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Witney Carson & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp Star in New Dance Movie

Had it not been for Witney instagraming a photo from the premier of her movie “Dancin it’s On” I may not have know about it. The movie also stars fellow Season 9 SYTYCD alum and winner, Chehon Wespi-Tschopp. Let’s not forget that Witney and Chehon were also partner’s on Season 9, so the chemistry was already established before the movie. The plot line of the movie seems typical of a dance movie but as a fan of dance I’ll most likely check it out. The Movie hits theaters on October 30th. While Witney and Chehon are the stars, there are a few other SYTYCD alum in the film, Comfort Fedoke (Season 4), Tadd Gadduang (Season 8), Russell Ferguson (Season 6 winner), and Brandon Bryant (Season 5).

Thanks to my babe @dance11brooklyn for supporting at my premiere of Dancin' It's On! In theaters Oct. 30th ????????

A photo posted by Witney Carson (@witneycarson) on

October 24, 2015 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.

Open Letter to SYTYCD Producers: How to Fix SYTYCD

Dear SYTYCD Producers,

Here at PureSYTYCD, we’ve had several conversations lately about why ratings, Internet traffic and overall enthusiasm and discussion have been sinking season by season. Margaret says it can be traced to the infamous Fall season, Season 6, when our favorite show started changing swiftly and drastically. While some of the changes have been really amazing (All-Stars), some of them have been just dreadful (yes, I’m going to say it once again – the stage).

So Fox, Nigel, here are OUR pointers for how to fix the show (and readers, please, please add your own in the comments or tell us how you feel about ours and add your voice to the open letter).

1. Keep rotating judges and guest judges – just rotate Nigel right off the panel. We loved the guest judges this season (with the notable exceptions of Carmen Electra and Katie Holmes), especially the fact that we got a rotation of our favorite choreographers on the panel. We’ve learned that static judges are annoying, no matter who they are. Whether it was Nigel, Mary, Mia or Adam, we got tired of hearing the same voices when we already knew what they were going to say. Jean-Marc is a good (pervy) example of this on the Canadian show. However, Nigel almost never rotates out,  so we’re extra tired of him. If you need guest judges to replace him, we’ll make ourselves available. Hey, why not? Fans of the show are good judges, considering the best of the celebrity guest judges were the ones who were clearly fans.

2. Speaking of Nigel, let’s talk about his producing style. While we can’t say we’ve ever produced a show and we can only imagine the numerous concerns involved, we get a little annoyed by Nigel’s heavy-handed pulling-the-puppet-strings style. While we admire that he’s always willing to try new things and some of those new things have really been excellent, the best producing is the kind that doesn’t draw attention to itself. Nigel keeps insisting on shoving the dancers and the show into this perfectly produced package. (Can we talk about how the judges kept the elimination after Top 10 and it was never acknowledged on the show? And how the girls were “beasts” slaying the boys THE WHOLE SEASON, probably to compensate for the Girl Slaughter of Season 7?) Melanie got dubbed America’s Favorite Dancer (by the judges) in the auditions and was never truly challenged or critiqued (by the judges) during the whole season. It could’ve cost Melanie the win she totally deserved if she hadn’t been so adorable and talented. We’re getting tired of Nigel deciding who’s going to win and then trying to make it so. Is it America’s Favorite Dancer or is it Nigel’s Favorite Dancer? Guess which show we’re not going to watch next season?

So how do we fix this, you might ask? John suggests that we need more charismatic dancers who are really good in one style and have to fight to conquer other styles (like Ivan and Russell, who won his season). Marianya says she misses seeing the dancers really challenged at the beginning of the show. Fans of SYTYCD love watching the unexpected partnership and the unexpected dancer struggle and then achieve, making themselves our favorites in the process.

Margaret: Part of what makes those first few weeks so interesting, besides watching partnerships that we really hook into (Melanie & Marko) is wondering how other dancers would work together. If Kayla & Max/Ashley & Kupono hadn’t been in the bottom during week 2 of season 5, Max & Ashley may not have been eliminated at the same time and we wouldn’t have gotten to see the surprisingly great partnership of Kayla & Kupono—which means we wouldn’t have gotten “Addiction” and it’s rated as one of the best numbers the show has ever had, rightly so.

