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AdeChike joins the cast of the Broadway musical Fela!

According to an interview with Fox News New York, AdeChike Torbert has joined the cast of Fela!

If you remember from Season 7, Adechike was a fluid contemporary dancer that created a little bit of controversy during his time at Las Vegas Callbacks. Performing a comedic tap routine for his opening solo before wowing the judges with his contemporary routine.

From Brooklyn, given a Nigerian name with origins from Jamaica, he will fit right at home with the cast.

According to the show’s website:

FELA! is based on the life of Fela Kuti, who created Afrobeat—a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies—and mixed these sensual eclectic rhythms with simple but powerful lyrics that openly assailed Nigeria’s corrupt and oppressive dictatorships.

AdeChike is also on their cast page:

ADÉ CHIKÉ TORBERT (Ensemble) was born in Brooklyn, NY and began studying dance at the age of eight. He graduated from LaGuardia High School and studied at The Boston Conservatory and the Alvin Ailey School. He recently competed on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance Season 7 where he became a top four finalist. Adé Chiké is extremely excited to be a part of FELA!

July 16, 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... =)

Disney’s the Newsies Musical – Bloggers’ Impressions

When the official cast list for Disney’s Newsies the Musical came out, those of us that were fans of the original 1992 movie scoured the cast list for familiar names… and were we pleasantly surprised to find that four of our favorite dancers from various seasons of SYTYCD were part of the cast! Huge favorites like Evan Kasprzak and Alex Wong, as well as those that left too soon like Thayne Jasperson and Jess LeProtto were all listed!

So naturally we here at Pure So You Think You Can Dance went into a group email firestorm and tried to see if we could have a group outing / get together and meet up at the Great White Way to watch the Newsies together… And if by some twist of faith talk to some of the dancers.

In the end only Margaret and myself (Marianya) were able to make the semi-impromptu trip and we have so much to tell you about this gem of a show.

CHOREOGRAPHY
Marianya: OMG The choreography was AMAZING! Not only that but it really seemed to have challenged the dancers to their fullest potentials. The SYTYCD alumni all have special moments throughout the show, be it as a dancer, actor, or singer. The choreography wasn’t just on the stage itself, but all over the staging, elevated… it was thorough and I couldn’t help but tap along with the music. I would go again just to see the dancing. For more of my thoughts of Disney’s the Newsies musical please head on over to my personal blog.

Margaret: The show was choreographed within an inch of its life, and that’s a good thing! A lot of the dancers have said in interviews that Newsies was the first movie they saw for their generation that had guys dancing and singing but still being “dudes”. A lot of them said it helped them see that it was okay to be a guy and like to dance. Everything about the show is full out (it is Disney, after all) and the choreography, with a mix of contemporary but also time period-centric moves, fits beautifully.

THE DANCERS
Anyone that appreciates strong dancing can tell you that one person that will catch your attention and was not a SYTYCD alumni was Ryan Steele who played Specs (he wore glasses). In fact his center was so incredibly precise that the only SYTYCD alumni that could possibly compare was Danny Tidwell of runner up of SYTYCD Season 3 (he is SYTYCD Season 2 runner up Travis Wall’s brother). In fact we went so far to as to say that Ryan Steele would be a combination of Danny Tidwell and SYTYCD Season 7 hopeful Anthony Burrell. In a crazy serendipitous coincidence of SYTYCD connections, Ryan is close friends with Jakob Karr from Season 6! But you’re here for the dancers that were part of the So You Think You Can Dance family:

Alex Wong: Of course, anyone that has been keeping up with So You Think You Can Dance would know and love Alex Wong, and how he sustained an injury to his Achilles tendon that forced him out of the competition. After approximately a year of recuperation he was asked to come back as an All Star for SYTYCD Season 8 only for him to turn it down due to an injury to his other Achilles tendon. Well he has come back from both injuries to dance as if he was never injured to begin with (and mind you these were potential career ending injuries). He was as strong as ever and he looked like he was enjoying himself. His ballet training was evident but so was some of the growth from the time he was on the show. This is his Broadway debut & with such strong dancers throughout the ensemble (many with regional & Broadway credits) he could have easily gotten lost in the shuffle. However, he gets some nice shining moments & his talents are put to good use.

Evan Kasprzak: Dancing a style that he was known for during his season on SYTYCD, it’s amazing to think this is his Broadway debut as well. He is one of the holdovers from the production at Papermill Playhouse this past fall. To say that he has stretched as a performer is an understatement. He has a small bit part in the show and he has a couple of solos in the ensemble numbers. Plus he looks stronger than ever. He shines as a tapper during the rousing “Kings of New York” and gets a fun mini-duet with fellow alum Jess as well.

