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SYTYCD Next Generation: The Winner Is…

Another season of SYTYCD has come to an end and another great opening number. I like that this one was had the audience involved. Also, because DWTS premiered tonight, Jenna was not able to participate in the finale because she is a pro this season. I’m going to try to make this short and give some highlights of some of the new dances and of course reveal the winner. I’ll post a full season review later this week.

Hip Hop: I love seeing these kids and all stars do what they do best. I think Marko is being re-branded as a hip hop specialist when contemporary was his specialty during season 8.

Love Mandy Moore’s piece with the top 10 and Maddie. Fantastic costumes and great dancing. I’m actually surprised it took all season for this to happen.

Ballroom: I feel like the ballroom kids really didn’t get to shine this season, so it is great to see them do their thing. So happy they pre taped so Jenna could be a part of the finale.

Results: in fourth place is Emma. Such an amazing little tap dancer. I was always impressed watching her and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.

More Results: In third place is Tate. I really thought she would be in the top 2 but she has a bright future as a dancer.

So that means it’s down to JT and Kida. I had a feeling that JT would squeak into the top 2 just thought he may have taken Kida’s place over Tate.

And the winner is ….KIDA! FiKShun is a proud All Star. I have to find FikShun winning moment and compare it to Kida’s. I truly think Kida drew viewer’s in from the very beginning and he improved week after week. I think Mom was in shock and I think his dad would be proud.

Also congrats to JT as well. He and Robert had the audience in the palm of their hands week after week. I thinking Broadway is in his future.

September 12, 2016 I Written By

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.

Next Generation: Top 9 Thoughts

So this week the dancers are back dancing with their all-stars in their own styles. I think I’m starting see the pattern of how the show will go from week to week. Great opening number choreographed by Brian Friedman to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”. On a side note did not know that Jason Derulo wrote that song.

Jake and Jenna: (Samba) Always good to see Dmitry back on the show. I think he found the way to work around the height difference. I also liked seeing Jenna helping Jake with the steps he didn’t know yet. Overall it was a fantastic performance.

Tate and Kathryn: (Contemporary) I’m really loving Brian Friedman’s choreography tonight. This piece was stunning and so are the dancers. My only complaint was maybe they went a little overboard with the smoke machine. I agree with the judges Tate is the best technical dancer on the show.

Kida and FikShun: (Hip hop) Dave Scott hit the jack pot with these two. Loved the concept of this dance. The make up department out did themselves, Kida really did look like a puppet.

Jordan and Sasha: (Jazz) This was definitely a fun piece and boy was it jam-packed with a lot of fast moves. They did fall out of sync a few times but no other real issue.

Sheaden and Marko: (Hip hop) I think Sheaden proved why he was picked to be on the show. I also think this truly allowed him to show off his personality.

Ruby and Paul: (Argentine Tango) Pretty sure that Paul had bruises all over his legs. Loved that the piece had a lighter feel compared to the usually darker feel I’m used to seeing. After watching the performance I would have never had guessed that Ruby has never really done the Argentine Tango.

Tahani and Comfort: (Dance Hall) It’s always good to see new style on SYTYTCD. Just hard to judge…I thought it looked good.

JT and Robert: (Contemporary) Seriously, Travis Wall will have another Emmy nomination next year. My favorite of the night. It is so nice to see JT slowly breaking out of the “cute kid” role.

Emma and Gaby: (Tap) Like Nigel, I really enjoy being about to see tap on the show every week. There is no denying the fact that Emma is a fantastic tap dancer.

The bottom two tonight were Sheaden and Ruby. This is just going to get harder every week to watch these kids get eliminated. I did agree with the judges that Sheaden would be in 9th place. I have a feeling we might see Ruby in the bottom next week.

July 25, 2016 I Written By

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.

*Spoiler Alert* Season 10 Finale

SPOILER ALERT! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SHOW!

It has been another great season and it’s always sad to see it go. Before I get to the run down of the show and of course the winners, I am happy to announce that Fox and Nigel announced that there will be a SEASON 11! Now on with the show that had a 17 min intermission (Presidential speech), well for the east coast. We had Judges favorites, top 4 favorites, and some surprises.

The Top 20 are back, even Jade even thought he can dance cause his knee isn’t fully healed yet. A fun routine choreographed by Ivan from season 2 (who has choreographed for Justin Timberlake).

