Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

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

I’d like to share a bit of yet another conversation between me and John and see what y’all think.

Emilie: and this season, i’ve felt like a flip flopper.John: you are a flip flopperalthough, i think a lot of people have flip flopped this seasonEmilie: i haven’t flip flopped THAT much this seasoni liked my favorites pretty early the only ones i flip flopped on were ashleigh, legacy and mollee oh, i flip flopped on karen, too.

Yes, I’m aware that I flip flopped on whether or not I was a flip flopper. So, let me be honest with myself and with all of you.

-I liked Mollee and then didn’t. And then did again after she got to the Top 10 and switched partners.

-I liked Karen and didn’t like Ashleigh. And then I liked Ashleigh better and Karen a lot less. And then Karen left and Ashleigh peaked (in my opinion) and I was ready for her to go again.

-I didn’t like Legacy, but then I was impressed by him in a lot of his routines with Kathryn. And then less impressed (or at least less reliably so) when he switched partners.

But it’s not just SYTYCD dancers I flip flopped over this fall season. I disliked most of Louis van Amstel’s work on SYTYCD, but out of curiosity (and John’s peer pressure), I started watching Dancing with the Stars sporadically. Louis’s partnership with Kelly Osbourne on there made me fall for him and his work. I’m excited to see more of it on SYTYCD in the future. Will that happen?

However, I also had a few solid passions this season. Peter. Sigh. Really wish he could be on the tour. Maybe the tappers could be “special guests,” eh Nigel? Loved Ellenore since Vegas and love her more today. Grew to love Noelle and Kathryn quickly into the Top 20. While I admire Jakob and I’ll be satisfied if (if? ha!) he’s the winner, I’m much more passionate about the girls this season, especially Kathryn and Ellenore.

Did anybody else feel like a flip flopper this season? Who made you flip flop? Any of the dancers have your love from day one?

WOW! what a great Top 10 show last night!

As I’ve posted on our site before, I’m a HUGE Broadway geek (thus the reason I practically had a heart attack the first time I heard Spencer Liff was going to be choreographing this season, haha). Anyway, coming up next week is the Annual “Gypsy of the Year” competition for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in New York City. I’ve attached the press release because it looks like the opening number for the show is going to include an appearance from none other than Ryan Kasprzak! Congratulations to him for booking such a great gig.

Ryan Kasprzak at Gypsy of the Year

check out this great cause, and look into getting tickets, anyone in the NY metro area who reads our site, we’d love to hear how it goes!

I’ll peruse YouTube for clips late next week, there usually are a handful and they’re very funny!
Here’s Daniel Radcliffe with the cast of Equus at last year’s competition (Spencer is one of the horses, can anyone figure out which one he is?!)

Rickey.org just posted some great pictures from the Dizzy Feet event in LA that happened Nov. 29th. It included the 5Alive kids as well as stars from DWTS (including S3’s Lacey) and ABDC (with S1’s Ryan and S3’s Hok and Dominic). Thanks Rickey for posting this, man I wish I could have been there!

DIZZY FEET CELEBRATION OF DANCE

here’s an interview with Qwest, with most of the questions aimed at D-Trix (Dominic) he’s awesome!

dances done included “No Air”, “If It Kills Me”, and “Addiction” as well as Ade and Melissa’s Breast Cancer routine, as well as performances from Cheryl and Derek from DWTS and Lacey’s samba with Lance Bass from S7 of DWTS. Qwest rocked it out, as did the three leading ladies from the Step Up films, as introduced by their male counterparts.

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.

This came from the same site as my previous post. Bianca was too upset to do an interview.

Again my heart goes out to him and his family.

I just found this interview on TVguide.com about Mia Michael’s upcoming plans for three t.v. shows, a book and a clothing line.

Some of the highlights:

-Mia’s watching Season 6. She was sad when Ariana got cut and says she would’ve fought to keep Ariana in (actually, she says she would’ve fought Nigel specifically on that decision).

