Welcome to Pure So You Think You Can Dance

I’m sure that people won’t like me talking about this, but when has this ever stopped me before? First, I should make it clear that when I write posts like this I’m mostly disappointed with the producers of SYTYCD and not Russell. However, one of the problems with writing a blog and being so involved in a show like SYTYCD is that you find out all the background story that the producers have chosen not to tell you. A part of me LOVES to know “the rest of the story” and the other part of me feels betrayed by the producers of the show. Either way, it is what it is and I still LOVE watching the dancers on SYTYCD. I think this is likely to never change.

With that preface, I was disappointed to read about all the formal dance training that Russell Ferguson had before going on SYTYCD. Here’s a short section of an interview Russell did with People.com where he talks about the dance training he had before the show:

You’ve often been referred to as a “street dance” diamond in the ruff but you’ve had some dance education, right?
I’ve been doing hip-hop all my life. So, I figured if I was going to take on any big dance projects later in life, I would have to learn other things to be well-rounded in the dance field. I did four years at Boston Arts and I did a good year at The University of the Arts, so I got a good amount of training in.

The judges portrayal of you as this unpolished stone. Was that accurate?
They know I had some form of training. But the thing is, a lot of people that do train, like that is what they do, that is their dance style, that’s their lifestyle. And me, I really did just come from the streets.

5 years of formal training? That’s a little more than just coming from the street. As I think back on some of the comments the judges made about Russell, you can tell that they knew about this information and were trying to maintain the persona that Russell was a “street dancer” without outright lieing. For example, I remember Nigel saying something like, “You’re basically an untrained dancer.” Then, he went on to compare him to Legacy when Nigel said, “You’re like Legacy, but you point your toes.” The interesting part is that I think Legacy actually is an untrained dancer. Russell is not.

Of course, when Russell won I think we all realized where he’d come from was the street. I absolutely adore that he won the show. I also loved how raw and real his reaction was when he won. I know some people didn’t like it too much, but to me it was beautiful. I’m not sure why he took his shirt off, but he was living in a moment that he probably thought he’d never experience. I don’t know all his background, but I bet Russell really does have a story to tell about where he came from and how he made it to an arts college and now as winner of SYTYCD. You could see the story in his face and in the face of his family.

This won’t be the first or the last time the producers don’t tell the whole story about dancers. I remember the outrage about this short post I did about Twitch dancing in Hairspray. No one had an issue that Twitch was in Hairspray. It was that the show acted like he hadn’t done anything like it before. To be honest, I’m amazed that the producers told us that Mollee was the principal dancer on all 3 High School Musicals. I guess they probably figured most people would find that one out anyway.

I don’t think any of this diminishes the quality of the dancing and the entertainment value that their dancing brings to me when I watch the show. All of that is amazing and it’s great that Russell can go out and do a Krump routine and follow it up with some ballroom. Is it just too much for me to wish that the producers didn’t produce the show so much. Probably.

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.

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.

Some surprising news coming out of the SYTYCD world today. If you all haven’t heard, Mia Michaels took to her Twitter yesterday to announce that she’s leaving our beloved show after 5 years. The reaction has been intense. Many people feel that the show won’t be the same without Mia, which is definitely true. Over the seasons, her pieces have been among the most memorable ones ever performed. Just think about these…

-Ashlé and Melody’s Message in a Bottle dance

-Travis and Heidi’s Bench dance

-season 2 group routine to “Hide and Seek”

-Lacey and Kameron’s week 1 contemporary

-her tribute to her father danced by Lacey and Neil

-Danny and Neil’s Dance of the Princes

-Chelsie and Mark’s “what would Tim Burton’s wedding look like?”

-Kherington and Twitch’s dance on the bed

-Katee and Joshua’s Hometown Glory dance

-Twitch and Katee’s Door dance

-Evan and Randi’s Butt dance

-Kupono and Kayla’s Addiction dance

these are a selection of Mia’s best dances, but there are obviously more. It’s pretty obvious this show has meant a lot to Mia, she’s an Emmy winner because of SYTYCD.