So one way to fix this would be to go back to SYTYCD’s roots. We’ve had some of the most technically gifted dancers the last three seasons and sometimes we could hardly bring ourselves to care because while there was nothing “wrong” with a dancer or a routine, we just couldn’t get excited. This might mean more bad routines and bad dancing but will make us so grateful again for the truly transcendent moments. Which brings us to…

3. We need diversity in dance styles and choreographers. Doreana Sanchez is not the only person choreographing disco routines and Nakul dev Mahajan is not the only Bollywood choreographer. Go to Canada if you don’t believe me. What would happen if there were only one contemporary routine on any given show or maybe only one contemporary routine every few weeks? What if we HAD to depend on Afro Jazz, House, all of the Ballroom styles, Bollywood, Pas de Deux , etc. to fill in the episode?

And for diversity, we don’t even have to look any further than the other SYTYCD franchises. Canada and UK have phenomenal choreographers (and dancers!), as did Australia. Those are just the English-speaking franchises. What wonderful choreographers could we find if the producers imported from the Ukraine SYTYCD or the Turkish or Polish versions?

4. And speaking of one big happy family, why not create another Fall show, but make it different, perhaps a shorter super competition? What if we had SYTYCD SuperStars and all of the previous contestants from ALL of the franchises were eligible to come back and compete for the “World’s Favorite Dancer” title? Maybe this show is 2 episodes a week for only 4 weeks, just to make it special and so that it might not overlap with the World Series again? Dancers featured on SYTYCD don’t have a potential “product” like American Idol singers do when they release a cd, so anytime the producers can create a vehicle for these dancers that doesn’t overshadow the current cast, they’re helping create more of a career and presence for the dancers. The great thing about this idea is that it totally supports this next point…

5. Ditch the musical guests. Or ditch about 90% of them. Keep the 10% that are willing to use SYTYCD dancers for backup dancers (including the current cast! didn’t that happen one season?). Maybe the musical performances bring in money, or maybe you producers only think they do. The reality is, they usually suck and I’m only watching the dancers anyway. It’s like, on Dancing with the Stars, the ONLY reason I watch the musical performances is to catch the dancing that happens at the same time. I would MUCH RATHER see dance performances. It’d be a good time to show us alumni dancers re-dancing their iconic numbers as much more evolved dancers (think Kent and LoFro doing the prom number – it was only 8 months later and they’d already become such different dancers). Bring in performers from all the other SYTYCD franchises, like you did with UK’s recent winner Matt Flint. Pairing him with the all-too-soon-eliminated Nick and Jess in a tap routine that THEY choreographed? BRILLIANT. Easily one of the highlights of not just the finale, but of the season. Do it more. That’s the key to re-building your audience: when you do something we like, do it more. When you do something we don’t like, stop doing it.

6. Which means, bring back the smaller and more intimate stage. Season 8’s stage (or the camera work and lack of distracting backlights) was better than the Seasons 6 and 7 monstrosity, but only by a bit. Watching SYTYCD Canada reminds me of how amazing the original stage is and you really need to listen to us and bring it back. It was a big part of why we fell in love with the show and the Seasons 1-5 dancers. Do you know why? We were closer to them. There were more physical possibilities for the choreographers when it came to moving the dancers around the stage because it wasn’t a giant, uniform thing. When it comes down to it, the stage represents the entire SYTYCD producers vs SYTYCD audience disagreement. With this big uber stage (since S6), you are focusing on the package, the spectacle. The more intimate circle stage that we love and still mourn focuses on the dancers.

