extra routines for group numbers that rocked – we had a lot of amazing group work this season, especially when you factor in the Meet the Top 20 episode. I did not consider “fairness” or equal distribution here. So I think you’ll see a lot of the same dancers, which didn’t surprise me, personally.

Paired Routines

1. “Machine Gun” Ellenore/Legacy Travis Wall

2. “Tore My Heart” Ellenore/Jakob Sonya Tayeh

3. “At This Moment” Kathryn/Jakob Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden

4. “Little Green Bag” Pauline/Peter Wade & Amanda Robson

5. “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” Ellenore/Ryan Travis Wall

6. “2 Steps Away” Kathryn/Legacy Stacey Tookey

7. “Frog Dance” Noelle/Russell Sean Cheesman

8. “Put Your Hands on Me” Kathryn/Ryan Jason Gilkison

9. “Violentango” Ellenore/Ryan Miriam and Leonardo

10. “Put Your Hands On me” Kathryn/Ryan Jason Gilkison

Honorable Mentions (alllllmooooosssst): Kathryn/Legacy’s paso doble, Noelle/Russell’s “A Case of You” contemporary, Noelle/Ryan “Give It To Me Right” hip hop, Mollee/Jakob’s “Ordinary Day” waltz, Ellenore/Jakob “Gotcha” Broadway, Ashleigh/Jakob “Whatcha Say” hip hop, Ariana/Peter’s “Black and Gold” hip hop, Bianca/Victor’s “Wasted Time” contemporary, Ellenore/Russell paso doble, Kathryn/Russell hip hop (both finale).

Group Routines

1. Top 20 “Comanche” Wade & Amanda Robson

2. Top 12 “What’s a Girl to Do” Nappytabs

3. Top 14 “Aha!” Wade & Amanda Robson

4. Top 16 “Warrior” Dave Scott

5. Ariana, Channing, Jakob and Nathan “Cryin’” contemporary Tyce Diorio

These were my standouts, the routines I’d expect on a tour (with the exception of those who didn’t make the Top 10). What were yours?

Here’s Season 6 in review. Y’all brought up a lot of this stuff in recent comments (Mrs. D’s comment in particular), which gave me the idea to do a review of the season, what we liked and didn’t like. If you disagree with me (or agree), feel free to put your two cents in, as it’s all subjective and I’d love to know what you think!

Jeer:

This season felt more rushed that any other that I can think of. Between baseball, the Presidential address, so many audition episodes and an early end to the season because of Christmas coming up, I feel like this year’s Top 20 got shafted on actual dancing time. But not just the dancers – the choreographers got fewer chances to wow us. And the audience lost out, as well.

Cheer:

I loved that I didn’t have to wait till the summer for a new season. While America’s Favorite Dancer gets a shorter reign if they continue on the two seasons a year model, we had a shorter wait, which was really nice. After Season 5, I just don’t know how I would have contained my SYTYCD longing. Are the producers hoping to follow a Survivor/Dancing with the Stars model with the two seasons a year thing? If so, they should be just as smart about scheduling and not hesitate to move the finale to a separate night (like Survivor’s Sunday finale yesterday).

Jeer:

The new stage, or at least the screen behind it. It seems like we’ve transitioned from utter hatred toward the new stage, which always threatens to swallow up the dancers, to an acceptance that we’ll probably never get our intimate little stage back. Many readers have begun to say that the screen and imprudent use of it, is actually the bigger issue.

Cheer:

The group numbers were able to utilize this enormous space in really pleasing ways. It’s nice to think that SYTYCD can now command (and fill) a larger audience space. Maybe it’ll end up being a wonderful challenge to the choreographers (as well as the production crew, especially camera folk) to recapture that intimate feeling.

Jeer:

It was awful having three static judges (Nigel, Mary and Adam). No new blood! Adam seemed to be the only one who had something to say, most reliably at least. And when the three additional judges (Debbie, Lil C and Tyce) came in for the finale, it felt like an eternity since I’d seen them and that they were given favorites to pick rather than choosing from their hearts. Maybe that’s not true, and I’m sure they still kept up with the season, but their involvement didn’t have the same feeling because they never rotated in and out during the season.

Cheer:

Adam Shankman is a wonderful addition to the judging panel. I didn’t mind him being a constant, I only minded that there was no new blood. You almost always knew what Nigel and Mary were going to say, so he was a breath of fresh air (especially at the beginning of the season). Adam is funny and honest (he called out choreographers for bad routines!) and you get the impression that he’ll actually hire the dancers he likes (i.e. when Noelle got cut, I was okay because I felt Adam wanted to work with her), so he’s a valuable part of the panel.