Paula Abdul Favorite: Edge of Glory, Paul and Makensie

Jasmine H. Favorite: Blurred Lines she danced with Marko. She surprised me with this pick.

Adam Shankman: he picked the FikShun and Twitch hip-hop to Hello Good Morning.

The Top 4 got to see a special screening of Battle of the Year, that features Dominic from season 3. Also Legacy from season 6 is also in the movie (look it up on IMBD if you don’t believe me).

Nigel’s Pick: This really was a no brainer, I knew he would pick a tap number, I just didn’t know which one. It’s fitting that he chose the one with all of the tappers from this season.

Twitch’s Favorite: His choice surprised me as well, mainly just the fact that it was a Broadway number. Kiss of the Spiderwoman- Nico and Hayley.

Aaron’s Favorite: Kissing You with all-star Kathryn

They replayed the sand number with the Top 10 guys, which is actually one on my absolute favorites of the season.

Cat’s Favorite: Run the World, Jasmine and Comfort hip-hop

Mary’s Favorite: Medicine, Tucker and Robert

Puttin’ on the Ritz: Top 20. Really loved this innovative number that NappyTabs created.

Then another favorite of mine Mark and Jenna.

FikShun and Amy both picked the same dance as their favorite. After Party, the bell hop hip-hop.

So we are treated to the “partnership” of Nigel and Mary. Though the video montage, I’m sure I wasn’t the only that was wondering where they were going with this…a dance with Nigel and Mary. This did make my night, especially Adam not wanting to be left out of the fun.

The Top 5 moments from the Auditions with the number one spot going to Movement Box.

Twitter’s Travis Wall routine Favorite: Seriously no surprise that it is Wicked Game that he danced with Amy.

The Top 10 and All-Stars perform and fun surfs up number by Nappy Tabs.

Now time for the Winner’s, Cat announced that a girl got the top number of votes. With that said she began with the guys and then the girls.

The Season 10 Winners ARE….FICKSHUN and AMY!!! Congrats to them both and Aaron and Jasmine. What a great season can’t wait till next year.

 

 

September 10, 2013 I Written By

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.

Top 8 Power Rankings

Great night of dancing last night but with the All Stars joining the Top 10, I can’t say I’m surprised. Twitch, Marko, Brandon, Jakob, Robert, Neil, Kathryn, Melanie, Comfort, and Witney were the All Stars for this episode.

The bottom four was Jenna, Makensie, Nico, and Tucker (who was only there by default). There were no solos last night and looking back on it not sure if that was the right thing to do, but in the end Nico and Makensie were the two to say goodbye.

Since the partners were split up I figured I would rank the girls and guys separately.

Girls

Jasmine: Marko joined here for this fun dance to one of the songs of the summer. Jasmine gets the top spot cause she seemed to outshine her all-star partner; it was hard to take your eyes off her. To answer Nigel’s question, he was looking at two all-stars last night.

Jenna: I still have no clue as to why I just can’t connect with Jenna but she is a great dancer. I loved Mandy’s choreography and with Neil as a partner I say this helped Jenna.

Amy: I had to watch this twice cause the first time the song threw me off. Brandon to me is the perfect disco partner with all those crazy lift and that death drop at the end that was so close to the ground. Amy rocked this number keeping the energy up threw the entire dance.

Hayley: This is a perfect example of why sometimes dancing with an all-star isn’t such a good thing. Hayley and Twitch did have the chemistry and dance well with each other. However, even though Hayley did a great job, I think may people were watching Twitch.

Makensie: Paired with Jakob, they definitely have the best feet. This actually was my favorite dance out of all the girls so needless to say I’m sad she was voted off.

Guys

Tucker: What can I say; everything about this piece was just absolutely amazing. Travis provided us with a story that both Tucker and Robert could relate to. They have both survived life threatening accidents, I would imagine it was easy for them to tap into the emotion of the dance. I haven’t really cried while watching a dance on this show but this one came close.

Aaron: It’s crazy to think that he wasn’t part of the original top 10 guys; he has proven he deserved a spot on the show. Love watching him and Kathryn dance together.

Paul: Must have be the luck of the draw that he and Witney were paired together for this cha cha. Thankfully they did not disappoint, which I figured since this is Paul’s style.

FikShun: He is by far the most improved dancer on the show. He kept up with Melanie in this sassy jazz number. I’m excited to see what he has next.

