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SYTYCD Season 9 Tour

This past weekend I went to see the Season 9 tour in Columbia, South Carolina and as the show did not disappoint. Much like Season 8 the dances seemed to flow effortlessly from dance to dance with a short welcome to the show from Eliana and Chehon. I hadn’t planned on writing about the show but thanks to Will and a moment of accidental hilarity, I need to share the story, but I’ll get to that a little later. First I just want to share few thoughts about the show.

I can’t say I really remember too much about the season and normally before the show I usually refresh my memory by watching a few videos on YouTube, but without the internet at my apartment I couldn’t do that this time around. So for me there wasn’t too much I was missing except maybe a few more duet numbers with Cyrus. I will say this it is fun to see the animation art from in person. I found myself especially in the group numbers watching Matthew, Cole, Whitney, Eliana, and Chehon, all for different reasons of course. Speaking of group numbers I loved them all and my favorite was the Cha Cha/Disco fusion that closed the first half of the show. During the Broadway portion of the show there was a certain prop on the stage I was excited to see, the pole. “When You’re Good to Mama” was a favorite of mine this season and I was excited that they turned it into a fun group number for all of the girls to perform. Truthfully Eliana’s moves at the end were just amazing.

This season we got to see many of Mia Michael’s works recreated, and I’m not really sure why but I didn’t expect to see them in the tour show but thankfully I was wrong. Hometown Glory, the Bench, Addiction, and Coupe Island Blues (the butt dance) were the chosen ones. I loved watching Cole get so into the character (for every dance he did) he’s kind of scary when he gets so serious. Coupe Island Blues…oh I so wish I had filmed it but it probably would have been too shaky from me laughing so hard. Somewhere in the beginning Will had an interesting wardrobe malfunction, his pants came undone and well it became fun to watch him trying to deal with it because there was no time for him to refasten them. I’ll say this he did an amazing job keeping them up and the audience only got a small peek at the underwear which had us giggling the entire time, I don’t know how Amelia kept and straight face. Also with Will being the person he is couldn’t help but acknowledge it on stage during the dance, I could barely hear what he said but it was something like I loosing my pants.

Closing out the show started out with the East Coast hip hop that was originally done by Whitney and Twitch. I would have thought Cyrus would have taken Twitch’s place but it was George (surprisingly good) but Cyrus did join them about halfway through the dance. By the time they got to the “waiting on the bus part” the rest of the cast joined them on the stage and went into the finale of the show which did include some Gangnam Style moves.

Overall I had a great time at the show even if they have downsized the size of the venues. Here is the link to my http://www.youtube.com/user/dancestar516  YouTube page and see some of the video I have taken from this season and a few other seasons as well. Also continue to check back the uploading process is  a little slow.

Also I always get the tour program which comes with a fun Q&A so if there is enough request for it I will type them up for which dancers you want from the top 10 (Matthew and Amelia don’t have one.)

 

December 6, 2012 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.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top Four Power Rankings

Since I am technically overseas and this is the first time I have been able to sit at a computer to type out the Power Rankings for the Top Four… please bear with me. I hope that when the Top Four perform it will be a lot better… but that is also up in the air.

Now that we know whom the Top Four is going to be… let me go through who I believe the Top Guy and Top Girl is going to be based on their performances thus far and what I would love to see from them in the upcoming penultimate episode of Season 9.

THE GUYS
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
From his introduction, Cyrus was introduced to the audience as the “dancer that could”. As someone whose genre is so unique that it seemed virtually impossible for him to adapt to anything else, the choreographers week after week found ways to hide his faults and flaws in dancing whle emphasizing the strengths of his dancing and more importantly his newly developed partnering skills. What Cyrus brings to the table is a love, passion and desire to learn other dance styles all the while evolving his individual style in the process.

He is not without his struggles. Cyrus has time and again struggled in picking up the choreography in other dance styles while at the same time has learned adapt his individual strength and focus it into partnering. Another positive for the enigma known as Cyrus is his charisma and simple joy of just dancing on stage… one would hope that would never change. At the same time, I wouldn’t consider Cyrus “the whole package” he is still rather weak on the dance technical front, but dammit… I could see the allure that is Cyrus if only for his smile.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Chehon is at the opposite side of the spectrum: He is technically proficient in any and all dance styles. He has learned how to loosen up and let go and learned to get down and feel the steps (hip hop with Lauren anyone?) and bit by bit he has shown pieces of his personality. But it was a battle to get to that point. Chehon was reserved and quiet when it came to his personality.

However there was something about Chehon that just kept him on the stage, partially the judges loved him, partially the audience was drawn to him. No matter the reason, the answer is clear, Chehon is someone special. He may not have the over flowing and abundant sense of charisma that flows out of his being like Cyrus but undeniably there is something about him that you simply cannot ignore.