For an opposing opinion, check out this article from Entertainment Weekly online, the writer makes some good points about there being plenty of great choreographers that can fill the void left by Mia.

what do you guys think?! is the hole Mia leaves too big to be filled by people like Travis, Benji, and Sonya? And what have been your favorite Mia Michaels pieces over the 5 seasons of SYTYCD?

Alright Fox, you listening? Good…

So You Think You Can Dance All Stars! Similar to Survivor’s All Stars season, this would have the top 4 of the first five seasons going head to head in an automatic Top Top 20.

Imagine:

Season 1: Nick, Melody, Jamile and Ashle

Season 2: Benji, Travis, Donyelle and Heidi

Season 3: Sabra, Danny, Neil and Lacey

Season 4: Josh, Twitch, Katee and Courtney

Season 5: Jeanine, Ade, Kayla and Evan (my own imaginary, for the moment, top 4)

Dream couples anyone? Oh the routines we’d see!! Who would you love to come back that wasn’t in the top 4 of their season? Personally, for me, I’d really love to see Chelsie, Kherington and Mark from Season 4. Lauren, Kameron, Hok and Pasha from Season 3 (my first season). Caitlin, Randi and Paris from this season dancing with the all stars from seasons past.

You hearing me? Fox? Fans? Dancers? Okay, let’s do it.

My opinion about last nights show (July 22). I just had to write what I was feeling.

As long as been watching SYTYCD, Tyce’s breast cancer routine was had been the most emotional routine yet. I’ll admit that it didn’t make me cry till it cut to the judges and by the time Mia started talking I was welling up. I have two Aunts that are breast cancer survivors…so I was able to connect with the dance. After reading so many comments on this site about who loved it, liked it, and those who didn’t care for it, I got to thinking. I can’t help but to think that part of Tyce’s back story on why he choreographed this number seemed to be edited. Unlike Mia’s Time that she did for her father, her concept was clear. It caught me off guard to see Nigel so moved by the routine…it feels like the judges may have known the entire back story as to why Tyce wanted to choreograph such an emotionally driven dance. To say the he only choreographed this routine just to get an Emmy nomination…that’s taking it too far.

I think it’s really hard to judge the emotionally driven dances. True this is a talent competition but in reality it’s about finding America’s favorite dancer not who has the most talent or training. If it was about that we would have a whole new list of winner’s. For example Travis would have won and not Benji. Also I think Will would have gotten farther than the top 8 last year or for that matter Katee may have been the top female but I thought she should have won last year. I even thought Twitch could have won it too. My reason behind that is that I watched Twitch when he was on the Wade Robson project and he has improved so much since then. But that’s just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I may have reacted differently if I was there to see it performed live. I thought it was well performed by Melissa and Ade. Maybe there was something lacking but I don’t know what that might have been. It will be one of the routine’s that will always be talked about.

On a side note Shane’s hip hop was my actual favorite routine of the night. I thought it was very inventive…his best since the transformer hip hop with Pasha and Lauren. Jason and Kayla were both great. That choke hold at the end was just wow…lol…that’s all I could say after the performance ended. I haven’t been truly impressed by Kayla since her initial audition; don’t get me wrong I think she is a great dancer. Her solo last night was her best one by far…I can only watch her leg extensions so much…we all know that it’s her best feature and it has been used it all of her choreographed dances. Last night solo showed what else she could do. Last night show wasn’t the best top 8 they’ve had, but those things happen.

In the end I have learned to look at the show objectively, I’m still going to love dance at the end of the day. There is always going to be those dances we all love, dances we don’t, and dances that just fall in the middle. It’s also about finding America’s favorite dancer, so if you have a favorite, vote for them and then complain if you don’t like the outcome.

