Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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.

Here’s a Tweet from Janette earlier tonight (and the pic she linked to):

JManrara
About to go film our dance! Having goods times w/ the other dancers! Here’s a pic of all the girls! http://yfrog.com/3gwugvj about 2 hours ago

Which girls can you identify? Lauren Gottlieb for sure. Anybody else? Sound off in the comments.

This is a Twitter round-up, of sorts, cause a few of our favorite dancers have Tweeted about what they’re up to lately. Here you go:

MelissaSandvig Shopping with @adeeveryday and @jglove988 dolce and gabana hello!!! 11 minutes ago

LaurenGottlieb Yay!!! Just got word about another Glee episode…is it time for a rematch Matthew Morrison?? I think so =) 16 minutes ago

PaulineMata Class from Kyle Hanagami, Matt Cady, and Elm Pizzaro was amazing! Oh and saw @nathantrasoras today. Missed him much! It’s such a good day 44 minutes ago

miamilegacy Audition for a music video.. Wish me luck !!!!! about 4 hours ago

Billy_Bell Omg noooo! Bad rumor! RT @wilpher: @Billy_Bell do u have cancer? Hope not! about 7 hours ago

JManrara @jGlove988 is not having a good day! I’m on my way home, but wish I could be there to make him feel better… Love you babe!!!! Muuuuuah! 4:18 PM Dec 20th

ADEEVERYDAY @fivealive2009 rands! I need to Update you immediately. I’m shooting a music video today but I’ll call u when I get a chance. I’m dying!! 1:09 PM Dec 2nd

This is another great video about the future plans of the Five Alive kids. They talked about this some in John’s videos, too.

Here’s a great video about Season 5’s “G Lounge” that Kupono hooked up for Five Alive so they could kick back on tour. They talked about this in John’s videos, as well.

When we’re talking about them, they’re usually talking, too. About the show, us, themselves also. ;”)

Nigel (dizzyfeet):

11 hrs ago: Thanks for all your wonderful support. I’m glad so many realize that we are a professional competition and need to maintain credible results

12 hrs ago: I should not have told the audience to “shut up” tonight. Unfortunately their mindless catawauling got the better of me on that ocassion. [sic]

22 hrs ago: Two more dancers will be leaving us tonight. I don’t want any complaints from people who didn’t vote. I’m hearing you re. the new set.

23 hrs ago: The results are very interesting. I’m disappointed with one couple in the bottom 3 but not surprised. See if you agree on tonight’s show.

Nov 10th 10:16 a.m. : Season 5 tour in LA last night. The improvements in these dancers have made this show one of my favorites. Their comedy timing is excellent

Nov 4th 4:34 p.m.: @blakemcgrath we’d love that!

Oct. 25th 1:29 p.m. : I’m happy the judges decide, besides we know best at this moment. A couple of weeks more will help the public become better informed.

Adam (adammshankman):

11 hrs ago: Dance I’d who I am. That’s what Peter said. That’s how I feel. He’ll b fine [sic]

11 hrs ago: FYI: if Pauline and Peter move to LA they will work. They will work a lot. They are wonderful.

11 hrs ago: I held Pauline and Peter in my arms while they cried. It was horrible and we love them. It’s a competition show. It’s wt they sigh up 4.

11 hrs ago: No elimination on sytycd will be universally embraced. U hv no idea how hard it is to cut our kids. We lv thm. r job is to cut. Pls undrstn

Nov 9th 11:47 a.m: Sorry: the gala won’t be televised! One of a kind event! Get tix asap

Nov 9th 11:38 a.m.: Update: dizzyfeet gala on nov 29, dwts cast, sytycd season 5, Mary Murphy and demetri, qwest, the leads of step up (cont)

Nov 6th 2:36 p.m.: Dizzyfeet number coming together. Awesome

Nov 6th 2:12 a.m.: Great line up for dizzyfeet gala: sytycd dancers, dwts cast, step up dancers… So cool. I’m psyched

Oct 27th 9:58 a.m.: Watch sytycd tonight. First competition show. Very emotional already.

