What a great show last night!! I sprinkled my thoughts here and there on other posts but overall I was really impressed. I thought I’d bring you all a smattering of SYTYCD news that I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks. Much of it comes from our friends at Entertainment Weekly
I have to admit, I was pretty annoyed to see them keep Ryan after her abysmal “dance for your life”. I was watching the live feed online and it shorted out so I missed Missy’s and Iveta’s but from what I’ve heard Iveta’s was better. I saw all the guys and I thought Ricky really made his case to stay, his solo was great. Frankly, it’s not his fault Ryan seems to rather look at the camera and mug than connect with him. One of the posters recommended that they should have let all three girls and one of the boys go and kept Nick and Ricky or Nick and Wadi. I agree that Nick had a great personality and I would have loved to have seen him do contemporary with his long limbs to really see what he can do.
thoughts on this? I think it’s pretty interesting…
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They’ve recently released their list of the 25 greatest SYTYCD performances of the past 7 seasons.
This is a pretty stellar list, I must say, but there are a few glaring omissions. Where is Will and Katee’s spectacular pas de deux from season 4? Or Kayla and Max’s incredible WEEK 1 samba from season 5? I know this doesn’t include solos, but I don’t think anyone has topped Blake’s amazing solo from top 6 week in season 1, I’ve rewound it 100 times at least and still can’t figure out how he switches directions in his back handspring!
any other routines that didn’t make the cut? Read more..
So far, the music of Season 8 has been stellar, so I’m excited to see what music tonight’s Los Angeles audition show brings us. I hope you’ll help me hunt down all of tonight’s music because I always rely on our awesome readers for the assist.
Los Angeles Auditions
Opening Music: Two Steps from Hell’s “Am I Not Human?” –
Welcome to L.A.: Taio Cruz ft. Travie McCoy’s “Higher” – (thanks to our reader, Michelle)
Jordan Casanova (is innocent, despite her fierce alter ego, made Nigel a dirty old man): Beyonce’s “Naughty Girl” –
Derion “DC” Chapman (pregnant girlfriend, taught Nigel a dance move) intro: Bruno Mars’s “Count On Me” –
DC’s audition: Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” –
Arielle Coker (returning from the last two seasons, stronger) audition: Our reader Stephanie says it is Frisson’s “Groundhog Day” –
Yes to Vegas montage: Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull’s “I Like It” –
Audition line: The Briggs’s “This is L.A.” –
Hero McRae (Japanese dubstepper/locker) audition: Dinglesalad’s “So You Think You Can Dance Dubstep” –
Back from commercial: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour’s “The Golden Age” –
Joe “Big C” Doyle (Santa krumper with the “6 pack”) intro: Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” –
Big C’s audition: Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails (Rusko remix)” – (thanks, Johnny B for correcting me. I keep blocking this song for some reason)
No to Big C: Mud’s “Lonely This Christmas” –
Bad dancing montage: Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” –
Alexis Mason (Jeanine’s little sister): Our reader Ryan says it is David Lanz’s “Variations on a theme from Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major” –
Patty Anne Miller (adorable tomboy hip hopper/stylist/Berkley drummer): Ke$ha’s “Blow (Dubstep remix)” –
Yes to Vegas montage: Panic! at the Disco’s “Ready to Go” –
Sasha & Natalia Mallory (African/contemporary sister dancers) intro: Edvard Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King” –
Sasha & Natalia Mallory audition: Our reader Brenna pointed out that it’s Darnel Alexander’s “We Ride on the Wind” –
Choreography round: Usher ft Pitbull’s “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again” –
Yes montage/Vegas Week teaser: Chris Brown’s “Yeah 3X” –
I was so bad about the music tonight, y’all, cause I was distracted by tweeting my reactions. Help me out? 🙂
As we all know Step Up 3D hit theatres this weekend, and being the dancer that I am I went and saw it Saturday afternoon. I was a little bit skeptical about the movie being in 3D but I decided to give it a chance, and I’m glad I did. The movie was awesome with some amazing dance numbers. Compared to the first two movies the third installment has a lot more dancing, so the storyline lack a little but it really doesn’t matter. I could just flat out review the entire movie but I really don’t want to spoil the movie for everyone. However I will talk about the dancing.
We all know there is a good amount of SYTYCD Alumni in this movie. Nine to be exact, Tony Bellissimo, Musa Cooper(who isn’t credited for being an extra), Cedric Gardner, Ashlee Nino, Ivan Koumaev, Katee Shean, Joshua Allen, Legacy, and of course Twitch. Twitch makes his acting debut playing a character named Jason. Twitch is a good actor, which really doesn’t surprise me. Though I did love the fact that his character like to wear glasses with punched out lens just like Twitch. His dancing in this movie is off the charts, insanely good and reminds you why he is an All Star this season and quite possibly the best hip-hop dancer to dance on the SYTYCD stage.