Margaret: I miss my stairs! There was something about the old stage and how it was round that made the dances feel like stories, not performances for an audience. We were able to get more closeups, feel the emotions, and the set was about enhancing the dancing, not enhancing the spectacle. My best example came from, oddly, the guy I think used the stage the best during his time with SYTYCD, Wade. With “Ruby Blue,” Brandon and Janette entered the story by popping up from behind a wall and coming down the stairs, and their ability to use the stage in that entrance played a major role in the believability of the movements. But, in Season 6, with the “inside Van Goh’s head” piece Wade did for Peter and Pauline, the ridiculous fractured painting that rotated and flipped on the projecting screen was super distracting and took away from what was actually a really well-danced piece, especially from Peter. It was a very cool routine and they danced it really well, but their technical success was overshadowed by the “overdoneness” of the set.

7. Instead of spending the money on the bigger stage and a lot of flash, we would rather that you spend the money to figure out how to release SYTYCD DVDs so we can re-watch our favorite seasons without resorting to YouTube and other means. There is a market for it, so figure it out. Whenever you focus on the dancers–current, alumni, International franchise dancers, whatever–you can’t go wrong with us. That’s the simple fact at the heart of the matter.

And now that we’ve critiqued you quite a lot, here’s a list of what we like and want you to keep.

1. The All-Stars – having them arrive at the Top 10 is the perfect marriage. Keep it up. Only, we want to see them re-dance their iconic routines and you missed a lot of opportunities to do this during Season 8. Fix that.

Margaret: Not only does this give us the chance to see dancers we love again, but use this as a way to plug their success. Allison & Ivan were All-Stars in the same week, how were they not asked to dance together?! Same with Chelsie & Mark! Those are two of the most successful partnerships, and some of the best personalities, the show has ever had, be proud of that, they are SYTYCD success to the highest degree.

2. The Meet the Top 20 performance – sheer genius. It’s been a highlight of each season you’ve done it. Especially since we get to see the dancers twice on the live show before anyone’s eliminated. Keep that.

3. We like the dancers you pick! We just want you to cut back on the contemporary/jazz and pick some dancers with different backgrounds. We want them to be challenged more and truly judged, all of them and fairly. And clearly they’re talented, because they’re going on to dance in movies, commercials, music videos, music tours, Broadway shows, Glee and DWTS.

Margaret: We also love underdogs, they’re fun to root for. Give us more Tads, Russells, Dominics, Jeanines, Evans, Nicks, even Lauren Froderman floundered her 1st week and was in danger of going home!

4. Cat is the one thing most of us can agree on. She smooths over the awkward moments and she uses her great sense of humor to keep things rolling. I love it when she gets to pick dances for the finale show.

Remember, no matter what, we love the show. We only want to like it again.

Sincerely (and xoxo),

SYTYCD Fans/PureSYTYCD writers

P.S. Sorry this is a little long – clearly we had a lot to say.

September 6, 2011 I Written By

SYTYCD Season 7 Tour-Part 2

So after the show on Monday night I went up and spoke to Kathryn’s family and Megan (one of her dance teachers and someone I used to dance with). I told them that I had supported her during her season on this site and still do. Then her dad asked me if I had gotten a backstage pass. I said no, so he grabbed one from his wife and handed it to me. I think there might have been 50 to 75 people that received a backstage pass. Basically this meant we were able to meet the dancers before those that were waiting outside behind the barrier. We were all gathered in one section of seats in the arena to wait before going the meet and greet area. Yes like the people outside we had to wait, just not as long. So the reason you have to hurry and wait is that the dancers take showers and then get notes about the show from the director. I waited about thirty minutes to go back to the meet and greet area. Once were there we spread out in the room, that way the dancers could just walk around the room. Kathryn was the third dancer that entered the room and went straight towards her friends and family. So I decide to go meet some of the other dancers first. I’ll post in the order that I met them. 

Billy: I was greeted with a warm smile and a big hug. I told him how happy I was to see him come back this season after having to drop out the season before. 

Ashley: I read many comments on here and other sites that many wanted Ashley to come back next season. As I expected she wanted to go on tour instead of going through the audition process again. I can’t say I blame her I would have done the same thing. 