Travis (travISova):

14 mins ago: Getting my hairs cut!!! Then rehearsal with my couple

14 hrs ago: so excited about the couple i have this week on sytycd……like so excited!!

Peter (PeterSabasino):

Nov 11 12:15 a.m.: OMG….so tired from rehearsals…..But loving every minute of it. This cast is amazing

Nov 10 9:17 a.m.: Last night was amazing. 5 Alive was dope, Now Season sick is Hungrier than ever. We’re all gon Kill it…Love you guys! MWWWAH!

Billy (Billy_Bell):

1 hr ago: At the doctor getting another ultrasound… Hope I’m not pregnant!

Nov 9 3:44 p.m.: @PaulineMata perfection buy me some clothes while you’re out today;)

Nov 9 1:42 p.m.: @Paulinemata yell at @jakobakarr for not tweeting ever how is he supposed to function as a season 6er and not tweet?!?! haha

Nov 8 11:33 p.m.: @Jglove988 you arnt so bad yourself. I hope I see you and @jmanrara soon! I miss you guys! And I love you too @paulinemata

Jeanine (itsjeaninemason):

14 hrs ago: At the Clippers game!! random but I’ve apparently been in a basketball mood lately. So proud of my hubby @jakobakarr!!

Nov 10 3:01 a.m.: LA show was amazing!!! Oh and how can I forget! my butt decided to make a guest appearance during paso..I mooned 7,000 people, yippe!

Nov 8 5:15 p.m.: Heading to a taping of SYTYCD season 6!! Can’t wait to see all the crew and scream for the amazing talenttttt ahhhhh

Nov 8 1:11 p.m.: Had the best night on the G-Lounge party bus!! And was married to my one true love @alohakupono…choo-choo! Just got to Lala land

Nov 7 4:19 p.m.: Doing some press in Utah and then hanging out with the girls…I’m going to miss these smelly locker rooms

Kupono (alohakupono):

Nov 8 4:18 a.m.: PARtY BUS is AMAAAZiNG!!!! DeCORAtED the GuRLS BUS and transformed it into the LoVE2LiVE-LiVE2GiVE G-LoUNGE!!! I got a FoG MACHiNE ; )

Nov 6 11:12 p.m.: New FAVORiTE GaME is “NiNJA DeSTRUCTiON” minus the part where RANDi’S LiL’ SiS split my LiP!!!! YES… I was BEATeN UP by a GiRL : (

Nov 6 7:41 p.m.: RANDi’S HoUSE KiCkS ASs!!!! We’re sitting around a FiREPiT in her BACkYARD w/PiZZA and later we’re having a GoLFCART RACe!!! SO EXCiTeD!!!

Nappytabs (NAPPYTABS):

2 hrs ago: On our way to SYTYCD rehearsal!

16 hrs ago: Break is over! Workin on SYTYCD choreo now. This a FULL day of rehearsal & choreo!

20 hrs ago: Hey, forgot to give a shout out to all the SYTYCD tour dancers. Nice job, loved the show! Sorry we didn’t get back to see you, had rehearsal

Jakob (jakobakarr):

11 hrs ago: quality time with @channingcooke. love

Nov 10 2:18 a.m.: AMAZING night. 5 Alive tour show was incredible. So inspiring!

Nov 4 1:02 p.m.: Tweeting priveledges restored! Soaking up the sun with Ellenore and Pauline. Love

Noelle (iamnolz):

Nov 9 11:17 p.m.: wow! LIFE CHANGING! =D

Nov 9 5:15 p.m.: shopping with @channingcooke @paulinemata and Ryan and Ashley!

Nov 9 2:47 p.m.: @Billy_Bell I love you and MISS YOUUUU!!!!! =)

Nov 2 11:31 a.m.: I fell but I got back up =)… that is what’s important!

