Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

Some interesting things were posted on Twitter today, so I thought I’d round up a few of the tidbits for you. Here we go.

Billy_Bell
I might have got my first rejection from an auditon today… yay! haha about 2 hours ago

adammshankman
PS: the dancers fr oscars were picked today. A lot of familiar sytycders will b there, and unbelievable new talent. Going to be SICK. about 2 hours ago

[Here's a piece from SYTYCDism that says more about which dancers. Travis, Kayla, Kathryn and Russell!]

LaurenGottlieb
I need your help. Im looking for new music to choreograph to! Let me know if you got something you think is my style http://is.gd/7zXTf about 6 hours ago

itsjeaninemason
True love!! @alohakupono and I! http://twitpic.com/112v3f about 7 hours ago

Here’s Kupono’s response, from later in the day:

alohakupono
Awwwwwwww, I MiSs my DUMPLiNG @itsjeaninemason and I LoooooooVE that I’m playing w/your hair in the PHOtO… CLASSiC US ; ) about 6 hours ago

And here’s the picture she Tweeted:

I just wish I could find more details other that the ones we already know. The gala is scheduled for Sunday, November 29, 2009 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. We heard from the Judges tonight who will be performing at this event. The season 5 dance are scheduled to perform, along with dancers from Dancing with the Stars, and America’s Best Dance Crew. Plus a first seeing all the leads from each Step Up movie dancing together. So we will see Channing Tatum and his wife and co-star Jenna Dewan, Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman from Step Up 2, and of course Twitch and other past favorites from SYTYCD that are scheduled to appear in the thrid installment. Also performances by the first recipients of Dizzy Feet scholarships from Juilliard, Alvin Ailey and American Ballet Theatre. Plus a performance from Mary Murphy and Dmitry.

Unfortunaly this event will not be televised, which I personally don’t like and I’m jealous of those who are going. So if you live in the Los Angeles area and would like to attend this sure to be amazing show, you can buy your tickets on Ticketmaster.

So for those of us that can’t attend the Gala and still would like to support the foundation go to the Dizzy Feet website. They also have a Dizzy Feet store now also so check it out. If you can donate please do every little bit counts and it for a great cause.

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.

Hi, everyone! I’m Margaret, the new spoiler and behind-the-scenes extraordinaire here at PureSYTYCD. Throughout the weeks I’ll be scouring the internet for spoilers and tips on anything and everything season 6. That being said, I’ll need your help! If you all happen to come across any info, leave it as a comment on one of my posts! I check those too and I’ll be sure to give you credit for your detective work! Season 6 is just around the corner so start the spoilers coming!
Additionally, I’ll be posting behind-the-scenes videos from Fox.com and YouTube all about the choreography, costumes, etc as well as the elimination interviews. I’d love to hear your comments about those as well!

With my little introduction out of the way, here is my list of my 5 hopes for Season 6 (in no particular order):
5. a return to the awesome hip-hop of seasons past. waiting from the top 20 show (Jeanine and Phillip) to the top 8 show (Kayla and Jason) between awesome hip-hop routines is too long!
4. please don’t bring Toni Basil back as a guest judge. usually the guest judges bring fun and a great personality to the table, but with Toni I feel like all the personality gets sucked out of the room.
3. I know it’s all about getting the angles of the dancers, but the camera jumping gives me a headache!
2. I would LOVE to see more collaborations between the choreographers from different genres (the Calle Ocho piece from top 16 week was one of the highlights of the season for me)
1. no more Russian folk dance!

Thoughts?! Any more you would add to the list? And who’s excited for season 6?!

In our ongoing series of choreography “EmMandy” Awards, here’s the award for “Best Group Dance” from So You Think You Can Dance season 5 (winner is in Bold). This is the final award, so take a look at the other SYTYCD Season 5 “EmMandy” Awards.

“Best Group Dance”

• Tyce Diorio, “Send in the Clowns”
• Tabitha, Napolean and Dimitri, “Calle Ocho”
• Mia Michaels, “One”, “Higher Ground”

An amazing concept with a heartbreaking story beautifully translated into the choreography. What more could you want? It was a sad dance, but it didn’t pity itself or try to make you cry or feel bad for it. It just was. I loved Jeanine’s smile that faded from her face, and Evan’s sliding down the toy box at the end. It was perfect and beautiful and I could watch it forever. However—I wouldn’t consider it a Broadway dance, more of a contemporary or even ballet. Just because the song is from a musical doesn’t make the dance Broadway. But it did include a generous helping of acting from each performer, and I think they all delivered.