Over the past several weeks, Chehon’s biggest issue wasn’t his dancing prowess but being able to simply let go and just dance. He struggled early on with the Latin and hip hop styles but over time he started to feel more and more comfortable in his skin to be able to simply enjoy the dance. There have been a lot of cases / situations where the stronger technical dancer has been overlooked in favor for one whose charisma and personality is infectious, here is hoping that this is not the case this time around.

THE GIRLS
Eliana Girard
This is another very strong technical dancer who also possess the charisma enough to be the total package. In fact one would go so far as to say that she is the total package. However the primary issue here is that in aiding her partner in the first few weeks of the season she may have suffered in revealing what she is capable of to the audience.

Very much the dark horse between the two girls she has shown time and time Gain via her technical ability that she has what it takes to come out on top. However, something about her fell flat to early in the competition that landed her in danger of elimination. Eventually she found her stride and it would appear that the voting public is warming up to…

Whatever the reason, for me personally, she appears to be the full package as long as she continues his upward trend. To me her struggles weren’t so much personality or charisma but rather she was working hard to help her partner look good and as thus her own image suffered to an extent, but now as an individual she is able to not only brighten but shine in the glow of the self.

Tiffany Maher
I will be the first to admit that I was not sold on Tiffany from day one, there was something about her that didn’t appeal to me and even then I did not see how she appealed to others. However week after week, routine after routine she was able to find ways to shine not only individually but via her routines.

But what was it about her? There is no telling but what did it for me was her Top Six routine. She caught my attention and for the moment I begin to understand her allure. She stayed just under the radar throughout most of this season and I feel that she is peaking at just the right moment. Coming up from under the radar and shining at just the right time. Whether she is able to keep herself shining bright against another female dancer who is also shining at the right time remains to be seen, but Tiffany appears to have the momentum on her side and it started far earlier than that of Eliana’s.

THE ELIMINATED
Cole Horibe
This was a disappointment to me. Cole embodies his characters so well that it is almost frightening and that is what I believed to be his undoing. Cole played cold and calculating so well that the choreographers tended to play to that more and more over time. Unfortunately, because Cole tended to play those characters on and off stage it tended to rub the voting audiences the wrong way.

But who is to complain about his technical prowess? Yes he was touted as a martial artist that was learning the art of dance, but as each week went by he proved time and time again that he is much more than meets the eye. Is it possible that TPTBs attempt at misdirection went too far as to hurt Cole’s legitimate chances of making it towards the end? It is possible, but honestly we may never know.

Witney Carson
Of the two female ballroom dancers, Witney had the personality, charisma, and technical prowess to make it far. And she did. Did I think she could have gone further? It is entirely possible, but honestly Witney, at times, tended to come off more sexy than not, which in the end probably did her in. Too much of one thing tends to draw the audience away and as thus she may have lost her chances.

IN CONCLUSION
Looking back at the above six dancers it is easy to see why America chose their top four. In many ways I agree with their choices and in other ways I may not. In the end this was a very strong group of dancers and in all honesty any combination of dancers would have worked.

After all they all bring to the table varying degrees of skill sets and personality quirks, and any combination of these would work in the final four. As to whom deserves to be in the final four? Well that was to America…. No?

September 10, 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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 6 Power Rankings

TOP TWO ROUTINES:
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp & Anya Garnis – Argentine Tango
Oh Em Gee… Hot Hot Hot… I was WAITING for this… this… Argentine Tango, but not only that an Argentine Tango that was done really well. I love how the choreographers incorporated a bit of his classical ballet training into the piece (much like Danny Tidwell with Sara von Gillem in Season 3) it was just beyond hot. Definitely one of my favorites of the night.

Cole Horibe & Allison Holker – Contemporary
For some reason the choreographers are really latching onto his crazy, darker, psychotic side of his character / personality and who can blame them? He does it way too well. I like this piece, a lot, but honestly I am over the whole dark Cole thing… I want to see him try sexy again or even goofy and fun… please? Beyond that… he is a very strong technical dancer so I am not really worried about his dance ability.

MIDDLE TWO ROUTINES:
Eliana Girard & Ryan Di Lello – Quickstep
What’s there to say? I highly doubt there is anything that Eliana can not do… I mean she has been killing it for the most part with every routine up to date and she managed to help her first partner look good for the most part as well. She constant joy of being able to dance was consistent in this routine and she just seemed like she was having a grand ole time even while being in character.