Much to my surprise Twitch is not the only one that has a speaking role. Joshua and Legacy had some lines as well. Some of the other dancers are easy to spot compared to others, so pay close attention to all of the dance scenes to find them; I know I didn’t spot them all. Also be on the look out for Dave Scott to show off his dance moves. Dave is also one of the choreographers and has been involved with all three of the Step Up movies. There are other recognizable faces from the first and second movie. You might recognize Harry Shum Jr. (Cable) from glee. Then there is Kendra Andrews, if you are DWTS fan she is Erin Andrews’s sister.
Overall if you are a dancer or if you like dancing then this movie is a must see. If you aren’t a big fan of the 3D movement this movie is also being shown in 2D. I suggest seeing it in 3D it make the dance numbers that much cooler. Oh and if you want to save money try checking out a matinee showing they are usually cheaper. I’m have to agree with Lauren with what she said after seeing the movie…it might just be my new favorite dance movie.
It ranked thrid at the box office for the weekend behind The Other Guys, and Inception
Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.
Okay, so, I went to see the movie yesterday with a couple of my dance friends. The movie was excellent and was pretty surprised they used up to 7 previous SYTYCD contestants in the movie. The 3D version is a definite see if your cinema is showing the 3D version
Here’s what I spotted and also caught with the end credits of who was featured:
Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss (Season 4 Runner-Up) – Major character in the film who played Special Effects wiz Jason
Joshua Allen (Season 4 Winner) – Had a small role as part of his winner’s prize as ‘Samurai’ crew member in the first half of the movie. He wasn’t featured in the end for the final crew battle
Jonathan ‘Legacy’ Perez (Season 6 Contestant) – Had a minor role in the movie who played Legz was part of the ‘Pirate’ crew
Katee Shean (Season 4 Contestant) – Was featured as a background dancer in the Tango scene during Natalie’s Masquerade birthday party
Ashlee Nimo (Season 2 Contestant) (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) – Was part of the Pirate crew in the final crew battle
Musa Cooper (Season 2 Contestant) – Was a blink and you miss role. He was seen at the beginning of the movie where Moose started his first day at college where Moose spotted a group B-Boy dancers competing against each other outside NYU. Musa was the guy holding cash in his hand with a black hat
Cedric Gardner (Season 3 Contestant) – I didn’t notice him in the movie but spotted his name in the closing credits
Dave Scott (Choreographer) – Was featured as one of the crew members in the first crew battle of the movie couldn’t remember the Crew name sorry. He was also choreographer for the film
Hi Hat (Season 7 Los Angeles Auditions Judge) – Choreographed the steps in the movie and was also featured as judge in the final crew battle
Adam Shankman (Judge of SYTYCD) – Was Executive Producer of the film.
Share your thoughts on the movie. And if there was anybody I missed feel free to comment
What did you think of the dances? Which pairing were you pleasantly surprised about?
Since there were a few repeat partnerships… this is just all the *new* ones. Now as much as I was surprised that there was some man on man action this week, I wasn’t terribly surprised that it would work well… SYTYCD has a long history of strong male/male dances.
So when it came to pass that there was going to a man on man dance last night, naturally I had very high expectations for this dance…. but that’s just me. 😀
Season 2 – Tranji (Benji & Travis) – Hip Hop choreo by Shane Sparks
Song: Da Muzicianz & Mr Collipark – Gyrate
Season 3 – Neil & Danny – Contemporary choreo by Mia Michaels
Song: The Presets – Are You the One?
Season 4 – Twitch & Joshua – Trepak choreo by Youri Nelzine
Song: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker – Trepak
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... =)
So yesterday was a typical Monday night and I just finished watching the Bachelor special. Nothing else was on that was worth watching, so I settled on watching Celebrity Fit Club on Vh1. About half way through the show, the Harvey(the trainer) had set up something fun for the celebs to do after their challenge. However it turned out to be a dance contest with a very special judge. That judge was the one and only Joshua Allen, winner of SYTYCD season 4, not that I needed to be told that. Of course Joshua showed off his dance moves and it reminded me why he won. So the celebs face off against each other, the final two were Kevin Federine(who is a dancer) and Kaycee Stroh(High School Musical 1-3). In the end Joshua named Kaycee the winner. Vh1 is always repeating their shows so if you missed it, don’t worry you can see it again and understand why Kaycee won. It was reall nice to see Joshua dance again, which makes me even more excited for Step Up 3 to hit theatres.
Speaking of movies I was watching a few this weekend and learn a few new things that I didn’t know. She’s All That has a really great dance number in the prom scene. This particular dance number was choreographed by Adam Shankman and Brian Friedman was one of the dancers in the movie. The other movie, Lil C was featured in Center Stage: Turn It Up. I didn’t realize he was in the movie till I saw his name in the credits. So of course I had to go back to the club scenes to find him and see him krump. Just wanted to share with everyone and to start blogging again so I’m not so rusty when the new season airs this summer. Until then don’t forget to look out for more SYTYCD alum on new episodes of Glee.
Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.
I’m really excited to be able to post about the Dizzy Feet Gala. Thanks to Dona whom I know from my work with Pure Derek Hough, I received the following blog post about Katie’s experience at the Dizzy Feet Gala. Sounds like she had a wonderful time. I’m regretting that I didn’t head to LA to be there myself. I guess there’s always next time. Thanks Dona (and it seems like Dona’s friend Dee as well) and Katie for the information about the event.
Dizzy Feet Gala Blog by Katie
What an amazing night tonight was!!!!!! It was filled with high energy, great music, dances and well deserved awards to some inspiring people to continue to give back to this world what it mostly needs; the gift of art and all its creativity through dance!
From memorable dances from the So You think You Can Dance seasons, to the all so entertaining routines from Dancing With The Stars, a collective group of people came together today to celebrate its first Dizzy Feet Foundation gala.
My friend and I were privileged enough to see the works of some brilliant choreographers tonight!! And the seats were amazing! I think you couldn’t go wrong with sitting anywhere really. The structure of the place is done so thoughtfully that wherever you were, you would have a great view!
Derek and Cheryl from DWTS danced a great Cha Cha Cha, getting the audience excited with a great opening number, and making the audience want more. Derek and Cheryl definitely seemed like they were enjoying their night; however later we found out that the dance was put together earlier this morning. I say fantastic job for a time crunch. You wouldn’t have even thought for a second otherwise.
Lacey Schwimmer and Lance Bass also graced the dance floor tonight. Being such huge fans of both Dancing With The Stars, as well as So You Think You Can Dance, we were thrilled to bits when a Travis Wall routine was picked for the night. Jason and Jeanine’s Necklace routine had the room applauding, it was an exact replica of the performance piece shown on the show only a billion times better watching it live.
However, I have to say the standing ovation and the only standing ovation of the night, was from MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew: Quest Crew. I have had the opportunity to watch them perform live a couple of months ago at a benefit concert, and while the routine was the same as before, the atmosphere and the energy in the room was significantly different. In such a wide spread audience of all ages and walks of life, it was tremendous to see the older lady a few rows in front of us stand up and clap for these extremely talented individuals. From a little bit of Hip Hop to a little bit of Pop from Ms. Britney Spears, it seemed that they covered all aspects and types of genres in the musical field in their 3 plus minute routine. It was well deserved and exciting to watch the whole Kodak Theatre stand up and praise them with applause.
Some other highlights of the night included routines from Katee and Joshua doing their “No Air” routine, Mark Ballas and Kristi Yamaguchi doing their jive, and Cheryl and Gilles performing their Tango from Dancing With The Stars.
I have to say some of the routines that definitely stuck with both myself and my guest for the night were those that were Emmy winning performances from the So You Think You Can Dance performers:
Melissa and Ade’s Breast Cancer piece, done beautifully by Tyce Diorio, was also performed for us as well as Mia Michael’s Addiction piece that took our breaths away.
Along with phenomenally breath taking pieces performed by some of our favorite dancers. As Adam Shankman stated “this night was like the Stones for reality TV junkies”. There was talent from a young boy doing Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean routine and performing the Moon Walk, to witnessing what this important foundation is all about. Watching the recipients of the awards given out, I was truly blessed and also deeply saddened that children around the world who could become great simply do not have the resources to do so in their schools and community.
Being apart of something so wonderful was an absolute pleasure and left me wondering what I CAN DO to help. After all, is that what this whole event was all about? Finding a way to help and keep these programs ongoing so that our children and for more generations to come can also experience what I was able to this very night, because of the hard dedication and talent of such amazing individuals that did find an opportunity?
Here’s more information about the Dizzy Feet Foundation: http://www.dizzyfeetfoundation.org/
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get any pictures. It was just really difficult to keep any lighting on (whether from my iPhone or camera) hidden as much as possible or away so as not to disturb the people around me. I didn’t want to be “ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE” LOL
I did however pull out my camera at the last minute and recorded the BH “move” finale where all the dancers came up on stage after what seemed like the first verse. I apologize for any shakiness or anything like that. Here’s my dizzy feet gala video on youtube:
We tried to stick around for a good hour after the show to see if we could catch Derek. We actually ran into Mark while walking around, however there were so many people around, and he was carrying around a suitcase, we figured he had to go or was just in for a short stop from a flight perhaps, and in no way did we want to keep him any longer. Plus, we were both on the hunt for Derek. Unfortunately, it seemed that either he had already left or found some other exit we were not at 🙁
This isn’t much, but I sort of just started writing once I got home and wanted to share a little bit with you guys. Awww I wish the night could come back. lol I miss it already! hahahaha
I hope I did it some sort of justice for those who couldn’t go : (Again, I had the most amazing time and I want to just thank Dona and Dee for the tickets.)
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!
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.