I think that most of my readers know about the 10 free So You Think You Can Dance workout DVD that were giving away. If you don’t then go and check out the details of the free SYTYCD DVDs contest.

There are actually 2 DVDs called So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk and So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove and they are currently available to buy on Amazon (on DVD 7/21). Luckily, I was able to get my hands on an exclusive DVD clip. Check it out:

I think the clip looks really cool and I’m pleasantly surprised how many people have commented on this blog that these DVDs just might be the motivation they need to start exercising. That’s really exciting for me to hear. I hope it does. Plus, you’ll be learning some dance moves at the same time.
So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk (Lauren Gottlieb, Travis Wall, and Courtney Galiano)

So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove (Twitch, Katee Shean, and Dmitry Chaplin)

As I was watching and posting about the various routines we’ll get to see again on the SYTYCD 100th episode, I couldn’t help but think back to some of my other favorite routines from past episodes of SYTYCD that won’t be shown on the SYTYCD 100th episode. SYTYCD season 1 will have to accept my apology since I didn’t watch it. However, here’s a couple of them that are in my top SYTYCD routines.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 2
Benji Schwimmer and Heidi Groskreutz Mambo to the song “Black Mambo” —Angel and the Mambokats. Benji and Heidi are cousins that have been dancing together forever, and this performance is quite possibly the best routine technically (I believe Nigel called it the “most professional performance on the show) that’s ever been done on the show. Certainly others might have moved you more, but this routine just throws everything at you and flat out entertains. I can also assure you it was one of the most searched routines on Google as well.

I could have posted pretty much any of Allison Holker’s solo, but Allison’s “Feeling Good” solo will do. Anyone that has the term Allison-ed coined in honor of her deserves to be on the list in my book.

While possibly not the best routine on the show, I can promise you that Travis and Martha’s krump routine was shocking at the time. From this routine millions of people were introduced to Lil’ C and Krumping. The song is “Clap Back” —Ja Rule.

I really don’t believe that any of the final 2 men dances could compete with Tranji, choreographed by Shane Sparks to the song “Gyrate” —Da Muzicianz (ft. Mr. Collipark). I think you had to see season 2 to really appreciate what Benji and Travis brought to the table with Tranji, but it was awesome.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 3
Lacey and Kameron danced a routine to the song “Dancing” by Elisa choreographed by Mia Michaels. I think we’re all better having been introduced to the music of Elisa on SYTYCD. This routine put together great music, great choreography and amazing dancing. Is there any wonder why we keep watching SYTYCD?

Neil and Sabra’s table routine was pretty epic as well. It was choreographed by Mandy Moore to the song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” —Eurythmics . I loved this dance, because it really took Sabra to the next level of dancing for me. Plus, Neil’s slow pass over the top of Sabra (at the 0:28 mark) is a moment I’ll never forget.

The start of this Shane Sparks routine to the song “Fuego” by Pitbull with Lauren and Pasha had me completely floored. Shane Sparks took 2 pretty white dancers and really entertained.

Danny and Lacey danced a samba to Dmitry Chaplin’s choreography. Certainly Dmitry poured in a bunch of great choreography and Danny and Lacey killed the dance, but I think the thing that I remember most about this is the music “Hip Hip Chin Chin” by Club Des Belugas. It all just melded into a really fun, memorable dance.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 4
Chelsie and Mark’s “Bleeding Love” routine by Nappytabs needs no explanation.

Sonya busts out an amazing piece for Courtney and Mark to the song “The Garden” by Mirah. Such creative choreography. Courtney steals the show for me in this, but the whole thing is just Sonya.

Katee and Joshua’s Nappytabs routine to “No Air” —Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown had so many amazing moments. It was such a wonderful mix of solo and partnering. Plus, the moment Katee pulls Joshua’s leg and he pops up is so memorable.

Katee and Twitch did a door routine to the song “Mercy” —Duffy and choreographed by Mia Michaels. I actually almost left it off the list, but after watching it again, there’s no way I could leave it off. Twitch and Katee just rocked this routine.