Tiffany Maher & Ade Obayomi – Contemporary
For weeks I simply could not understand the draw that is Tiffany. Being a Jazz dancer I didn’t feel like she was challenged in this routine like she could have been, but I will admit even I liked her in this routine. She and Ade partnered in this routine rather well and I will begrudgingly agree that she has been fairly consistent when it comes to her work on the routines… I would love to see how she would fare in another routine that pushes her even further.

BOTTOM TWO ROUTINES:
Witney Carson & Stephen “tWitch” Boss – Hip-hop
There is no doubt that Witney is just oozing personality and charisma and she brings a lot of that to her dances, however, in regards to content I just felt that there wasn’t enough of it and as thus I felt like she wasn’t being challenged or pushed as far as I think she could have been. As thus, this was not a memorable routine for me in any capacity… and I just felt that she feel flat.

Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer & Melanie Moore – Jazz
There are some routines that pushed and prodded Cyrus in so many directions and there are others that kind of catered to his weakness and I think this routine did the latter more than the former. Yes Cyrus was being challenged… but it felt slow and sloppy in areas. Since I believed if he was pushed in every routine like he was in the Travis Wall routine last week it may have accelerated his growth a bit more… instead we are left wondering why he is still around and I don’t want to think that way because he really is superb at what he does and there is just a wealth of potential there for him to grow so much more.

ELIMINATED ROUTINES:
Will Thomas & Lauren Gottlieb – Hip-hop
This is the routine I was waiting for from Will, something that showed a side of him that we haven’t been able to get from him otherwise. It is unfortunate that he was eliminated because I feel like he had so much more left to give… if this routine was given to him earlier in the season I think it would have changed the direction of his development over the course of the show. If anything I believe he ended his time on the show on a high note… and me wanting more.

Lindsay Arnold & Alex Wong – Jazz
I really wanted to like this routine, I mean I am on the Alex Wong bandwagon… and Lindsay did a fabulous job last week in her routine with Jakob, but despite the incredibly strong dancing the connection / chemistry was not as strong as it could be. Based entirely on the routines of the evening this is probably one of the weaker routines overall… Not the weakest by any stretch of the imagination but not a strong routine either.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS:
Although I can understand letting Lindsay go… I would have much rather have seen Cyrus go as opposed to Will. But considering the votes were from last weeks’ dances I understand why the people voted Cyrus onward because his routine last week was beyond amazing in general.

I am not agreeing with the judges intervening in the eliminations from the Top 10 onwards. I miss having the audience choose how the Top 10 would be eliminated and felt that made for better television. Because Nigel and TPTB are trying to storyboard a lot of these dancers and their times on the show it loses a little bit of the integrity of the show in general and I hope that should the show return for a Season 10 we keep that little bit of what made the show such a wonderful piece of television. That and bring back the old stage!

August 30, 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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 8 now 6 Polls!

Polls of the individual dancers beyond the break to avoid spoilers:
Read more..

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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 8 Performances – Music and Initial Thoughts

Dancers: Top 8
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Peter Chu
Song: Woodkid – “Run Boy Run” Run Boy Run - Run Boy Run (Remixes) - EP

PARTNER DANCES
Dancer: Witney Carson
All Star: Stephen “tWitch” Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Luther Brown
Song: Lil Wayne feat. Big Sean – “My Homies Still” My Homies Still (feat. Big Sean) - My Homies Still (feat. Big Sean) - Single
Initial Thoughts: Well I wanted to see Witney try her hand at hip hop… and unfortunately I am not impressed by any stretch of the imagination. And that’s a bit disconcerting. I kind of felt that she was just being sexy, strutting around the stage shaking her booty and just added a few arm moments and voila!

Dancer: Cole Horibe
All Star: Allison Holker
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Björk – “Possibly Maybe” (Instrumental) Possibly Maybe - Björk's Greatest Hits
Initial Thoughts: I have a sneaky feeling that the choreographers are tapping into Cole’s more psychotic, evil, dark side of Cole more often than not… and who am I to complain? He does that look and personality well. His partnering with Allison was off the charts not to mention their chemistry… one of my favorites.

Dancer: Eliana Girard
All Star: Ryan Di Lello
Style: Quickstep
Choreographer: Jonathan Roberts
Song: Caro Emerald – “That Man” That Man - Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor
Initial Thoughts: Well, I wanted to see Eliana to try her hand on a Ballroom routine… but I was leaning more towards a Latin number… I didn’t think of Quickstep and man I liked this, but I wasn’t all too surprised that she could pull off a Quickstep. Her chemistry with Ryan was very good too and they looked like they were just having oodles of fun.