Courtney: I ended up talking to her with Kathryn’s dance teacher, about “Two Steps Away”. Courtney said she had to walk that one off after she watched it…safe to say she was a Kathryn fan.

 Russell: Is a very down to earth person and he does have a certain charm about him. I was so die hard pulling for Kathryn during season six that Russell just flew under the radar. I have to say watching him Krump live is as Lil C would say very bucc.

 Kathryn: She saw me before I even tried to get her attention and next thing I knew I was in a big hug. I wasn’t sure if she would recognize me because I was off at college by the time she really started dancing in the companies of our dance studio. Though I often stopped by the studio to visit and take some classes during the summer. It a cool thing to have a very large extended dance family and even better to see someone you know succeed in dance world. 

Jose: He was more quiet and reserved than what I had expected. I would have missed him completely if he hadn’t walked by me.

 Dominic: The stage persona had left but he is still very personable. You can tell that he is very grateful for all the opportunities he’s had. He was my brother’s favorite all star. Also the interview in the program is very funny. 

Allison: She is missing her little girl while she is on tour. I was listening to her when she was talking to someone else and I didn’t realize that she doesn’t like to on the stage talking. It makes her nervous…I can so relate to that. We did talk a little about Travis too, and they did know each other before the show.

 Ade: Loved meeting him the year before and still loved meeting him again. I told him how much I enjoyed watching him this season and that I wish he had done more contemporary on his season…he was like “I know right”.

 Robert: My favorite and yes I told him that too. I said that when it got down the three of them I voted for all three and thought Kent was going to win. To my surprise he agreed with me. Also passed along that after they danced “Fix You” there was a lady in the front row crying. So if that dance meant anything to you tell him, he really like to hear about it. On a side note, he is a great hugger.

 AdeChike: I didn’t get a chance to talk to him much but he does have a good attitude about him. He did say he would have gone by Ade on the show had all star Ade not been on the show.

 Laruen: I just love her. We talked about the wardrobe malfunction she had when dancing with Neil. I learned it is a common thing with her. “Clothes just don’t like to stay on me, but I couldn’t say that on tv, thank God for boob tape.”

 Kent: He stayed busy the entire time, so I really only had time to say hi and get a picture. Though he is exactly how you think he would be. I also loved the banter between him and Courtney during the show.

   

   

September 30, 2010 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 7 Tour-Part One

Monday night is was my turn to see the SYTYCD Season 7 tour. The weather in Atlanta that day wasn’t that great. It rained on and off on the way up and of course poured rain before I decided to head into the arena. Thankfully I was prepared and didn’t get too wet. So I purchased my program and made my way to my seat. I had great seat, third row center on the floor. I actually ended up sitting two rows in front of Kathryn’s family.

Finally it was time to the show to start and once the intro’s and the screen starts to go up the excitement in the atmosphere is contagious. During the opening number pay close attention to the screens to see how they included Alex into the number. If you can’t wait go back to Emilie’s post about tour. “My Chick Bad” was up next, a duel between two winners, Lauren and Russell. Russell did a great job stepping into Twitch’s place. There were three other dances where one of the original dancers was replaced by another dancer. Ade pinch hit for Neil in “Shoeless Joe”. Ade did a great job but when it comes to Broadway I’d rather watch Neil dance. Lauren took Comfort’s place in “Fallin” dancing the powerful hip hop with AdeChike. Robert joined Kent on stage for “How It Ends”. I have to agree with Emilie, I didn’t miss Neil as much this time. Robert is an amazing dancer so he did a fantastic job.

The b-boy number, like Emilie said is better live, but Dominic in my opinion still comes out on top. At the end of every dance the dancer take a moment to bow Jose still had the sword in hand as he made his way to the front of the stage. So Jose looks back and motions for Dom to join him, so Dom picks up the rock and stands beside Jose. What really made it funny, in my opinion, was the fact that ROCK was written on the bottom of the rock. The rock does reappear when Dom and Ade are introducing a number. Okay back to the b-boys add Russell into the mix and you get one of the new numbers created just for the tour. I loved this number, it was fun and the guys got to do their thing. Jose dance to some old school music which was fun. Then it was Dom’s turn and his music of choice was “Baby” by Justin Bieber. As you can imagine the song alone enticed some screams and of course the goofball Dom is played into it. If you are going to the tour this is one dance I suggest you youtube.