Man, I could go on forever with this! I’m sure I missed some fun/important/exciting Tweets, so lemme know!

If you are going to the tour hang out after the show because the dancers come out to meet the fans. I recommend a spot next to a young fan…they stop longer for the little ones. I was actually able to ask some questions…I’m guessing not too many people in Atlanta wanted to wait out in the cold. I was standing next to a first grader who had four favorites and she told each one of them too. Her favorites were Phillip, Kayla, Brandon and Jeanine. Each one of them gave her a hug and took a picture with her but it was Brandon who surprised me. I couldn’t hear what she said to him but he decided that he wanted to have a picture of the two of them so he pulled out his phone and got one, such a cute moment.

While Brandon was around me someone asked him if he thought Mia’s comments to him during Vegas week were real or were they just said for the show. He said he really didn’t know because it is in their contracts that they cannot talk to the judges about any critiques that are given. He said they have to wait a few months after the show is over before they can talk about it. Also the ladies next to me asked everyone what it was like to be on Ellen…for the most part they all enjoyed it.

I did get to talk to a few of them myself. I asked Kupono if he thought he might go into maybe starting his on clothing/costume line. He said that he might somewhere down the line, it something that he is interested in. In the program he said that he is designing everyone’s Halloween costumes. Caitlin was next I asked about her sister, if she auditioned for season 6. She said yeah but she was cut during Vegas week. I asked mainly because I didn’t see her or I just missed her or something. When Melissa and Ade came by I had to tell them what the breast cancer piece meant to me. Ade really is a sweet guy; I wish I could have had a longer conversation with him. I commented on the difference of seeing that particular dance live. He agreed by saying he had been hearing that a lot. He seemed somewhat surprised by this but then he said that they (producers) will show what they want to show.

While waiting for some of the dancers to make it down to where I was…some of us were talking to a guy that travels with them on tour. That is how I found out Janette was sick and if fact most of them were getting over being sick. He has worked on the American Idol tours and the SYTYCD tour since season 3. He said that all the dancers that he has met have been great with the fans will try to sign everything that they can. This is where he said there was only one dancer that had a diva type attitude. Of course he couldn’t tell us, but he did give us a hint and we took a guess. All of us guess correctly on the first try…hmm I would like to see who you guys think he was talking about. So leave a guess on the comments below and I post the answer later in the week. (John I already told you who it was so you can’t say anything)

…AKA the season five tour of SYTYCD. This made the fourth tour I’ve attended and naturally I already had an idea of what to expect. This season didn’t disappoint. Due to circumstances beyond my control I barely made it in time to see the opening of the show…thank goodness they started fifteen minutes late. Then it was the start to a night full of dance starting with disco. What I didn’t know is that Janette was sick, but I wouldn’t have known until someone mentioned it later that night. That was followed by Phillip and Jeanine’s hip hop to “Mad”. I almost wish the first two numbers were switched. Then came the butt dance…I love this dance. It’s cute and quirky and a sure to be another Mia classic.

When it came time for the Bollywood dance, this is where the on going joke about Jeanine and Phillip’s Russian routine. I have to admit whoever came up with this idea was brilliant. I know Emilie mentioned that at one point that Phillip and Jeanine were in disguise. Earlier in the night the prop guys brought out a chair for Evan and Melissa Broadway routine wearing top hats and tux jackets. I myself have done a Russian folk dance before so I felt their pain when the judges didn’t care for it on the show…I found myself wanting to see them dance that number. So they are so determine to do this dance and the audience is with them Jeanine actually shushed us so they wouldn’t get caught. Then the twist came, everyone joined them on stage to dance with them and well if you read Emilie’s post you know what happens next. I love the new parts to the dance. This wasn’t the only skit that had me laughing. Like Melissa telling a scary story to intro the Zombie hip hop and getting interrupted a lot by the guys being “scared”. Plus there is Kupono’s DVD advertisement and him picking on Randi about the one time she wore a wig on the show.