Dancer: Lindsay Arnold
All Star: Alex Wong
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Gotye feat. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know” Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Making Mirrors
Initial Thoughts: Technically-wise this was a very good routine, chemistry / personality / character-wise it was ok… but I wanted to reach out and be thrilled with this routine… but instead just nothing.

Dancer: Will Thomas
All Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Christopher Scott
Song: Wye Oak – “Dance My Pain Away” (District 78 remix) Dance My Pain Away - Dance My Pain Away - Single
Initial Thoughts: Personally I really like this routine… it was difficult to create a chemistry when the dancers are not dancing with one another… but somehow it worked. We managed to see a whole different side of the goofy Will that I think a lot of people were getting a little annoyed with and this was a breath of fresh air.

Dancer: Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
All Star: Melanie Moore
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Freddy Fresh feat. Fatboy Slim – “Badder Badder Schwing” Badder Badder Schwing - Badder Badder Schwing
Initial Thoughts: For me this routine felt slow and you know that he’s not up there technically with the other dancers. But I have to admit, he is doing his damnedest to keep up and that in and of itself is impressive.

Dancer: Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
All Star: Anya Garnis
Style: Argentine Tango
Choreographer: Miriam Larici & Leonardo Barrionuevo
Song: Jesse Cook – “Breathing Below Surface” Breathing Below Surface - The Ultimate Jesse Cook
Initial Thoughts: Hot Hot Hot… it is about time there is a sexy and smoldering Argentine Tango on the show and I am so glad that it was Chehon that got the honor of just that. I really loved his precision and footwork and his connection with Anya was palatable. Overall I really liked it… a lot… ok more than a lot.

Dancer: Tiffany Maher
All Star: Ade Obayomi
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Song: Celine Dion – “The Power of Love” The Power of Love - My Love (Ultimate Essential Collection)
Initial Thoughts: Ok… I am slowly beginning to understand what people like in Tiffany, and honestly in comparison with the other girls of the evening this was generally a strong routine. Was I impressed? No, did I like it… yes…

SOLOS
Tiffany Maher: Glee cast – “I Was Here” I Was Here (Glee Cast Version) - Glee: The Music - The Graduation Album
Will Thomas: James Morrison – “Better Man” Better Man - Undiscovered
Lindsay Arnold: Bond – “Señorita” Señorita - Classified
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp: Max Richter – “On the Nature of Daylight” On The Nature Of Daylight - The Blue Notebooks
Witney Carson: Rihanna – “Where Have You Been” Where Have You Been - Talk That Talk (Deluxe Edition)
Cole Horibe: E.S. Posthumus – “Arise” Arise - Makara
Eliana Girard: Max Richter – “Infra 8” infra 8 - infra
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer: Excision & Downlink – “Existence” (VIP) Existence (VIP) - Existence EP

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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 8 – What They Should Dance

With only a few weeks left in the competition I thought I should put in my own thoughts as to what I would like to see the Top Eight dance in the coming week. Below I have listed the Top Eight dancers as well as what they have danced in the first five weeks of the competition. After that I have put in my thoughts for each individual dancer and what I would love to see them dance.

Tiffany Maher: Contemporary, Foxtrot, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Disco
For a Jazz dancer she has moved through the spectrum. After a high energy routine like the Disco I want to test her mettle even further with either a high octane Sonya Tayeh Jazz routine or showing off character in a Broadway routine.

Lindsay Arnold: Paso Doble, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary, Jazz
This little Ballroom girl has been stretched in some capacity or another, but that Hip Hop routine left me cold… she needs another chance to redeem herself. So how about a hard hitting Hip Hop routine with Twitch or Bollywood (or some other cultural routine).

Witney Carson: Samba, Bollywood, Contemporary, Contemporary, Jazz
A Ballroom girl with a bit of sass, but I’m not completely sold on her versatility as a dancer quite yet… perhaps after I see her in a Hip Hop routine I would change my mind.

Eliana Girard: Broadway, Jive, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary
She has finally been pushed and challenged in her routine with Alex Wong, so let’s really push the envelop further and toss her Ballroom, preferable a fun and sexy Samba or an Argentine Tango to show off some aggression.

Cyrus Spencer: Broadway, Jive, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary
So… he has been able to push the envelope with a bit of Contemporary, this is another one that I would really love to see him push the envelope further in either a Jazz routine or another Ballroom dance.

Cole Horibe: Paso Doble, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary, ChaCha
He’s done goofy, creepy, aggressive, beautiful… I really want to see him do another ChaCha since he did the last one on an injured foot. However, since repeating dances is not possible let’s toss him a Jive or a Samba to show off a funloving version of Cole that would force him to engage his partner and the audience more.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp: Samba, Bollywood, Contemporary, Contemporary, Hip Hop
He is FINALLY beginning to let loose and enjoying himself on the stage! Only took him five weeks. I want to see if he could pull off Jazz or evening a fun and flirty Foxtrot.