I was happy to find out that “Transform Ya” Kathryn and Russell’s number from their season made it into the show. I did manage to get video of two of the numbers “Heaven on Earth” featuring Kathryn and Robert and “Mad World” featuring Billy and Ade. “Mad World” was my personal favorite dance of this season. Also I’m glad we got to go back to prom with Lauren and Kent, and like Emilie said there is a nice surprise at the end of that dance. I made the mistake of reading the program while waiting for the show to start so I figured it out. Let’s just say they go into another dance.

Many of the new numbers were the group dances. One choreographed by Sonya, a Broadway one, and a Bollywood one that closed the first act. Mia’s “Everything She Does is Magic” opened the second act, Lauren and all of the boys. My personal favorite of the night was the group disco to “When Love Takes Over”. It was just so much fun to watch, not to mention seeing all the tricks up close was cool too. The dancers looked like they were having fun. To end the show they brought back a tradition that also ended the show for seasons 2-4. This tradition is to end the show with “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. It never gets old in my opinion. Okay I’m done for now but part two the meet and greet will be posted soon, along with some of my pictures.

September 29, 2010 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 2010 Tour – New Orleans

Hi y’all.

So, my mom and I attended the 2010 SYTYCD Tour in New Orleans last night. This is our second year – last year, we saw the show in Duluth, with Amanda. This year, you’ll get write-ups on two different cities from us.

If you haven’t bought your tickets to the SYTYCD tour, there are still SYTYCD tour tickets available on Ticketmaster but many shows are selling out so go buy them now.

There will be some tour spoilers below, so stop reading if knowing ahead of time will bother you. 🙂

SPOILER…

First of all, we were the first date on the tour and each show is always a little different, so I don’t know what they’ll change up.

We were on the side of the stage, so the girls started shrieking whenever they caught even a glimpse of the dancers peeking out from the curtain. They kept calling Kent’s name, so I was pretty sure that he hasn’t lost any fans since the finale. 🙂

The opening was pretty stellar, all intense music and spastic lights, but honestly, I was just so glad to see all those dancers again that I think I would’ve enjoyed them reading a phone book on stage. They flashed the names of the dancers on the big center screen and then lifted to reveal the dancers standing in a line.

Just to give you an idea scope of the intensity of last night’s opening and the phenomenal New Orleans audience, check this out:

I think one of the most interesting things about the tour was seeing who replaced the original dancers who weren’t dancing. For instance, the first dance was My Chick Bad with Russell stepping in for Twitch and he did a great job with Lauren. When Ade stepped in for Neil in the baseball Broadway routine, I have to admit that as much as I loooove Ade, I missed Neil. Though, I didn’t miss Neil nearly as much as I thought I would when Robert replaced him in the Travis Wall betrayal routine with Kent. Kent and Robert danced the hell out of that and Robert really made it his own. It’s a tough thing to make me forget about Neil, but I was totally absorbed in the routine.

They showed the “Outta Your Mind” on the big screen and I thought it was a good solution. Obviously, they had to have it but they couldn’t just re-cast the two dancers. As they proved when they had Ellen dance the tribute with Twitch.

There always seems to be a running joke, or at least there was last year (Russian folk, anyone?) and this year, it was the rock used in the King Arthur-themed Dominic-Jose piece. Even though I enjoyed it better live, I still object to Dom bowing to Jose. No way Jose dominated, sorry. Dom = dominate. 🙂 Anyway, I won’t tell you how the rock became the running joke – you’ll just have to see for yourself.

The last thing I’ll mention about the performance is that there’s a surprise in the second half involving Lauren and Kent and that infamous prom dance. It’s a really cool surprise and it ended the show. So, look for it when you check out the tour.