This time around they didn’t do as many group numbers compared to the past seasons. Calle Ocho took the show to intermission. They have the whole set up water and all. Though I thought the whole water thing looked better on television. One kicked of the second half of the show. This one brings back memories for me…yes I have been in “A Chorus Line” not a major role but Mia’s version was so much better. They closed the show with one of my favorite group numbers, Tyce’s Brand New Day. I had a feeling they would either open or close the show with this number. Also this was the first year that the tour didn’t end with and number to “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. Though up until now the past three seasons have had a connection to Hairspray, for season two it was Benji and Donyelle. Season 3 was when the movie hit theatres and Adam Shankman choreographed a routine for the dancers. Well as for season 4 Twitch was in the movie…you can spot him and the end of the movie.

Now on to the solos…Cat does intro the dancers plus they show footage of their journey on the show. When Phillip hit the stage I had to get that one on video. He also received the first standing ovation of the night and quite possibly the biggest one too. This really isn’t all that surprising to me, since he has been around since season two. Jeanine’s solo was great too she had the rose and all but it fell apart on stage while she was dancing. Brandon also got a standing ovation for his solo too…spoiler alert it the same as his original audition…okay there are quite a few repeats of solos.

I was happy to know that many of my favorites had made it into the show. I’ll post a link to my pictures that I took…I tried to get a few from each routine but when you cant use a flash some didn’t work out. I also have video of the Zombie hip hop…I actually like many of Kayla’s numbers. It was Brandon and Kayla that had the most dances in the show. It’s hard to pick an absolute favorite but there is one or two that were better live. Evan and Melissa’s Broadway was one of those…it’s fun and light hearted, not to mention Janette started rambling on in Spanish while introducing the number. Also the breast cancer piece is better live…it still didn’t make me want to cry but to see Melissa and Ade dance with so much heart was definitely a great thing to see. Okay I really could go on and on but then this post would be really long. So check out all my pictures and video and get and see what other dances made the tour. I recommend buying a program it has a Q&A with the top ten. So those who haven’t been to the tour yet, you are in for a great night of dancing. For those of you that haven’t been to one yet, you are missing out. Enjoy the links below for video and pictures from the show.

http://www.youtube.com/dancestar516

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancestar516/sets/72157622648404156/

Finally – you get your part two! As I am traveling, my usual schedule is a bit off. So bringing you part two required a visit to the Sprint store where the guy who sold me my phone was cool about getting the photos off and helping me put them on my laptop. And heeeeeeeeerrrrrrree we go. TOUR SPOILERS AHEAD!!

So, my video is crap. Sorry about that. I was pretty close to the stage, but we weren’t allowed to use flashes and there was a drunk girl perpetually standing up at the cool moments and ruining the shot. And most of the pictures taken with my cell phone didn’t work out – too dark. But, I did manage to get a few shots of me with some of the dancers, so I’ll put those at the end of this post. That slice of cheek next to a few of them? Yeah, that’s me cropped out. It was a looooong day.

Where should I begin to tell you about the show? Maybe I should start by saying that I lost my voice from screaming so much. And my mom got blisters from clapping so much. We waited after the show for two hours in the cold to see the dancers (all but Janette) and it was totally worth it. Amanda’s already commented on some of her experiences in the comments of Part One.

First, they had recordings of Cat Deely introducing the dancers and some of the videos, and that was pretty cool. We kinda got to feel like she was with us a bit. Next, there was a new opening number to some sort of remix of the “Can Can” song from Moulin Rouge. Probably something like this one . That was really high-energy and got us all in the mood.