Will Thomas: Hip Hop, Contemporary, Jazz, Contemporary, Bollywood
Hands down… Will tries to infuse goofy into his character so let’s see if he could emulate a character where he cannot be prone to add goofiness to: like an agressive Paso Doble or a hard hitting Krump.

Since all the dancers have had to do a Contemporary routine at some point during the competition (Mia Michaels day anyone?) I would prefer to see a day where there is no contemporary whatsoever… though it might be too much to hope.

August 24, 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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 8 Power Rankings

TOP TWO ROUTINES
Eliana Girard w/ Alex Wong – Contemporary
This one I thought was a no brainer for myself (if not for most people). This really showed Eliana’s technical prowess and her performance level all rolled into one. Though I’ll admit I was a little disappointed it wasn’t further away from ballet because I am sure she has had quite a bit of training or background in contemporary. Having Alex as a partner definitely helps her, she held her own and really shoned the most from the Top Ten during this episode.

Witney Carson w/ Nick Lazzarini – Jazz
Witney got to show the sexy in this routine and did she ever. She and Nick had charisma and steam oozing for days. It was loads of fun watching Nick on the show finally (especially with Melody coming on as an All-Star last season)… that was a real treat. Granted Jazz isn’t too much of a stretch for Witney to begin with, but she looked like she was having loads of fun.

MIDDLE THREE ROUTINES
Lindsay Arnold w/ Jakob Karr – Jazz
What is it with both ballroom girls getting Jazz this week? I mean really. Granted Lindsay did a fantastic job and I actually believed Jakob being her shadow during the first portion of the routine. However, what really threw me was not that she didn’t dance it well, but rather that during the times that they should be in sync I felt that they weren’t. Like when Jakob does his amazing back bend or flicks his head one way or that, Lindsay wasn’t using her full body like Jakob did. Nevertheless this was a strong routine and she really held her own, but she has got to focus on the details if she wants to melt with other dancers that are just that polished.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp w/ Lauren Gottlieb – Lyrical Hip Hop
Understandably Chehon had a bit of trouble with the choreography, but dammit he was loose, he was free and he was having fun! What more could you ask for from someone that was doing ballet most of his life? You can’t help but be drawn into this pairing and you can’t help but notice how he just feels the music and the warmth that was emanating from him. Even though the dance wasn’t perfect he really grew leaps and bounds through this routine.

Will Thomas w/ Kathryn McCormick – Bollywood
Will’s a goofball and I haven’t seen a routine that Will has done that he wasn’t allowed to tap into his goofiness. Sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn’t… this is one of those routines where it works and it works well enough. Will danced the routine really well but dammit, sometimes I wish he’d tone down the goofiness a bit.

BOTTOM THREE ROUTINES
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer w/ Jaimie Goodwin – Contemporary
He could have easily screwed this up, Travis could have easily cut more corners and have Jaimie dance around Cyrus more than she did, but he didn’t. This routine truly emphasized Cyrus’ strengths in emotion, passion and partnering… yes I noticed that he struggled a bit on making the lifts seamless and his technique wasn’t perfect but dammit he really did surprise me with how much he has grown. Travis did a smart job in creating a routine that would push Cyrus to reach Jaimie’s level and even though he didn’t meet by any stretch of the imagination he did grow and grow a lot. That being said, he still wasn’t strong enough, as long as he keeps growing exponentially as he has he should be fine for at least another week.

Cole Horibe w/ Anya Garnis – ChaCha
Yes, this wasn’t the best for Cole but honestly I am not going to thrown him under the bus for it… why? Because of the following:
http://twitter.com/Dance9Cole/status/237400410686631937
You read that right, Cole was actually injured this week and sidelined for two days due to that foot injury. So one couldn’t expect his feet to be perfect considering what he was going through. That being said I don’t necessarily agree with the judges saying that he connected with the audience more than Anya, I felt that there were times when he was splitting his focus with one eye on Anya and the other on the audience. I really liked these two together and Cole was always one for characterizations. If anything I would agree with Mary in the sense that I would have liked more, but I think that Cole did well as to be expected due to his injury… unfortunately despite that injury it didn’t really give as much of a cushion as it could.

Tiffany Maher w/ Brandon Bryant – Disco
There isn’t much for me to talk about with this routine, Tiffany was more in the air than on the floor so critiquing was going to be difficult. There were moments that I thought that she had a to work a bit to make the transitions smooth between tricks but it wasn’t bad. This was a very energetic routine that she did well in, however, I haven’t been able to feel much from her throughout the season and she hasn’t really captured my attention yet.