Jeer:

Shane Sparks and Alex DaSilva’s arrests (both for sexual crimes related to their dance students) are not only damaging to the choreographer’s careers, but also haunt the dance community at large and threaten to harm SYTYCD’s image.

Cheer:

The Dizzy Feet Foundation and gala do wonderful things for the dance community, SYTYCD and for us, as it unites our favorite shows, dancers, choreographers, crews in a really positive mission. It raises awareness and gives our favorites work! We can help, too!

Jeer:

How many injuries did we have this season? Mia Michaels was rushed to the hospital at the beginning of the season. Then, Billy Bell had to drop out due to illness. Noelle was injured in the first competition show while Ellenore and Ashleigh were both hurt during the Top 8 week and Russell was injured in the finale. Did I forget anyone??

Cheer:

Despite the overly-produced and rushed feel of the season, despite all the injuries, we had a wonderful Top 20 this season. As John pointed out, they had a great mix of styles and backgrounds. We saw some consistent excellence (Jakob and Ellenore, namely) and some great growth arcs (arguably, everybody, but notably Kathryn and Russell, in my opinion). We had some “characters” to get behind this season, in Legacy and the DiLellos in particular.

Jeer:

America’s SYTYCD lost Mia Michaels this season and her absence was certainly felt. Our loss was apparently SYTYCD Canada’s gain, so while it’s good that she’s working within the SYTYCD family, there’s a great big gaping hole where she was in our shows.

Cheer:

Mia’s absence gave way to a ton of “new” choreographers this season. New to us, at least. Like Sean Cheesman, Jason Gilkison, Spencer Liff and a routine from Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden. We had more Wade Robson, more Stacey Tookey, more Mandy Moore and more Travis Wall routines, which seriously rocked. More Sonya routines, many of which blew our minds, like the “Tore My Heart” routine with Ellenore and Jakob.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see special Mia routines, maybe one or two a season, in the future. I don’t want SYTYCD America to be completely devoid of Mia Michaels, but I’m glad we had so many standout choreographers, new and recurring, this season.

Jeer:

This season had some really awful costumes…

Cheer:

And some really amazing music. But these two things are pretty typical of all seasons, I suppose.

Jeer:

No mention of a Season 6 tour! Not even on the finale show! What are they thinking? There had better be a tour, or I will seriously cry foul. I’m keeping my feelers out, y’all, and using my contacts, to see if/when the tour will be.

Cheer:

I’m glad they mentioned auditions for Season 7 because it sounds like it’ll be another summer season. So that means that we’ll either have two seasons a year, or we’ll go back to our beloved summer format (probably the former). SYTYCD keeps motoring on, which is good news. And again, we don’t have to wait several months till fall, sounds like.

Jeer:

Hell no to the Top 6! I hope Fox and SYTYCD realize they can never do this to us again. This was the worst idea ever and I suspect the results might have been significantly different, if we’d had a normal Top 4 finale. Not cool.

Cheer:

The Meet the Top 20 episode was the biggest stroke of genius and the best of all the new ideas and concepts we dealt with this season. I hope they *always* do this from now on. It was sublime to see all of the Top 20 dancing within their styles without fear of elimination. Some of the best dancing of the entire season happened in this very first episode, as evidenced by how many of the judges’ favorites in the finale show were from this very episode.

I think that’s all I’ve got. I’ve run out of steam. But I’m sure I’ve forgotten something you hated or loved, so let me know what you think.

Scary news out of the SYTYCD world today, according to sources, Shane Sparks
was arrested today and charged with 9 counts of felony child molestation. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a SYTYCD choreographer has been arrested, Alex DaSilva was arrested and charged with rape earlier this year.

From articles on Usmagazine.com and TVGuide.com, among others:

“According to the criminal complaint filed by the L.A. County District Attorney’s office, the alleged molestation — with an underage girl — began in 1994.”
“The lewd acts include oral copulation and other acts “with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires of the defendant, who was at least 10 years older than [the victim].”
-US Magazine

“Sparks was arrested early Friday morning at his Hollywood home and brought to a Van Nuys, Calif., jail where he is currently being held on $590,000 bail, LAPD spokesman, Richard French, told TVGuide.com. French also added that Sparks was the “subject of an ongoing child molestation investigation.” -TV Guide

Shane has contributed some wonderful and memorable pieces to the history of SYTYCD. It’s a very unfortunate situation and will probably have a major affect on Shane’s involvement with SYTYCD. We can only hope that the investigation is completed thoroughly and fairly for everyone involved, especially the alleged victims.

Oh Nappytabs, thank you for these glorious early Christmas presents. Thank you for tweeting these backstage photos.