Thayne Jasperson: He also has a bit part in the second act of the show and he has improved leaps and bounds since his time on SYTYCD. You can tell that his dancing has strengthened quite a bit and his lines are smoother. According to his bio he was on the first national tour of West Side Story in the intervening time. Thayne wasn’t known as a “Broadway” dancer during season 4, but the performance where the judges said he really came alive was a Broadway number, dancing to “Cool” from West Side Story with Comfort. His time to shine is in the 2nd Act and he has some lines as well. He was always remembered as a very graceful dancer, which probably put him at a disadvantage during his season with big personalities like Twitch, Joshua & Mark. But he fits right in on the stage and his dancing has an “umph” and strength to it that wasn’t necessarily apparent when he was on the show.

Jess LeProtto: He’s been on Broadway a few times prior to his time on SYTYCD, and considering that he was just on the show last season there isn’t much to say except how we get a chance to see him in his element now and see his growth since his time on SYTYCD. And did he grow, Jess took a lot of flack during the season for being too much of a ham, and he seems to have reined that in. He and Evan are both “vertically challenged” but they dance as big as their smiles without trying to outdance some of the taller dancers.

After the show, we stood at the stage door in the hopes of getting to meet some of the guys. To our surprise, every one of the cast members came out and signed autographs. They were grateful, courteous to everyone and a pleasure to talk to. Marianya was able to talk to Alex for a bit about hopefully setting up an interview with some of the guys, and Margaret was able to talk to Thayne. They were both so happy to hear that SYTYCD fans were at the show and were definitely interested in sitting down with us, either over the phone or on Skype (gotta love modern technology!) We’ll see what we can set up as we head towards the beginning of season 9!

April 26, 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... =)

More of Your Favorite Season 8 Episode 1 Dancers

I thought I’d hunt down some videos of your favorite dancers from SYTYCD Season 8 episode 1. Check them out:

Melanie Moore

Ryan Ramirez

Amber Williams

Lilly Nguyen

I wasn’t able to find videos of Timothy Joseph and the Deon/Damon videos were all responses to the Les Twins controversy.

Dancers we haven’t seen yet but are hoping come back from last season:

Anthony Burrell

His update SYTYCD Season 7

Adrian Lee

The song is Adele’s “I Found a Boy” – I Found a Boy - 21

June 1, 2011 I Written By

Happy Valentine’s Day

From Dominic to Lauren. In case many of you don’t follow Dominic and Lauren on twitter may not know that they have been dating. So I saw that Dominic recently post a link to his youtube channel. It is a video that he made for her for Valentine’s Day, I thought it was sweet and wanted to share it.

“Valentine’s Day is coming up.. and I didn’t know what to get for my gf Lauren.. so I thought I would be cheap and make a video for her. I got so inspired by my friend JR Aquino’s (check him out.. brilliant singer/songwriter) new song “Handle with Care”.. So with the inspiration from both him and My Beautiful Girlfriend… I came up with this.. and big thanks to Ryan and Jason for all the help…. hope you enjoy!” ~D-Trix

February 14, 2011 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’s Melinda Sullivan TAPS Sara Bareilles’s Single Ladies Cover

Lookee what I found!

In a video directed by Dante Russo, Melinda taps to Sara Bareilles’s cover of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” I’ve never heard this cover, which is really breezy and charming, and perfectly suited to Melinda’s style.

Whether you loved her or hated or just wanted to see her hang around a bit longer (like me!), I think you’ll want to check out the video, below.

January 12, 2011 I Written By

First Look of tWitch on Bones – Ep. To Be Shown 4th November on Fox 8/7c (Spoilers)

Bones will be on hiatus after this week’s episode. tWitch’s episode will be shown after the break on the 4th of November

Titled 6.04 – ‘The Bones That Weren’t’

October 10, 2010 I Written By

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.

Lauren Froderman’s Tribute to a Friend (Kathryn Also Featured)

I thought this is pretty funny I don’t know who the guy is but somebody can probably help me out here. It looks like there is no relationship between LoFro & Kent afterall

I Written By

Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” – Official Video!!

After getting a sneak peak of the video a while back, we can finally watch it!! Here it is, below:

There are some SYTYCD dancers in there. Let’s play the “spot the dancers” game. Let us know who you catch and the time you see them at.

September 16, 2010 I Written By