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“Burn the Floor” heats up Chicago during the SNOWPOCALYPSE

As they say in the performing arts world: “The Show Must Go On” The Show Must Go On - Queen: Greatest Hits I & II

There were predictions hitting towards two feet of snow in parts of Chicagoland but a call to Broadway in Chicago confirmed what most businesses, stores and restaurants would not do in downtown Chicago… the show was open and was going to go on as scheduled. Granted, considering how quickly the temperature rose during the first number of the show “Ballroom Beat” (YouTube clip) this came as little surprise to those in attendance. When the first beats of the African rhythm filled the auditorium, you knew it was going to be hot. Dancers appeared throughout the auditorium, in the balcony, in the aisles… dancing and shaking to the rhythms before jumping onto the stage for an amazing opening number.

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February 2, 2011 I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)

Season 7: A Look at the Highs (and Lows)

Hi all!! I can’t believe we’re just a few hours away from the last performance show of the season!! I’m here to add my thoughts on the highs and lows of Season 7 SYTYCD. I was reading Entertainment Weekly online last night and they have a post up now, “So You Think You Can Dance: 10 Ways to Improve It”. I’m gonna play off that, plus add some of my highlights and lowlights from the season.

Highlight: The Opening Number
Wade Robson, tragically absent this season, created a visual and aesthetic masterpiece. We were able to see glimpses of the incredible array of dancers and their talents. It was difficult to distinguish who was who at some points, there were 23 dancers on the stage, but it was quite a sight to see.

Lowlight: First three eliminated–all girls
One of the things I was looking forward to the most when I heard about the All-Stars was seeing Twitch, Neil, Ade, Mark, Dom, and Pasha dancing again. Fast forward three weeks, and the likelihood of that happened had drastically dropped when the numbers were 6 male contestants and 2 girls. Alexie, Cristina, and Melinda were beautiful dancers, but they didn’t connect with the audience. I think poor Alexie was done in by less than stellar choreography, and I think the judges may have reached a little putting Cristina and Melinda in the top 11. Nevertheless, it was troubling to see three girls get knocked off so fast.

from EW.com:
PUT THE POWER BACK INTO THE VIEWERS’ HANDS

As host Cat Deeley regularly reminds us, SYTYCD is the search for ”America’s favorite dancer.” So why was America’s voice stifled for so long during season 7? SYTYCD’s old format actually worked perfectly: The judges exerted their control for the first five weeks of competition — ensuring that dancers who deserved a second chance outlasted those unable to measure up — then left the rest up to the audience. But this season, viewers had their hands tied until top four. The judges already have plenty of time to have their say (see: previous slide), so let us have ours again…earlier!

Highlight: Alex and Twitch’s hip hop
File this under the category of WOW. When I heard Alex was gonna be doing hip hop with Twitch, I was nervous for him. We didn’t see him do it in Vegas (I don’t think) so I had no idea what was going to happen. Needless to say, I had to surgically remove my jaw from the floor after watching that routine. Who knew that Alex would have a break out moment doing hip hop?!

Lowlight: Injuries, Injuries, Injuries!
It’s amazing that we’ve gone 7 seasons WITHOUT having a serious injury. Granted, Jessica from S4 did have to leave, but she was able to tour with her season when her rib healed. I felt so sad for Alex, because he was just started to scratch the surface on the show. Our thoughts are with him as he recovers.

From EW.com (I sort of agree with this one, not 100%)
GIVE US, YES, FEWER DANCES

With such a talented crop of contestants every year, it seems crazy to ask for fewer dance numbers on SYTYCD. But if season 7 proved anything, it’s that stellar choreographers often lose their touch when faced with the feat of creating a countless number of routines for the contestants. (Can you remember more than one Sonya dance?) And that hectic schedule is not only tough on choreographers, but the dancers as well — executing nearly four routines per week left many season 7 contestants sidelined with injuries. So let’s give them a (non-injury-induced) break, shall we? After all, the show is called So You Think You Can Dance, not So You Thought You Could Dance Before You Got Injured on a Reality Show.

Highlight: Cat standing up for the dancers
As you guys have probably read, I wasn’t AdeChike’s biggest fan, but I certainly liked him as a dancer and he seemed like a really nice guy. He didn’t deserve a lot of the bashing he took this season. Granted, some of it was necessary (Adam’s comments about him needing a looser center for African Jazz, I totally understood that), but some of it wasn’t (Mia: “I’m missing Alex Wong now. Hard). I was so happy to see Cat stand up for him after that Bollywood number, she really shows how invested she is in these dancers, how much she loves them.

from EW.com
SHORTER JUDGE CRITIQUES

Hey, I’ll concede that it’s tough to put on a two-hour show. But it’s also tough to maintain interest in said two-hour program when the majority of the airtime is dedicated to the judges’ critiques. (Especially when the contestants are only on stage for short, two-minute routines.) The dancers are the stars of the series — not a panel of judges more focused on thanking the choreographers than praising the contestants. You know the phrase: Keep it simple!