So You Think You Can Dance Canada had Vancouver auditions last weekend and although I couldn’t make it out, Blake McGrath, contestent from SYTYCD Season 1, was there as a judge along with Luther Brown and Mary Murphy. Blake also ran Blake Bootcamp for those who auditioned and were not given a ticket or a refusal right away.

He tweeted all about his adventures including photos.

Here Blake McGrath, Mary Murphy and Luther Brown go out for dinner.

He even posed with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots.

I love that between SYTYCD and SYTYCD Canada I am almost getting SYTYCD year-round…. SCORE!

Feel free to pop by this websites sister-site PURE So You Think You Can Dance Canada anytime for news and photos on Canada’s SYTYCD.

I know many people can’t watch SYTYCD Canada because they do not get CTV but we do try to post videos as often as possible on the site and as Season 3 auditions continue, you can expect lot’s of great stuff.

It’s that time again for me to go around and highlight some of the most interesting tweets from throughout the SYTYCD twittersphere. If you don’t know what twitter is, then come out of your hole and look around. Basically, it’s a great way to stalk your favorite dancer. AHHH…did I say that out loud? Ok, don’t do that, it’s illegal and wrong. What is right is for you to follow your favorite dancer on Twitter and see where you might be able to see them dance again.

Ok, enough about that. First some plugs for our SYTYCD twitter page to see the list of all the twitter accounts for people that have been or are on SYTYCD. Also, check out the Twitter list links for some of the latest news from those on the show now or the choreographers.

Now, on to my snide remarks alongside some interesting tweets…

PaulineMata Can’t wait to see my SYTYCD family!!! \\\<3///
We can’t wait to see you either Pauline. You were sent home far too early.

NAPPYTABS Wrapping the photo shoot! Thanks again to Celestina, Chelsie, Jason, Mandy, Chelsea, Courtney, & D-Trix.
Hey @NAPPYTABS Where’s the love? No invite for me to be at the photoshoot. I see how it is. Ok, I’ll admit that Chelsie Hightower is much hotter than I.

sparks5678 Watch so u think u can dance tonight I did a number with russel and Ashley. I need feed back!!!
Your wish is my command. I loved your old school Hip Hop. This was the best routine I’ve seen from you in a while. Too bad we didn’t get to see Ashley shake her thing.

NAPPYTABS Okay Dancers, the Cirque gig was mainly for Las Vegas peeps, but if you want to move to Las Vegas if you make the show?!
I thought about saying I was a dancer just so I could get a chance to meet NAPPYTABS in Vegas. However, that just felt wrong. However, I thought maybe some other Las Vegas dancers read this website and would want to know. Looks like @laurengottlieb is working with @NAPPYTABS on this Cirque show. An Elvis show…sounds interesting huh?

dizzyfeet We have been nominated for a Peoples Choice Award. Please go to peopleschoice.com and vote for SYTYCD.
I encourage this type of voting. I’m surprised that Nigel didn’t mention it on the show tonight when all the judges turned into politicians asking for votes.

NAPPYTABS RT @amandareza Carrie Underwood Special…did you guys choreograph something on it? – Yes, we did Cowboy Cassonva & Guys Like You.
WOW!! They’ve Gone Country….I’d never have guessed that.

NAPPYTABS We have to say Ellenore was a real trooper & sucked it up this week! She tore her rotater cuff, got a shot & decided to perform.
NAPPYTABS And let me say, her performance was amazing! Lucky for Tabitha…because she was gonna have to dance if Ellenore wasn’t so tough!
This is an interesting note. Ellenore was hurt too. Why’d they let her dance through and not Ashleigh. Granted, it’s a different injury and maybe less time to find a replacement? I still adored Ashleigh tonight. She was so cute on stage when she talked about wanting to dance. Although, from the above tweets I’m mostly disappointed that we didn’t get to see Tabitha dance. I would have LOVED to see Tabitha and Legacy do that routine. Although, even more than that I’m rooting for a Tabitha and Napoleon duet on some future SYTYCD. That would be AMAZING!!

MollsGrayy enjoying some celine dion with @kathrynrmcc and @jakobakarr … jakob’s true talent is belting celine songs haha. love it.
Sounds like Jakob Karr is heading for American Idol after SYTYCD.

MelissaSandvig 3 nutcrackers, 3 flights this weekend. Hopefully everything goes without a hitch. http://bit.ly/6RJiKd
Wow! That’s a lot of nut cracking. I also love that the link goes to Melissa’s Facebook page where it says “Melissa Sandvig (Naughty Ballerina)”

CaitlinKinney27 Jeans shopping with my man then church then ice skating!! It’s a good day!
Every man’s dream.