Oh, I guess it’s worth mentioning that some of the dancers were naturally a little more natural while introducing the other performances. Kent and Robert, for instance, didn’t really sound different at all from their regular selves, while some of the dancers (who shall remain nameless) were cute but pretty unnatural while speaking on the sidelines. I think it’s an invaluable part of their process – learning public speaking. 🙂

It’s a great show. There are already videos up on YouTube (better than mine) and you can see some great photos taken by someone who clearly had a better seat than me.

And, as we did last year, my mom and I waited to meet all the dancers after the show. And waited. And waited. We waited about two hours. It was not my favorite part, especially because they kept telling us it was going to be 45 minutes and then 45 minutes would pass and then they’d say 45 minutes again. But, while we were waiting, we befriended all the folks in line around us. And I caught these priceless homemade shirts.

Kent take me to Wapokenta

Robert you make Heaven a place on Earth

I want to lay Ade

And meeting the dancers MORE than made up for the two hours’ wait. It was midnight and it was still hot and we were all exhausted. But, they were ALL so grateful we came to see them, that we waited to meet them. They were humble and sweet and so wonderful. They spent time with each and every person, gave hugs and took pictures and signed everything put in front of them. And I got pictures with all of them. Of course, I cropped myself out of them as best I could and they were taken on my cell phone, but check out the pictures below.

Some quick notes of introduction:
-These photos are in the order that I met the dancers.
-Even though he acted like he remembered my mom and me, I’m not sure Ade possibly could, but I love him for faking it. 🙂 He gives the best hugs.
-Kathryn asked me where I was sitting and seemed to recognize me. I told her I was waaaay up on the side, but that I wrote for this site, along with her former studio-mate Amanda. She spent a good amount of time with us and had to help me find her picture in the book for her to sign cause I was so tired. Lol
-Robert is lovely. He also spent a lot of time with us and also with everybody I saw him talking to. That kid is going far.
-I told Ashley how upset I was that she had to withdraw from the competition and she seemed really touched. I think it’s really cool of her to go on tour with her Season 7 peeps rather than go for another season next year, though I’ll miss seeing her on t.v.
-AdeChike is really funny and personable. He had no trouble connecting with everybody in line and seemed to really enjoy all the fans.

Courtney

Billy

Ade

Allison

Kathryn

Lauren

Robert

Jose

Dom

AdeChike

Ashley

Russell

Kent

September 20, 2010 I Written By

Let The Season 7 Tour Begin

The dancers of season 7 officially kick off their tour in New Orleans tomorrow night to a sold out crowd (Although you can still buy SYTYCD tour tickets in other cities). Paying attention to the tweets of the dancers, I say they are anxious to get the tour started. Unfortunatley I have to wait till the 27th to see the show but I can’t complain too much because I have third row seats. As always I am so looking forward to the show. I haven’t missed a tour show since they started touring in season two. So I got to thinking about how many of our readers will be going to tour for the first time, and trust me you will enjoy the show. This time I have a feeling we will see more new dances compared to other tours. Mainly because they have to work in Russell into the tour but still should see many of our favorite routines. I can’t wait to see if some of my favorite dances make it into the show but I am also looking forward to the skits. Though I don’t think they can top the Russian skit from season five (if you don’t know what I am talking about surf youtube for it). Anyways I thought I would share some info for those who haven’t been to a tour.

First make sure if you want any tour mechandise get it before the show starts or during the intermission so you can get a good spot for the meet and greet after the show. I recomend the program, it has great pictures and short Q&A with each dancer. Second you are allowed to have a small camera(non professional) but you can’t use the flash. The flash can affect the dancers while they are dancing. Thrid bring extra batteries just in case, I learned that lesson during the season four tour. I almost didn’t get a picture with Mark because of that but thankfully I was able to save up just enough and caught up to Mark and he gladly posed for one with me. Lastly if you stay for the meet and greet know that they will take their time and make sure they get meet all of their fans.

Here are some of my pictures with some of my favorite dancers.

 

 

 

Enjoy the show a I will post my review and pics soon.

September 18, 2010 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.