ELIMINATED ROUTINES
George Lawrence Jr w/ Allison Holker – Jazz
No surprise here, George’s performance seemed to fall flat for me here, but I had always had trouble connecting with George no matter how beautiful of a dancer he is. The one issue with this routine was the use of the cane which I kept comparing to that of Season 6’s Ashleigh and Jakob’s routine which was leaps and bounds more memorable than this. Even though the storylines differ I’ll still remember the Season 6 routine over this one.

Audrey Case w/ Stephen “tWitch” Boss – Hip Hop
I really wanted to like this routine, I really did, but dammit I couldn’t, I simply couldn’t. Audrey is another of those dancers that I haven’t been able to connect with throughout the season and she always appeared to fall flat for me. In the case of this performance she is put against someone like tWitch who is just oozing charisma and personality and she doesn’t come up to scratch she’s going to appear like a moving prop… which unfortunately is what happened to me.

GROUP ROUTINE
Paraphrased from the IdolForums:

It was a tribute to Gene Kelly, who’s 100th birthday is this week. Tyce took classic, iconic elements of Gene’s movies & incorporated them into the dance. So there’s Singin in the Rain with the umbrella (Chehon’s part), Cyd Charisse (Eliana, in a beautiful green dress), Fair Weather, Anchors Aweigh (at least that’s what I thought of when I saw Audrey, Lindsay & Witney in sailor/navy costumes but that could have also been On the Town), when he danced with Jerry Mouse, things like that. […] There were a few props on stage: director’s chair with Gene Kelly on the back, a ladder, trash can lids that Will, George, & Tyce (filling in for injured Cole) danced with, Chehon’s Singin umbrella. […] Everyone kind of danced in their own little groups seperately at various points of the dance, then all came together at the end to dance in one big group. Cole did show up at the close of the routine; […]

TOP TWO GIRLS
Eliana Girard
Lindsay Arnold
TOP TWO GUYS
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Will Thomas
BOTTOM TWO GIRLS
Witney Carson
Tiffany Maher
BOTTOM TWO GUYS
Cyrus Spencer
Cole Horibe
August 23, 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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 10 now 8 Polls!

Polls of the individual dancers beyond the break to avoid spoilers:
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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... =)

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 10 Performances – Music and Instant Thoughts!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Since I wasn’t able to see the show til the morning after… I’m posting everything now. Please bare with me and I apologize for the delay.

Dancer: Top 10 Dancers
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Mark Isham – “The Cool World Stomp” The Cool World Stomp - Cool World (Original Motion Picture Score)

ROUTINES WITH THE ALL-STARS
Dancer: Tiffany Maher
All Star: Brandon Bryant
Style: Disco
Choreographer: Doriana Sanchez
Song: Cobra Starship feat. Sabi – “You Make Me Feel…” (Disco Fries remix) You Make Me Feel... (Disco Fries Remix) - You Make Me Feel... (feat. Sabi) [Remixes] - EP
Instant Thoughts: It was rather difficult to develop any kind of criticism because this was just shock full of tricks and lifts, which were executed really well. What I would have loved to have seen was more foot work, but what can you do? In the sense of the dance they were energetic and fun and you can’t help but want to get into the beat and groove in the movement.

Dancer: Witney Carson
All Star: Nick Lazzarini
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: Moloko – “Sing It Back” Sing It Back - Repo Men (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Instant Thoughts: Witney needs help being sexy? Really? And she’s what? 18? I really liked this routine, definitely caught my attention and considering it is Jazz, she did rather well.

Dancer: Cole Horibe
All Star: Anya Garnis
Style: ChaCha
Choreographer: Dmitry Chaplin
Song: The Wanted – “Glad You Came” Glad You Came - The Wanted
Instant Thoughts: I was expecting a lot out of Cole this week and was a little bit disappointed. Well, he did connect with Anya but I wanted him to really dig into the steps more.

Dancer: Lindsay Arnold
All Star: Jakob Karr
Style:Broadway
Choreographer: Spencer Liff
Song: Fosse – “Dancin’ Dan” (Me and My Shadow) Dancin' Dan (Me and My Shadow) - Fosse (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Instant Thoughts: This was fun to watch and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t a perfect shadow at the beginning and that was a little distracting but once they started dancing together I was enjoying it more.

Dancer: Will Thomas
All Star: Kathryn McCormick
Style: Bollywood
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: The Dirty Picture – “Ooh La La” Ooh La La - The Dirty Picture (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - EP
Instant Thoughts: Will is just one massive goof ball and that is fine by me. I thought he did decently well with this dance, he had energy but yeah sometimes that goofiness comes off as too much but in this case it works… barely.

