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Flashback: SYTYCD Canada (and U.S.) Season 2 – Tara-Jean & Everett

Typically, I don’t have time to watch So You Think You Can Dance Canada where the primary judges were: Jean-Marc Généreux and Tré Armstrong. So once in a while a friend of mine would send me a video of another routine from another part of the world that would pique my interest some and then that was all.

So when a friend (and fellow PureSYTYCD blogger) of mine posted a video on my Facebook Timeline I wasn’t entirely too anxious to want to go and see it right away, instead I waited til I had a little bit of time before I decided to look at it.

She sent the video with the following comment:

It’s been so long since we had a really good memorable Broadway number (maybe neil & kent baseball from season 7 or robert & kathryn west side story, but I don’t have any memorable ones from last year!), I’d love to see more numbers with this kind of energy!!

Another friend commented:

I miss the old stage. And as long as Tyce is not directing, I tend to like the broadway, but not love.

So, upon reading the comments I decided to watch the video, and boy… my friend was right… it has been a long time since I have seen a Broadway routine with this much energy.

The theatre routine in question was choreographed by Sean Cheesman who just in the first two weeks of competition for SYTYCD Season 9 choreographed two routines that for some reasons the audience may not have connected well to from the get go. Now that’s interesting… Anyway when I say a “long time” I definitely mean a long time… like Season 2’s Benji Schwimmer and Donyelle Jones:

Ironically both were the second seasons of their respective series and both involve “power couples”. So that got me thinking, I already created a Dance Style Breakdown for SYTYCD U.S. edition, so how did the dancers breakdown of dance style fare in Canada? So I decided to take a look… Below is a quick dance style breakdown over the course of the four seasons that the show was on the air:

DANCE STYLE MALE FEMALE
Contemporary 20 24
Hip Hop 9 5
Ballroom / Latin / Salsa 8 8
Ballet 2 2
Tap 1 0
Jazz 1 2
Break Dancing 1 0
Krump 0 1

Granted, this is still a bit lopsided with Contemporary dancers building the bulk of the group… however, when looking at the individual seasons, two of them (Season 2 and 4) were rather decently balanced. While the other two seasons had an insane number of Contemporary dancers in comparison to everyone else.

The two dancers from SYTYCD Canada Season 2 were tap and contemporary and they did a rather good job of it. At the same time I found it kind of odd that Sean Cheesman would create such a technically challenging and high octane theatre / broadway routine. Yes, for SYTYCD U.S. Sean has only created Jazz related routines… what gives? Sure, Tyce is a decent choreographer and Spencer Liff just got an Emmy nomination for his Broadway routines… but if the above routine is any indication I would love to see him try his hand on Broadway as well. If only because it forces the high octane / technically challenging routines to also depends on characterizations for the dancers.

What do you think?

July 21, 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... =)

Review: Fanaticly Website and App for SYTYCD

About a month and a half ago I was approached to review a website and corresponding app for iPhone. Interesting proposition to be sure, but something I don’t usually do… I can be harsh with my reviews, blunt and to the point. I have no qualms in exposing what I do not like about something, but at the same time I will acknowledge when something is done right.

This is no different, there are some aspects of either the website or the app that I dislike, but there are also some aspects of the website or app that I truly liked…

So beyond the break I will provide my impressions in regards to the app and the website. After my impressions there will be a quick line or two for the positives, negatives and the bottom line for both the app and the website. At the end of this post will be my final thoughts and what I would love to see down the road… preferably sooner than later.
Read more..

July 13, 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... =)

Another SYTYCD Alumni heads to (Off-)Broadway as Choreographer

With all the talk of various dancers from the seasons of So You Think You Can Dance being in Disney’s the Newsies or other musical productions in the past… not one has made a splash as choreographer…

Until now.

Season 2’s Runner Up, Travis Wall has been tapped to choreograph the Off-Broadway production of Bare, according to Broadway.com.

“Bare: A Pop Opera” is a rock musical about two gay high school students and their struggle while growing up at their private Catholic school. The musical had its regional opening in 2000 at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles, California before popping up again on Off-Broadway in 2004 for a one-month run. Bare then resurfaced at Houston in The Country Playhouse Black Box Productions in 2008 and has had steady productions throughout the United States and Canada. It made its overseas debut in 2010 with a production in Sydney, Australia and in 2012 has additional overseas productions in the Philippines (Manila) and Great Britain (York and Liverpool).

This new Off-Broadway revival is expected to open on November 19th, 2012 for previews with an official opening a month later in December 2012.

You can hear clips from Bare at the Bare the Album website.