Nico: Loved this reptilian hip-hop. I thought Nico and Comfort were selling not only the character of the dance but the choreography as well. Hated to see him leave but after Tucker’s performance I figured it might happen.

So Hayley, Amy, Paul, and Fikshun make up my bottom four but will the fans agree.

Next week should be interesting since the all-stars are choreographing and dancing with the top 8. Maybe we will get to see Travis dance on the stage again, or maybe even Dmitry.

August 14, 2013 I Written By

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.

SYTYCD Season 8 Revisited: Outstanding Choreographer Nominations

With the Emmy nominations out… I decided to scour the internet to find the routines from Season 8 that the choreographers created that earned them the Emmy nominations. Based on the the routines you see below… there is a poll at the bottom where you can choose the choreographer that you’d like to see win the Emmys this year. Keep in mind that Smash also earned an Emmy nomination but since it is not SYTYCD related… I did not include them in this list.

Interesting enough we have representation for:
– Contemporary (Travis Wall / Stacey Tookey)
– Hip Hop (Christopher Scott)
– Broadway (Spencer Liff / NBC’s Smash)

No love for ballroom? Awww… =( But I digress…

First I am going to start with the homegrown SYTYCD alumni:
TRAVIS WALL: Dancing with the Stars
Episode: Season 14 – Top 8 Results Show (24 April 2012)
Style: Contemporary
Other Choreographer: Teddy Forance

Thoughts: Travis has yet to create a “mediocre” routine, then again what can be considered as a “mediocre” routine for Travis would be strong routine for other choreographers. He has really grown into his own with developing his skill set and moving outside of the box, going from choreographing partners on SYTYCD and smaller groups to the larger scale routines as show on DWTS last season. Adding in the fly system so that one of the dancers is floating on air just adds more to the routine as opposed to being a gimmick.

Also, it is always nice to sift through the dancers and play “are they from So You Think You Can Dance”? For example I saw Nick Lazzarini, Jaimie Goodwin, Melanie Moore, Ryan Ramirez… the list goes on. If he keeps this up I will be very interested to see what he brings onto the plate in the Off-Broadway production of Bare that he is tapped as choreographer. Not to mention the reality based television series on cable that is rumored to revolve around his new dance company.
Read more..

July 19, 2012 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... =)

SYTYCD Tour Exclusive – Caitlynn, Ricky, Clarice, Jess, Marko, Melanie

Just Dance catches the So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Tour on the road and interviews Jess, Ricky, Caitlynn and Clarice! Find out about Marko’s injury, and watch exclusive footage of the opening number and Melanie & Marko’s spicy dance from the show on the road. Video Below 🙂

October 8, 2011 I Written By

www.youtube.com/danceon

So You Think You Can Dance Tour ATL – Interview

Hi everybody!

I just got back from interviewing the tour dancers before tonight’s show. It was a lot of fun. They’re all really funny and warm. I got hugs all around as we walked out of the interview room and I’m looking forward to watching the dances.

Marko is still injured so he won’t be dancing tonight. Still, the dancers are hopeful he’ll join them before too long.

Here’s a warning: Some of the dancers’ responses are really soft and I’m kinda loud, especially when I laugh, since the camera was closest to me. I hope I don’t kill your eardrums, but I think you’ll enjoy the dancers’ responses to your questions. Also, I was so entertained by the dancers that I forgot I was interviewing them just a little bit a few times. It was so much fun!

Please send us more as our writers should be interviewing the dancers at different cities along the tour!

AND I forgot to show y’all the picture I took! Here it is: Read more..

September 21, 2011 I Written By

my favorite season 8 dances

whew! what a finale! while we’re all still relishing last night’s amazingness, thought I’d take a minute and post my favorite dances from the season. this was a great chance to look back for me, and, for as much grief as we had with things that we felt were wrong with season 8, it still produced some pretty awesome numbers.

These aren’t in order of preference, just week they were done, mostly b/c I’m cheating and using Wikipedia 😉

Iveta’s intro (ballroom medley with Pasha)–while this wasn’t quite as steamy as last season’s intro of Cristina Santana w/ All-Stars Pasha and Anya, this was, by far, the best ballroom we had this season, mostly because it was Iveta in her style. Caitlynn and Pasha’s Argentine Tango that was replayed last night was soo beautiful and a fabulous showcase for her, but technically, this medley was just unbelievable.