Behind the Scenes with LoFro

I don’t know how many of our readers are planning on going to the Tour for Season 7 but I’ve got my ticket (3rd row, yay!) and I’m excited. Now that the season 7 contestants are allowed to tweet, they gives us a little insite on what they are doing to prepare for tour. This seasons winner Lauren is tweeting a little something extra for us fans. Behind the scenes video. So for those of you not on twitter I thought I’d share one of her videos and the link to youtube page.

I decided to share the video of Robert and Ashley “Bad Dancing”.  Pay close attention in the background you will see Russell, Dominic, and Jose working on a hip hop number or at least thats what it seems to me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/laurenfrodie

August 26, 2010 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 7 Finale Part 2 Music

Well…on the discussion post, I said that I might have to flip back and forth between the SYTYCD finale and the first Saints pre-season game. Well, the good news is that I won’t have to flip back and forth. The bad news is that my local FOX channel has pre-empted the SYTYCD finale in order to show the first Saints pre-season game. I won’t be able to see the show till 10:30 local time.

You have to understand that little else matters in New Orleans during football season. We love our Saints. Though, I’m a little ticked off with them at the moment.

My mom lives in Atlanta, so she’s gonna help me out with the music. If you can see the show and would like to help me, please do. 🙂

Top 3 Group Routine:
Choreographer: Christopher Scott from LXD
Song: My mom says it was Nation Lanier’s “Ra,” but I can’t find them on iTunes, so help me out if we got it wrong. Ha! Marianya just said it’s NATHAN Lanier’s “Ra,” which isn’t on iTunes, so try is “Invisible Children Theme” – Invisible instead. I know it’s not the same, but enjoy anyway. 🙂

Kenny Ortega’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo” from Damn Yankees – Shoeless

Nigel’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Billy Bell
All-Star: Ade Obayami
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Michael Andrews ft. Gary Jules’s “Mad World” – Mad

Professional Performance:
Dancer: Quest Crew!!!
Song: Caravan Palace’s “Suzy” – Suzy

Mia’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Adechike Torbert
All-Star: Comfort Fedoke
Style: Lyrical Hip-hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Alicia Keys’ “Fallin'” – Fallin'

The crazy love and smooching montage was to “Love.” I’m not quite sure who the singer is, but maybe Keyshia Cole Love. Our commenter Natasha pointed out that it’s L-O-V-E by Joss Stone – L-O-V-E

Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Cha Cha
Choreographer: Jean Marc and France Genereux
Song: 3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha’s “My First Kiss” – My, which was on my predicted music list.

Tyce’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Basement Jaxx ft. Kelis, Meleka and Chipmunk’s “Scars” – Scars

Dance Day Recap:
Music: Flo Rida ft. David Guetta’s “Club Can’t Handle Me” – Club

Guest Performers:
Tappers: Luke Spring and the Manzari Brothers

Nigel’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Pasha Kovalev
Style: Tango
Choreographer: Miriam and Leonardo
Song: Astor Piazolla’s “Oblivion” – Oblivion

Adam’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Robert Roldan
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Travis Wall
Choreographer: Contemporary
Song: Coldplay’s “Fix You” – Fix

Professional Performance:
Dancers: Season 6 winner Russell Ferguson and Lil C
Song: Buckmouth’s “Hazardous” – which I haven’t found on iTunes yet

Mary Murphy’s Chosen Dance
Dancer: Jose Ruiz
All-Star: Dominic Sandoval
Style: Breakdancing
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: District 78’s “Battle for the Beat” – Battle

Professional Performance:
Dancers: SYTYCD UK Season 1 winner Charlie Bruce and Neil Haskell
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Celine Dion’s “I Surrender” – I
She and Drew danced this on SYTYCD UK, but I loved seeing her dance it with Neil, I have to say.