Dancer: Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
All Star: Jaimie Goodwin
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: M83 – “Outro” Outro - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.
Instant Thoughts: Wow, just wow… Cyrus definitely impressed me this time around. Pushed beyond what we perceived to be his limit… his strengths were shown with his partnering and as the judges were calling it “raw talent”. Unfortunately it also showed a little of his lack of training in this area, but considering just how much he is growing on the show that is always a positive.

Dancer: Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
All Star: Lauren Gottlieb
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Song: Maxwell – “Pretty Wings” Pretty Wings (Uncut) - BLACKsummers'night (Deluxe Version)
Instant Thoughts: This was another routine that wowed me, Chehon doing hip-hop? Yeeeeaaaah. He looked like he was having fun with his partner and there were a killer team together.

Dancer: George Lawrence, Jr
All Star: Allison Holker
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Hazmat Modine – “Bahamut” Bahamut - Bahamut
Instant Thoughts: When I saw the cane I immediately thought of another routine in Season 6 and unfortunately I couldn’t keep myself from comparing between the two. George is a strong dancer, but he just has’t wowed me in the grand scheme of things.

Dancer: Eliana Girard
All Star: Alex Wong
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: Nancy Sinatra – “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - How Does That Grab You?
Instant Thoughts: Definitely a favorite, this really appears to really show off Eliana in ways that she wasn’t when she was partnered with Cyrus. She really shined in this piece and having a well-trained partner like Alex definitely helped with that as well.

Dancer: Audrey Case
All Star: Stephen “tWitch” Boss
Style: Hip-hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Song: Janelle Monáe – “Sincerely, Jane” Sincerely, Jane - Metropolis: the Chase Suite
Instant Thoughts: For some reason I wasn’t really feeling Audrey tonight, she danced the piece decently enough, but when compared to someone like tWitch she has to really step up her game and she just didn’t for me which is unfortunate.

SOLO ROUTINES
Witney Carson: Santigold – “You’ll Find a Way” (Switch & Sinden remix) You'll Find a Way (Switch & Sinden Remix) - Fame (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Audrey Case: Jennifer Hudson – “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going (Highlights Version) - Dreamgirls (Music from the Motion Picture)
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp: Ólafur Arnalds – “Til Enda” Til enda - Dyad 1909
George Lawrence, Jr.: Olafur Arnalds – “Brotsjor” Brotsjór - Dyad 1909

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 Season 9: Q&A with the Eliminated Dancers from the Top 20

Granted this took a while and I apologize. PureSYTYCD.com was given the opportunity to ask the eliminated dancers: Nick Bloxsom-Carter, Daniel Baker and Janaya French (Alexa Anderson was not available for the conference call) a few questions about their experience on SYTYCD, their exits and endeavors for the future. Since this was a conference call with several media outlets when PureSYTYCD.com were able to ask their questions, Nick (who was sick) had to leave the conference call. Below are a few of the questions that were asked:

How has your experience on So You Think You Can Dance changed your approach, if it has, and your perception of dance?

Janaya French: I think it’s helped us to realize how important other styles are and how interesting they are. I was trained in all sorts of different things growing up, but it was more of a structured thing. I had a schedule and people telling me you have to do this style this time, this style this time. And now that I sit on my own in L.A., it’s hard because sometimes, like if I want to go to class, I choose to go to classes I love—the contemporary classes, the jazz classes, the ones that make me feel good.

Now, I just have more of a hunger to go to more hip hop classes though, that maybe even a ballroom call. I just want to know more things. That’s really why I’m sad that the experience ended so soon is because I wanted to get into the things that were so challenging like a bollywood or ballroom, anything of that sort. So I’m excited. It’s going to help me as I need branch out a little bit more. I need to be better about it, so I’m going to go and see how all of those different genres can help me in my career.

Daniel Baker: My approach has definitely taught me to listen and pick things up quicker, to know exactly what the choreographer is asking for, because you didn’t have that much time. So I guess more logical than … you just have to do … and quick to … like them. I have done a lot of that over the past couple of weeks.

Since this is the first season where there is no “results” show, the eliminated dancers were then asked: How all three of you like the new format.

Janaya French: I kind of like the new format. It’s hard, because we didn’t get to experience the old format, so there’s not really much that we can compare it to, but for what we had to experience, we were together as the top 21 within any other season, which is really nice. We got to meet … people and you got to do too much rest than usual. So that part was nice. I didn’t mind it at all.

Nick Bloxsom-Carter: Yes, I also agree. This format was very nice to us dancers, because we were able to perform so many more times, more than once, more than twice. We were on that stage a lot. So I really enjoyed it.