The new production team will also include:
– Director: Stafford Arima
– Producers: Randy Taradash, Paul Boskind and Martian Entertainment and Gregory Rae
Scenic Designer: Donyale Werle (Tony Award winner of Peter and the Starcatcher)

Ever since his time on SYTYCD, Travis has made a name for himself has choreographer for various pieces on the show as well as during the results show on ABCs Dancing with the Stars. His choreography has earned him an Emmy nod in 2011 for the following pieces:
Collide” – SYTYCD Season 7: Lauren Froderman and Kent Boyd
How It Ends” – SYTYCD Season 7: Kent Boyd and Neil Haskell
Fix You” – SYTYCD Season 7: Robert Roldan and Allison Holker

***Many thanks to reader, Leann Hoffrogge for the heads up.

June 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... =)

Who was in Step Up 3D (Spoilers)

Okay, so, I went to see the movie yesterday with a couple of my dance friends. The movie was excellent and was pretty surprised they used up to 7 previous SYTYCD contestants in the movie. The 3D version is a definite see if your cinema is showing the 3D version

Here’s what I spotted and also caught with the end credits of who was featured:
Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss (Season 4 Runner-Up) – Major character in the film who played Special Effects wiz Jason
Joshua Allen (Season 4 Winner) – Had a small role as part of his winner’s prize as ‘Samurai’ crew member in the first half of the movie. He wasn’t featured in the end for the final crew battle
Jonathan ‘Legacy’ Perez (Season 6 Contestant) – Had a minor role in the movie who played Legz was part of the ‘Pirate’ crew
Katee Shean (Season 4 Contestant) – Was featured as a background dancer in the Tango scene during Natalie’s Masquerade birthday party
Ashlee Nimo (Season 2 Contestant) (sorry if I got the spelling wrong) – Was part of the Pirate crew in the final crew battle
Musa Cooper (Season 2 Contestant) – Was a blink and you miss role. He was seen at the beginning of the movie where Moose started his first day at college where Moose spotted a group B-Boy dancers competing against each other outside NYU. Musa was the guy holding cash in his hand with a black hat
Cedric Gardner (Season 3 Contestant) – I didn’t notice him in the movie but spotted his name in the closing credits
Dave Scott (Choreographer) – Was featured as one of the crew members in the first crew battle of the movie couldn’t remember the Crew name sorry. He was also choreographer for the film
Hi Hat (Season 7 Los Angeles Auditions Judge) – Choreographed the steps in the movie and was also featured as judge in the final crew battle
Adam Shankman (Judge of SYTYCD) – Was Executive Producer of the film.

Share your thoughts on the movie. And if there was anybody I missed feel free to comment

August 8, 2010 I Written By

SYTYCD S7 – Which *new* partnership surprised you the most?

What did you think of the dances? Which pairing were you pleasantly surprised about?

Since there were a few repeat partnerships… this is just all the *new* ones. Now as much as I was surprised that there was some man on man action this week, I wasn’t terribly surprised that it would work well… SYTYCD has a long history of strong male/male dances.

So when it came to pass that there was going to a man on man dance last night, naturally I had very high expectations for this dance…. but that’s just me. 😀

Season 2 – Tranji (Benji & Travis) – Hip Hop choreo by Shane Sparks
Song: Da Muzicianz & Mr Collipark – Gyrate Gyrate

Season 3 – Neil & Danny – Contemporary choreo by Mia Michaels
Song: The Presets – Are You the One? Are

Season 4 – Twitch & Joshua – Trepak choreo by Youri Nelzine
Song: Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker – Trepak The

July 1, 2010 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... =)

Travis Wall Returns to So You Think You Can Dance

I, like many others, loved Travis Wall’s contemporary piece last Wednesday night. Jeanine and Jason performed this piece well and did Travis’s choreography justice. When Cat said that Travis was one of the choreographers for that night I was excited, because I felt it was about time that Travis did some choreography for the show.

Travis is an amazing dancer and we saw that in season two. He puts his heart and soul into every dance he does. Even though he wasn’t the one on the stage on Wednesday night, a part of him was. One of my favorite solos he did on the show was Blower’s Daughter. That one sticks out in my mind for one reason; it was the first time his mother was able to be at the show. He said it that night that it is because of he mother is the reason why he dances. I think it I safe to say that Travis has a long career ahead of him and maybe even an Emmy nomination.

I want to thank Travis too. It was because of his piece that we were reminded why Jason was chosen to be a part of the top 20. I can’t wait to see his group piece that he is working on.

Travis proved his talent yet again this week with his group routine. He only had a short amount of time to put it together. However you wouldn’t know it from watching the performance. At first I wasn’t too crazy about the costuming, that is till the light went off. I love the creativity with the lights on the costumes; it gave the rave party feel to the dance. Ellen was very clever on taking credit helping Travis with the costumes and her different light suggestions. Thanks to twitter I know he was stressing about getting the routine done, but he pulled it off. It takes talent to be able to do what he did this week. 

Looking forward to seeing him dance on the show again, the bench routine will always be one of my favorites. Then there is Ramalama and this time Wade will be dancing with them…so yes I can’t wait for tonight.

July 23, 2009 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.

Kherington Payne and Jason Williams in Fame Trailer

Last season, Kherington Payne was my favorite dancer. So, you can imagine my joy to find out that Kherington Payne had a major part in Fame. Turns out that Jason Williams from SYTYCD season 2 is also on the show. Check out the trailer which includes some really nice images of Kherington Payne, but honestly includes a lot of really talented people. I’m excited to see Fame this Fall.

June 17, 2009 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?