In our ongoing series of choreography “EmMandy” Awards, here’s the award for “Best Prop” from So You Think You Can Dance season 5 (winner is in Bold). Take a look at the other SYTYCD Season 5 “EmMandy” Awards.

“Best Prop”

• “The Butt Dance”, Randi’s butt
• ‘Love Lockdown”, the chain
• “If it Kills Me”, the necklace
• “Send in the Clowns”, the toy box
• “Moses”, the feathers
• “Crash Test Dummies”, the robot dog

Though I agree with the judges comments about how the chain was an unpredictable, and therefore messy, prop, I LOVED the concept. When you’re in a relationship with another person, doesn’t it feel like there’s a chain holding you together? You can’t go anywhere without the other person, or do anything without the other person knowing. And I loved the end when Philip offered Jeanine the key, a way out. I mentioned in another post that the heart was a cute addition to Travis’ dance but it was not choreographed into it very well. The poor dancers looked like they were having a hard time throwing/catching/biting/etc. the necklace.

In our ongoing series of choreography “EmMandy” Awards, here’s the award for “Strangest/Worst Carried-out Concept” from So You Think You Can Dance season 5 (winner is in Bold). Take a look at the other SYTYCD Season 5 “EmMandy” Awards.

“Strangest/Worst Carried-out Concept”

• Brian Friedman, “Aliens”
• the producers, “Russian Folk Dance”
• Tabitha and Napolean, “Halo” (pregnancy)
• Joey Dowling, “Dance at the Gym”

I’ve been dying to talk about this one. I was really dissapointed with Nappytabs because the concept seemed so promising, and they are usually great with concepts. But this dance fell flat. Reason being: there was nothing to suggest Randi was pregnant. If I hadn’t watched the intro, I would have thought it was about getting engaged (because of Evan’s “proposal”). The movements did not illustrate the concept at all (with exception to when Evan rubbed her stomach) and there was no conflict. They never seemed scared or nervous about the baby. As for Joey’s piece, besides the beginning there was minimal connection between the dancers. If you’re in love at first sight, you don’t want to take your eyes off them!

In our ongoing series of choreography “EmMandy” Awards, here’s the award for “Most Innovative Concept” from So You Think You Can Dance season 5 (winner is in Bold). Take a look at the other SYTYCD Season 5 “EmMandy” Awards.

“Most Innovative Concept”

• Shane Sparks, “Shadow”
• Dave Scott, “Battle”
• Sonya Tayeh, “Vampires”
• Tabitha and Napolean, “Love Lockdown”
• Wade Robson, “Crash Test Dummies”

All of these were great concepts that pushed the boundaries of dance, but I have to give it to Wade. What a great idea! The movements were strange, but exactly what a dummy would move like. He had a concept and a story, something not generally attempted, but it made the piece that much more entertaining. I liked Shane’s idea for the shadow, but it really wasn’t carried out very well. The story was not moved along at all.

In our ongoing series of choreography “EmMandy” Awards, here’s the award for “Best New Choreographer” from So You Think You Can Dance season 5 (winner is in Bold). Take a look at the other SYTYCD Season 5 “EmMandy” Awards.

“Best New Choreographer”

• Stacy Tookey
• Travis Wall
• Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko (the Russian Folk people)

I picked Stacy because I really see her making history of SYTYCD. Her “Falling Slowly” really should have been on the finale, and both of her pieces deserved much more praise than they were given. I love her style’s fluidity and how she endows each movement with purpose. I also see Travis making a name for himself, but I think most of this is due to his “alumnus” status. Would people be lauding his name as much if he wasn’t a former contestant? The Russian Folk choreographers are mostly on there because I couldn’t remember any other new choreographers. Max had said earlier that the choreography made the dance the “worst of the season”, but I have to disagree. I blame the style of dance for its lack of an enthusiastic reception. The choreography was textbook Russian Folk and I can find nothing that breaks the cardinal rules of choreography (dynamics, energy, force).