This final video is probably the best Viennese Waltz that will ever be performed on So You Think You Can Dan Dance. I tried to find a video with the back story, but even without Jean Marc Genereux’s storyJean Marc Genereux’s story is great and Twitch and Kherington’s Viennese Waltz to “A New Day Has Come” by Celine Dion is in the running for my favorite SYTYCD dances of all time. When it happened I watched it over and over. Just as good watching it again today.

I just looked at the clock and realized I spent a few hours creating this list. A few hours VERY well spent. The sad part is that there are dozens of other performances that should have made the above list. No Katee Bollywood or Pas de Deux for example. Oh goodness, I better not start listing or I’ll be here all night. So, I’ll leave the list up to you. What other So You Think You Can Dance routines are on your list (and preferably a link to a video of the routine)?

Also, if you’re familiar with all the videos on this list…you might be a SYTYCD-a-holic!!

UPDATE: If your impatient and don’t want to wait for the contest, you can buy the So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk and So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove DVD’s on Amazon right now.

Some of the best and most popular dancers from the So You Think You Can Dance alumni have created 2 new work out DVD’s called So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove and So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk. Those dancers include: Stephen “Twitch” Boss, Dmitry Chaplin, Courtney Galiano, Lauren Gottlieb, Katee Shean and Travis Wall. You can pre-order these DVD’s on Amazon right now, and they should be released to the public on July 21st for $10.99 a DVD so you won’t have to wait long.

Now for the cool part. Pure SYTYCD has been given 10 of the So You Think You Can Dance workout DVD’s to giveaway FREE!! Don’t you love great free stuff? I know I do. It’s going to be similar to the Katee Shean makeup giveaway that just ended. The only difference is that 5 lucky winners are going to walk away with both of the So You Think You Can Dance Fit DVD’s.

How to Enter
We’ll be running this contest for 3 weeks. There are 4 different ways to enter yourself to win. Do all 4 things and you’ll have your name entered into the drawing 4 times. The winner will be chosen at random from all of the entries. Here’s how you enter:
1. Leave a comment on this post (easy enough no?). Just make sure to use your real email or we’ll have no way to contact you and you’ll forfeit your entry.
2. Send a tweet to all your friends about this website or this contest. Click Tweet This! to tweet a message about this contest. Make sure to include @tvblog in the tweet to enter.
3. Share a link to http://www.puresytycd.com on your Facebook, myspace page or blog. Leave a comment with your myspace name, facebook page, or blog post so I can verify.
4. Join the Pure SYTYCD email list (existing members of the list are already entered if they make note of it in the comments below).

Any questions feel free to ask in the comments.

Here’s a full description of the new So You Think You Can Dance Fit DVD’s including an outline of what’s on the DVD:
Read more…

I’ve selected the winner of the Katee Shean makeup giveaway. In fact, I emailed the 2 winners, and I haven’t heard back from them. You know what that means. If I don’t hear back from them soon, then I’ll have to choose some other people to win. I’ll give them until the end of Monday since maybe they aren’t internet addicts like me that constantly need to check my email.

With that said, if your name is Gretchen or Theresa, then check your email to see if you’ve won. Also, my emails certainly shouldn’t go in your spam folder, but check their too just to be safe. Then again, if your name is Gretchen or Theresa and you gave me a fake email, then I guess you forfeit the prize since it was a requirement to give me a proper email.

For those of you not named Gretchen or Theresa, there is still hope. Not to mention, on Monday I’ll be posting 5 giveaways of the “So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit” workout DVD’s that you can pre-order on Amazon with the SYTYCD workout DVD being shipped out on July 21st. Very cool stuff.
So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Cardio Funk (Lauren Gottlieb, Travis Wall, and Courtney Galiano)

So You Think You Can Dance Get Fit: Tone and Groove (Twitch, Katee Shean, and Dmitry Chaplin)