3rd Place goes to: Robert
Song: The Undeserving’s “Something to Hope For” – Something

Adam’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Lauren Froderman
All-Star: Twitch Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Nappytabs
Song: Ludacris and Nicki Minaj’s “My Chick Bad” – My

Cat’s Chosen Dance: (?)
Dancer: Alex Wong
All-Star: Allison Holker
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” – Jeff Buckley - Grace - Hallelujah

Stacey’s Chosen Dance:
Dancers: Billy Bell and Robert Roldan
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul dev Mahajan
Song: “Ganesh” – Ganesh from “Bombay Dreams”

Mia’s Chosen Dance:
Dancer: Kent Boyd
All-Star: Neil Haskell
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: DeVotchka’s “How It Ends” – How

Musical Performance: Black Gold with Season 7’s elimination song “Shine” – Shine

Check out this cute video of them rehearsing for the show:

Everybody’s Chosen Dance:
All-Stars: Twitch Boss and Ellen Degeneres
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: NappyTabs
Song: Lil Jon ft. LM*AO’s “Outta Your Mind” – Crunk

August 12, 2010 I Written By

SYTYCD Alum in Black Eyed Peas Video

PureSYTYCD commenter Ben (thanks, dude!) spotted a distinctive SYTYCD alumni and wrote us:

At least ONE SYTYCD dancer in the new video for The Black Eyed Peas’ Double A-Side release, “Imma Be”/”Rock That Body”. Nathan sighting in the second half, wearing one of his hats.

Ben, you’re right! Nathan is clearly visible at 6:26 and at several parts after that. I thought I saw Russell a few times (what do y’all think?). Can anybody identify any of the other dancers, especially the girls? This is a great remix video, very fun and it was cool to see Nathan and other (?) SYTYCD alumni strutting their stuff.

I wonder if the Black Eyed Peas were into using SYTYCD alumni after meeting some of the dancers when they performed on the show.

Thanks again for writing us, Ben. Here’s the video, y’all:

February 16, 2010 I Written By

Emilie’s Top Routines From Season 6

This was hard! There were a lot of routines that were equally good in my mind, so I had to work hard to limit myself to a Top 10. I gave myself 5 extra routines for group numbers that rocked – we had a lot of amazing group work this season, especially when you factor in the Meet the Top 20 episode. I did not consider “fairness” or equal distribution here. So I think you’ll see a lot of the same dancers, which didn’t surprise me, personally.

Paired Routines

1. “Machine Gun” Ellenore/Legacy Travis Wall

2. “Tore My Heart” Ellenore/Jakob Sonya Tayeh

3. “At This Moment” Kathryn/Jakob Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden

4. “Little Green Bag” Pauline/Peter Wade & Amanda Robson

5. “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” Ellenore/Ryan Travis Wall

6. “2 Steps Away” Kathryn/Legacy Stacey Tookey

7. “Frog Dance” Noelle/Russell Sean Cheesman

8. “Put Your Hands on Me” Kathryn/Ryan Jason Gilkison

9. “Violentango” Ellenore/Ryan Miriam and Leonardo

10. “Put Your Hands On me” Kathryn/Ryan Jason Gilkison

Honorable Mentions (alllllmooooosssst): Kathryn/Legacy’s paso doble, Noelle/Russell’s “A Case of You” contemporary, Noelle/Ryan “Give It To Me Right” hip hop, Mollee/Jakob’s “Ordinary Day” waltz, Ellenore/Jakob “Gotcha” Broadway, Ashleigh/Jakob “Whatcha Say” hip hop, Ariana/Peter’s “Black and Gold” hip hop, Bianca/Victor’s “Wasted Time” contemporary, Ellenore/Russell paso doble, Kathryn/Russell hip hop (both finale).

Group Routines

1. Top 20 “Comanche” Wade & Amanda Robson

2. Top 12 “What’s a Girl to Do” Nappytabs

3. Top 14 “Aha!” Wade & Amanda Robson

4. Top 16 “Warrior” Dave Scott

5. Ariana, Channing, Jakob and Nathan “Cryin'” contemporary Tyce Diorio

These were my standouts, the routines I’d expect on a tour (with the exception of those who didn’t make the Top 10). What were yours?

December 22, 2009 I Written By