Melanie and Marko’s “Turn to Stone”–on the night of the premiere, this was the only number that made me literally punch the air with excitement. I probably rewatched this number a dozen times over that week. For me, Melanie & Marko are the best pair the show has had since Katee & Joshua. They made each other better dancers, and emotionally they were just totally in sync. The slow cartwheel that Marko does over Melanie still gives me goosebumps.

Caitlynn & Mitchell’s “Turning Tables”–our first chance to see them as a couple and they did NOT disappoint. Stacey Tookey has a way of bringing emotions out of dancers that they may not have touched before. The chairs and lamps could have gotten in the way, but they really worked with them well, and the interplay between light and dark made the piece really interesting and powerful. For what Mitchell lacked in technical refinement, he made up for in pure emotion and drive, and I could tell he had a lot to prove after not being able to dance week 1. I loved this partnership.

Clarice & Jess’s “Fly Me to the Moon” foxtrot–as you all probably saw from my posts, I was NOT Jess’s biggest fan, I found in immature and annoying a lot. But NOT in this number, I loved this one. His broadway background lent itself really well to the jazzy bluesy feel of the song. Though there were quite a few points when they were in closed hold when the movements felt heavy, their musicality overshadowed that for me. It was THIS type of movement I was looking for in Ryan & Ricky’s broadway that they did a couple of weeks after this, when Jesse Tyler Ferguson said they were “hitting the ceiling” with their movements and not finishing them.

Tadd & Jordan’s “One Night Stand” hip hop–just so much fun. really great to see Tadd kind of in his element, and how NappyTabs were able to incorporate some of what Tadd does really well. I agree with the judges that it almost became too much about the story, but this was one that I just really enjoyed watching.

Caitlynn & Mitchell’s “To Love You More” contemporary–one of Mandy Moore’s best pieces this season (I’d put it just behind Neil & Melanie, but I’ll get to that later!) The trust they had in each other was innocent but so mature at the same time. They’re both so young, but they tapped into something really amazing.

Sasha & Alexander’s “That’s Life”–their best dance together, Alexander finally let it all go. He was so tight for so long, but in this one, he just felt free, and it lifted a weight from their partnership that had been there really since the beginning. This was also one of Tyce’s best pieces.

Sasha & Twitch’s “Misty Blue”–what can I say that hasn’t already been said?!

Neil & Melanie’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”–for me, Neil wins the award for most improved dancer since his season aired. He’s become a really fabulous technician as well as an even better partner. He breathes life into the moments between the movements in a way he didn’t used to when he was on the show. Melanie matched Neil step for step, and really shined in this piece. And the leap!! The trust she had in him was just amazing. This was a goose-bump inducing one for sure.

Caitlynn & Tadd’s “White Tie & Tails” foxtrot–was this the best technically? no. But there was such joy on both of their faces. Jonathan Roberts, a pro from DWTS, really does the classic ballroom dances incredibly well. He has a real sense of how to impart wisdom on the dancers in terms of how to embody the dance even if you don’t quite have everything technically sound. And stylistically, Caitlynn looked AMAZING, wow.

Kent & Sasha’s Wall contemporary–Kent is my runner-up in the “most improved since his season aired” award. The strength that he has gained, both physically and emotionally since last summer is absolutely astounding. He would NOT have been able to pull of that routine the way he did this season last summer. And his strength helped Sasha’s strength and vulnerability really emerge.

Tadd & Melanie’s “A Chorus Line/Black Swan”-esque broadway–though I really liked Chris & Ashley’s “Please Mr. Jailer,” THIS is the broadway I would have rather seen last night. I know why they didn’t repeat it, but this was the best broadway of the season, by far. Nothing felt out of place, from the music to the camera work to the lighting to the dancing. It was so sexy but so mean at the same time, I know that sounds weird. For me, this was Tadd’s best dance other than the vulture dance with Jordan.

Lauren & Marko’s contemporary from finale night–this was my favorite dance from the finale. It started with the music; the fact that the music didn’t have big sweeping crescendos allowed the dancing to be the most important thing on the stage. The dancers could just dance, the music wasn’t ruling the way they moved, THEY ruled the way they moved in their relationship on stage together. Loved it loved it loved it. Tessandra hit the ball out of the park with this one.

so there’s my list! what do you guys think? any that I missed?

August 13, 2011 I Written By