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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.

First of all, hello, I am Mandy and I am from Vancouver Canada and post on http://www.puresytycd.com/canadasite regularly but will be posting periodically here on the USA site also.

That being said, I have to tell you how thrilled I was to see Canadian Choreographers Maria Torres (an American but was on SYTYCD Canada show), Stacey Tookey, and newcomers Gustavo Vargas and Sean Cheesman, who have done some amazing stuff for the Canadian show.

I’d like to touch on each of these wonderful choreographers throughout the week, but for now, let’s look at the AMAZING Sean Cheesman.

Sean Cheesman choreographing on last weeks show was a great surprise for me. He is one of my favourite judges and choreographers on SYTYCD Canada and has brought so much greatness to our Canadian Show.

His Afrojazz routine for Noelle & Russell  was amazing and in my opinion one of the best of the evening.

They danced to “Frog Dance” -by Mickey Hart & Planet Drum, and Sean Cheeseman threw in all his tricks, really showcasing his  amazing choreography and giving Noelle and Russell a much needed spotlight.

I am so glad to see him choreogrpah on SYTYCD as it has a wider audience than SYTYCD Canada.  I really hope they invite him back for more this season and in the future seasons too as he is truly an awesome choreographer.

Sean Cheesman’s bio reads:

Calgary native Sean Cheesman is an internationally-renowned director/choreographer who has worked with some of the world’s top entertainers, including Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, TLC, Prince, Vanessa Williams, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, and Britney Spears.

Cheesman has toured with Janet Jackson as a choreographer and dancer and subsequently choreographed tours for Prince. Cheesman appeared in and choreographed the film The Bodyguard and most recently was the host and lead judge of the U.K. television series Dirty Dancing: Time of Your Life.

Sean just completed choreographing the largest stage revue show in Berlin, Germany.

He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including two MTV awards for choreography, a “What’s on Stage” theatre award for the West-End musical Daddy Cool, and was also nominated for a Bob Fosse choreography award.

I’m so excited for tonight’s show! Our first chance to vote this season. I wonder what will happen tonight to help us make this difficult decision.

My thoughts? Let’s put some spoiler space up…

Read more…

Finally, things get back to normal in the SYTYCD-verse. Two episodes this week!!

SYTYCD Season 6 Top 16 Routines Music -

Maria Torres hustle (Karen & Kevin): “Come to Me” -France Joli

Mandy Moore jazz (Ashleigh & Jakob): “Relax” -Frankie Goes to Hollywood

JT & Tomas dreaded quickstep (Pauline & Peter): “Hey Baby! (Shake Those Hula Hips)” -Big Kahuna & The Copa Cat Pack

Andy Blankenbuehler great Broadway (Kathryn & Legacy): “I Wanna Be Like You” -Swingin’ Fireballs

Stacey Tookey contemporary (Channing & Victor): “Be Be Your Love” KCRW version -Rachael Yamagata

Lil C hip hop (Elleanore & Ryan): “Lost Boiz Anthem” -Tha J-Squad (not on iTunes – try “Stop That” )

Gustavo Vargas salsa (Mollee & Nathan): “Quimbara” -Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco

Sean Cheesman Afrojazz (Noelle & Russell): “Frog Dance” -Mickey Hart & Planet Drum

Hi friends!
courtesy of Idolforums.com and our friends at SYTYCDism, here are the preliminary top 16 spoilers, I will update them as I find out more!

**spoilers after the jump**

Read more…

With last week’s surprising news about the departure of longtime choreographer Mia Michaels, the door has been left open for some fresh new faces to possibly make their mark on the SYTYCD scene. I went to my trusty pal YouTube to find some choreographers I think might be good fits for SYTYCD.

Shannon Mather is a great choreographer with a surprising connection to SYTYCD. Her brother is S1 superstar Blake McGrath!! She and Blake work together often. I found this video of a piece Shannon choreographed and it’s danced by none other than Nathan Trasoras!

Speaking of Blake, he’s done some great work for SYTYCD Canada, but I’d love to see him come back to the US show to do a couple pieces, since Canada’s season is just about to end. Here is one of his pieces featuring eventual season 1 champ Nico Archambault and his partner Arassay Reyes.

This is another one of Blake’s pieces featuring S1 finalist Miles Faber and his partner Lisa Auguste. I’ve watched a lot of SYTYCD videos, and I can personally say that I’ve never been affected by a piece the way I was affected by this one. It’s artistry in motion.

Here’s Sean Cheesman, also from SYTYCD Canada. He’s a super versatile choreographer whose pieces range from afro-jazz to broadway (in Canada, they call it “musical theatre”. He also does contemporary. I’m including two of his pieces here. The afro-jazz piece is from season 1 and it features Vincent and Lisa. I think the mixing of their skin tones with their white costumes is exquisite. And the dancing is very grounded and they move with a lot of purpose.

The second piece is from this current season of SYTYCD Canada and it’s a musical theatre piece featuring finalists Tara-Jean and Everett. Everett is a tapper, and Sean was able to stick a lot of tap in there and he knew that Everett could pull it off. It has great musicality and they both ooze personality. With the possibility of as many as 3 tappers in the S6 top 20, having Sean, who has a tap background, could be a great pull.

If they’re looking for some fresh hip hop voices, Luther Brown might be a guy to consider. Here are a couple of his pieces. The first one features Nico and Arassay from SYTYCD Canada. It’s actually done to the same song that NappyTabs used for S4 with Twitch and Kherington and the “jail break” routine.

The second piece features S2 top 8 guy Cody and his partner, top 6 girl Melanie. They spent the season with the reputation much that like of US S5’s Randi and Evan, “they’re just so cute!” They both proved to be chameleons throughout their time on the show.

Gustavo Vargas is a latin ballroom choreographer from SYTYCD Canada, here are a couple of his pieces.

Salsa (Nico and Arassay)

Salsa (Nico and Natalli)

These are just a few names of people who could be a great fit on the new season of SYTYCD. Are there other people whose work you’d like to see on the show?

Check out the performances from the So You Think You Can Dance Top 12

Check out the videos from the SYTYCDC Top 14 results show

Check out the So You Think You Can Dance Canada 14 Performance videos