Daniel Baker: I kind of like it. It’s a shame I didn’t get the chance to dance for my life, but it seems like the judges already had their minds made up to—you know, it’s one less chance that America gets to see you dance, but I like the fast pace of it. I don’t know if it felt too rushed, because I wasn’t watching it at home. But I wonder what America thought of the new format. So America seems to not like change, no matter what show it is.

As a counterpoint I asked Daniel and Janaya: Because of the current format where everything is done in one day with the eliminations at the end of the episode, it’s kind of difficult for the television audience to be able to vote on you guys performances because of the one-day format. Had the show been on a two-day format as in previous seasons, do you think that would have benefited you in any capacity?

Janaya French: I agree; it would have been different to have two days. In past seasons, it’s kind of a luxury of time. You get—it’s less in one episode. I feel like it was a crazy world, like, I don’t understand how they’re going to fit so much more in this episode when we did the exact same time frame last week and all we had to do was our duets once.

So it was a lot of stress in like the time crunch so it had to go fast. We don’t get as long as packages, so America doesn’t really get to know us quite as well. We don’t get to show our personalities as long, which is kind of a bummer. I mean I went into this with less camera time. I feel like I kind of just popped up in the top twenty and not many people knew who I was so it was hard to go from the bottom and try and show people who I am.

You only get an hour, so you don’t really get the packages that everyone else usually gets. You don’t get the time, the luxury of time, but it still worked out and it would be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out. With less and less people it becomes less stressful, because there’s less they’re trying to like throw in one in like the one episode. So it would be interesting to see.

I also took the time to ask Daniel: What brought you back to So You Think You Can Dance knowing that you had auditioned previously and now you have to get back into the grind?

Daniel Baker: Well, I was getting older. I’m still young, but it happens so fast, and if I wanted to play … I felt I had to do it while I was young and I still have my hair and … the industry. I just wanted to try it while I was young and I can always get back to ballet. So I was just going to take the next year to see if I’m capable of working in that industry and then if not go back to ballet. I just thought it was time to … go back to the show, and my friend Alex Wong, we had both auditioned Season 7, and then I decided not to go. Then, we were just having a conversation and he said, “Oh, you should go back.” I thought about it for a while and I thought it was my time to come to…

Another interviewer had asked: So what are you doing to relax or have fun, just for even a day before you jump back into the mix?

Janaya French: Right now, I’m at a beach house with my family in Long Beach. They have been here all week. They watched me for the past two weeks of the show. So it’s nice to come to where it’s not my home quite yet. I don’t have to go back to reality. I’m just hanging out with family and then I go to the beach and lay out so … I’m looking forward to.

Daniel Baker: I’m renting a car and I’m driving to Mexico just to get some space into my head and figure out what’s next.

Nick Bloxsom-Carter: I’m sitting at home in Oak Park with my family. My brother is actually making breakfast, not for me though. I got to eat alone. No, but I do mind to be able to tell I’m sick and this show, like now that my body is done with all the stress it’s relaxed, but that means I’m getting more sick. So I’m trying to get over that, so I’m definitely trying to rest.

And finally: Do you guys have any future plans or hopes for where you can go from here?

Janaya French: I just hope that with this experience it’s, obviously going to help. I was already out in L.A. trying to audition with jobs that way, and so I hope that networking with the people I got to work with on the show, I never would have had the chance to work with in such an intimate setting if it weren’t for this opportunity I was given. So like from here on out I just hope I have more opportunities to work with them and to work with more people. I’m going to go back to what I was doing, because I’m still going to dance, but nothing about this changed my mind about that. If anything, it kind of lit a fire underneath me to realize that this is exactly what I want to do. I’m excited to get back into things and see where my career takes off from.

Nick Bloxsom-Carter: Yes; as far as what I’m doing, I was going to school, studying business management and ballroom dance. So I am definitely going to keep auditioning and since I’ve worked with Jason Gilkison so much, I’d love to work with him on Burn the Floor. Definitely more ballroom … Burn the Floor, maybe, Dancing with the Stars as a pro, but that’s later in the future. I’m definitely going to keep training, but I’m also going to work with my business management to try to start in production as well and seeing producers of shows and producers of things. Now that I’m a dancer and I’m learning the other side of it, I can have the best of both worlds and I know what people need to put on a good show here.

Daniel Baker: For me, I’m just exploring the commercial dance world and hoping to get an agent this week and go on auditions. I have a job or two lined up in the future and I am also choreographing to the New York Choreographic Institute, which is part of the New York City Ballet, coming up this year. So I’m kind of excited about that. Then I just want to see where all that takes me.

July 24, 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... =)