It was a bit campy in a good way. There were usually one or two dancers introducing each of the up-coming acts and they each wore different SYTYCD shirts. As Christine hinted at with her spoiler in the comments of my earlier post (which I totally didn’t get till last night, by the way), Kupono did a hysterical infomercial for the workout DVDs was was so incredibly silly and campy. Jeanine and Randi were really funny with him on stage for that. One of my favorite jokes of the night turned out to be a cool new routine. MAJOR SPOILER HERE.

Throughout the show, there was a running joke about Jeanine and Phillip’s Russian folk dance. Several times, they came out in their Russian costumes and started dancing the routine with the other dancers chastizing them for it and them pretending to be ashamed of themselves. Once, they even pretended to be the prop guys bringing in the surgical table for the Bob Fosse routine and got “caught.” It was pretty funny as running gags go, but I did wonder if they’d actually perform the routine. And then they started to do it, in the second half and the *rest of the dancers* came out in matching Russian folk costumes and did a little bit of the dance with them. And then it turned into a remix of the Russian folk with really hard-hitting, high-energy music. The guys stripped off the shirts and the girls peeled off a layer of their skirts, making them shorter and suddenly there were enormous jumps and lots of floor work (think the Russian routine with Twitch and Josh). It was amazing – a great payoff to the running joke. It was one of my favorite moments of the night and illustrates something I really like about SYTYCD. When something doesn’t work, they don’t hesitate to make fun of themselves and…make it better. Take a “failed routine” and make it something that works. That’s amazing.

Probably another of the highlights was Phillip’s solo. It was longer than *everyone* else’s, including Jeanine and Brandon and he got a standing ovation from the audience. His face was priceless, as it always is. Brandon got people out of the seats with his solo, but I have to say that Phillip did it first and did it best.

There were dozens of wonderful moments throughout the night, but those are just some of my standouts.

Then, waiting in the cold. And wouldn’t you know it, every single dancer who’d met me in the afternoon remembered me! How cool is that? I was pretty starstruck over Evan, though I tried to be cool. After all, I’m 15 years older than the 12 year old girl who was standing next to me – who almost fainted she was so excited to meet Jeanine. She was flustered and giggling and then apologized to Jeanine, who said (classy lady), “Are you kidding me?” in this tone that clearly said, “you’re why I do this.” It was late and all of the dancers were so warm and took their time. Many of them climbed onto the barricade and leaned over to take pictures with their fans who were a bit farther back. They did everything they could to get to us, which was nice.

Just past me, Evan was really sweet to a 5 year old whose birthday was in 20 minutes, according to her mom (it was late). And he was definitely nice to me – we took a picture of our wrist tattoos (his is “brother” in Greek of course and mine is “I’ll see you later” in Russian, which contains some of the Greek alphabet and looks similar).

Ade is my mom’s favorite and she insisted on waiting for him (which I was happy to do). When he came by, she said, “I heard you gave my daughter two hugs earlier this afternoon” and he laughed and hugged her. And then me again.

I had to retrieve my mom’s coat for her and ran to and from the parking lot, so I was really breathless when I got back. Randi had just moved on, but she came back and took a picture with me, giggling with me.

I have to say, seeing Jason again may have been the best of all. I was trying to juggle all of the things in my hands so I could give the camera to my mom and he was hugging on me the whole time and he said, “Hey, I just want to hug you.” Lol. Big flirt. I told him not to get into too much trouble in Miami. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll manage that.

It was a great night, as Amanda said.

Here are some more pictures for you, as promised.

I was perusing the wide world of YouTube and came across this awesome video! It’s in 2 parts. Basically, Ellen had the top 10 from season 5 on her show recently and they performed the “Calle Ocho” group number, the catch was that Ellen did it with them! It’s great fun to see them all back together again, it feels like we just left season 5!

one quick bonus video, the top 12 performing a clip of the “Brand New Day” group number outside in LA to pump everyone up for the tour! There are a few versions of this, including a video that John posted earlier that has interviews with some of the cast, and it also better highlights Phillip doing his thing.