Highlight: Allison and Kathryn
These 2 girls took on an incredible number of routines this season. They danced almost every week, sometimes twice in one week with different partners. The best thing about them was that you could tell they were always there for their partners, 100%. Even when Allison was dancing with José, who, let’s face, she danced circles around, we could look into her eyes and see her commitment to him. I’m not taking anything away from the other All-Stars, they’re all amazing at what they do and a major asset to SYTYCD, but these two girls are my MVPs.

Lowlight: The judging
What can I say? I fastforwarded through a lot of the comments this year b/c they either didn’t make sense or they just went on FOREVER. Mia’s a great choreographer, but I kinda can’t stand her as a judge. Her noises and made up words made her sound uneducated, like that’s the best you can come up with while praising (or critiquing) someone’s dancing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…bring back Mary!!

From EW.com
BRING BACK MARY

With all due respect to Mia, the panel already has two industry vets who can wax poetic about technique. What was missing on the panel during season 7 was a healthy dose of crazy. (And what was missing on the stage this year was some Mia Michaels choreography.) Sure, Mary Murphy has all but ensured that SYTYCD fans will give the hearing aid industry a boost in 20 years, but we’ve missed being able to board the hot tamale train. Or crazy train, whatever.

Highlight/Lowlight: Getting reintroduced to the All-Stars via Classic Routines/Not getting to see everyone dance routines
This could have been amazing, and it kind of was. Getting to see “The Garden” “Forever” “Night of the Dancing Flame” and Anya/Pasha’s audition number was fantastic. Not only did we get to see these classic routines again, but we got to see how much these dancers have improved since their seasons. After those routines were over, the dances stopped! What about Ade, Kathryn, Dominic and Allison?! Four incredibly talented dancers who have memorable dances of their own. Why not show the routines on the big screen, then have the dancer do a solo on stage. That way, we could have seen the routines (most likely, “This Woman’s Work” “Fear” or “At this Moment” “Make it Work” and “Why”) but also gotten to see the dancers do a solo.

Highlight: “Boogie Shoes”/”Mad World”
Finally, Billy Bell got a breakout routine!! This was one of my favorite routines of the season and I’m excited to see it on tour. We finally got to see Billy loosen up and have some fun. He got the groove of the dance. With Mad World, everything just came together. Stacey Tookey has really elevated herself into that elite group of choreographers on the show with this number. Billy was fantastic.

Highlight: Robert’s Week 8
My pick for the win, he had an incredible week. Both dances were top notch, and everything just worked. I was so happy to see him make the finale, because his growth over the season is really starting to culminate at the right time.

Lowlight: the stage, again
Getting rid of the annoying screen from last season definitely helped, but not totally. When the camera hit the lights at certain angles, it sometimes washed out the dancers. The solution that really needs to happen…

From EW.com:
RETURN TO A SMALLER STAGE

In 2009, SYTYCD announced two big changes: The series would boast a new fall season — which would take place on a much larger stage. Unfortunately, both ideas flopped. Though the producers wisely ditched a fall season after it proved to be unpopular, the expansive, impersonal stage remains, frustrating viewers who prefer an intimate dance experience. Remember, Nigel & Co.: Bigger isn’t always better!

Here are a couple of other ideas from EW.com that I really like:
HAVE THE DANCERS PERFORM CLASSIC ROUTINES
For every ”The Bench” routine on SYTYCD, there’s a ghastly disco dance. So instead of reaching in order to showcase new choreography, why not allow one contestant a week to perform a classic, well-known dance number? Sure, they’ll never measure up to the legends that made the routines famous. Still, after seeing Kent ace a Spencer Liff Broadway routine this season, who wouldn’t want to see what he could do with, say, Singin’ in the Rain’s ”Make ‘Em Laugh”? gusty, but could be fabulous

TAKE A PAGE FROM IDOL — RECRUIT SOME GUEST MENTORS!
Sure, great choreographers like Sonya Tayeh, Mia Michaels, and Wade Robson (who’s been tragically MIA during season 7) already act as mentors by default for the SYTYCD contestants. But the show could use a new jolt of star power. Not only would contestants welcome the weekly guidance of some legendary dancers, like, say, Alvin Ailey’s Judith Jamison (pictured) or American Ballet Theater’s Ethan Stiefel, but any dance fan would also be fascinated to hear icons share their tricks of the trade. And think of the results-show guest performances we all saw how excited AdeChike was to be dancing for Dwight and Desmond, this could be really cool. Plus, Ethan Stiefel is better known as Cooper Nielsen from the dance movie Center Stage, and I, for one, would LOVE to see him on SYTYCD!

okay guys, these are my thoughts. Agree? Disagree? Fire away!!