-She talks about hurting her back and how not being able to move is like “being in jail.”

-Regarding one of her t.v. shows, she says she’s going to be the next Tyra and Heidi Klum (which one commenter didn’t like so much…)

Take a look and let us know what you think!

Sometimes the can be so many misconceptions on what some of the dancers can or cannot do. I know that they are classified into one category which for some of these dancers it’s completely unfair. Contemporary dancers are some of the most well rounded dancers. They typically have studied every style of dance (with the exception of ballroom and maybe a few other styles). If they grew up in a dance studio chances are they took jazz, tap, ballet and lyrical/contemporary classes. That being said they have most likely chosen their favorite style to classify themselves. Fun fact in the tour program Evan said that he always has his TAP shoes with him. Kathryn can tap as well…I took at the same studio she did…that’s how I know.

I also think tap dancers are also misunderstood. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t danced know what it takes to be a tap dancer. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about tap dance and its technique:

“Tap dancers make frequent use of syncopation. Choreography typically starts on the eighth or first beatcount. Another aspect of tap dancing is improvisation. This can either be done with music and follow the beats provided or without musical accompaniment, otherwise known as a cappella dancing. Hoofers are tap dancers who dance primarily with their legs, making a louder, more grounded sound. This kind of tap dancing, also called “rhythm tap”, came primarily from cities or poor areas. Today this is not the case, especially with such a wide variety of styles spreading throughout the world. Steve Condos rose out of his humble beginnings in Pittsburgh, PA to become a master in rhythmic tap. His innovative style influenced the work of Gregory Hines, Savion Glover and Marshall Davis, Jr. The majority of hoofers, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, and LaVaughn Robinson are African American men, although today the art form transcends racial and gender stereotypes. Savion Glover is the best-known living hoofer, who helped bring tap dance into mainstream media by choreographing and dancing for the major motion picture Happy Feet, a film about a tap dancing penguin. Another well-known tap film is 1989’s Tap, starring the late Gregory Hines and many of the old-time hoofers. Early dancers like Fred Astaire provided a more ballroom look to tap dancing, while Gene Kelly used his extensive ballet training to make tap dancing incorporate all the parts of the ballet. This style of tap led to what is today known as “Broadway style,” which is more mainstream in American culture. It often involves high heeled tap shoes and show music, and is usually the type of tap first taught to beginners. The best examples of this style are found in Broadway musicals such as 42nd Street. Common tap steps include the shuffle, shuffle ball change, flap, flap heel, cramproll, buffalo, Maxi Ford, single and double pullbacks, wings, Cincinnati, the shim sham shimmy (also called the Lindy), Irish, Waltz Clog, the paddle and roll, stomp, brushes, scuffs, and single and double toe punches, hot steps, heel clicks, single, double and triple time steps, riffs, over-the-tops, military time step, new yorkers, and chugs. In advanced tap dancing, basic steps are often combined together to create new steps.”

Tap is the first dance class I ever took and I have loved it ever since. That is why I’m excited about the tap dancers to be on the show. On the meet the top 20 we saw more of a Broadway style of tap dance. They have little time to learn a routine so sometimes they have to go with the more simplistic choreography. They not only have to dance the same but they also have to sound the same…which isn’t always easy. Plus for the show their taps have microphones attached to them so we can hear them at home. Each of the tap dancers represents a different from of tap. Phillip for me reminds me of a mix of Gene Kelly and Gregory Hines. He is more Broadway to me, very light on his feet, though he is able to transition into the rhythm tap. Bianca and Peter are the Rhythm tappers. They stay low to the ground. I have to admit I was kind of hoping that they wouldn’t be choreographed just to let them improvise and work together to create something. Nigel is right they look cool calm and collected from the waist up and their feet moving really fast. I could go on and on but I won’t I thought Wikipedia explains tap better than I could but if you guys have anymore questions, I will try to answer them the best I can.

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/