August 11, 2010 I Written By

13 Things I Love About SYTYCD Australia

There’s lots to love about SYTYCD Australia –such as McPhee’s wonderful coverage.

But here are the 13 Things I Love About SYTYCD Australia:

1. The audition rounds were compulsive. I enjoyed them a lot more than I usually do our own audition rounds. I especially love Jason Coleman’s phrase, “We want you to dance well,” which he often said before auditions and says before solos. I love how supportive the whole cast seems to the dancers at all levels.

2. Top 100 Week was intense – especially that fake out where a bunch of dancers who thought they were eliminated got to choreograph their own routines.

3. There was a Meet the Top 20 episode like in this past fall season of our American version. The dancers killed the routines, which were amazing! The Top 10 Girls Routine! Jason Gilkison’s 3 boy 1 girl Viennese waltz! The contemporary foursome of Jessie, Grace, Heath and Nick! Those Top 10 Guys! Fantastic!

4. The judges and the host! While I don’t like Natalie Bassingthwaighte as much as Cat Deely (sorry McPhee, Cat’s my first love), she seems just as protective of the dancers as Cat and I love her occasional cheeky comments. And she’s really grown one me, to be sure. But Matt Lee is my favorite. He’s adorable!

5. I liked Jason Gilkison on our American version, but I looooooooooooove him on SYTYCD Australia. I look forward to seeing more of his work on the US show this summer.

6. The couples are so supportive of each other. Probably because they live together! All that time together seems to really cement their relationships and if it doesn’t, the lack of chemistry is noticeable and they’re gone.

7. We get to see them picking their partners and routines out of the hat! Aaaaaah, we need to see this again! It’s so cute!

8. Seeing Pasha and Anya again – as featured performers and as choreographers! And it’s amusing to see how crazy the Aussies are for Mary Murphy.

9. Wardrobe is incredible! How many times have the dancers and the judges thanked wardrobe specifically this season? Because they’ve been killing it. They seem to really do their best for the dancers – and then some. I think it helps that we get to see the dancers interacting with the wardrobe department and planning the costumes for the dance.

10. Australia’s choreographers are fearless with props!

11. Great couples – Phillipe and Renee, Kieran and Carly, Heath and Jessica, Nick and Grace, Matt and Jessie, Gaz and Ivy and then Robbie and Ivy. I really liked Phillippe and Renee’s chemistry. Matt and Jessie were really able to bring out the best in each other. I liked Gaz and Ivy so much that I was devastated when he got eliminated. But then Ivy and Robbie surprised me so thoroughly and finally made me like Robbie. They go to show that there is just no way to predict chemistry. While I’m sad to see dream teams splitting up, I’m excited to see Jessie and Robbie together and I’ve been hoping to see Ivy and Phillippe partnered since I’ve been catching glimpses of them together in the group routines (for instance, Top 12).

12. Speaking of – group routines to die for! “Everybody” Top 2o by Kelley Abbey. Jason Gilkison’s Top 18 “Cinema Italiano.” Stephen Page’s Top 16 and Jet Verne’s Top 14. Oh my goodness. So many great group routines. Top 10 Guys, Top 10 Girls, Top 7 Girls, Top 7 Guys. Great, great group routines.

13. The accents. Forgive me, Aussies, but the accents are one of my favorite parts of the show. Ivy’s accent is so cute and Jess Stokes reminds me of Emilie De Ravin from Lost. The way Jason Coleman says “fella,” sometimes it sounds so sweet, sometimes it sounds like an insult. Sometimes, I can barely understand what’s being said on the show, but I just don’t care because it sounds so beautiful. But then again, I’m just getting so used to the speech patterns, I go around expecting everyone in my real life to have Australian accents. I wish they did.

In summation, my favorite things about SYTYCD Australia Season 3 are: Ivy, Phillippe, Jessie and Robbie. They’d be my personal Final 4.

What do y’all think? What are your favorite things?

March 26, 2010 I Written By