“You know that dream you have where you’re flying? That’s what dance is like for me” Marguerite Derricks
If you’re not familiar with Marguerite Derricks, she is a super fab choreographer who has won three Emmys and choreographed for many movies including Striptease, 10 Things I Hate About You, Donnie Darko, Little Miss Sunshine (can’t forget Abigail Breslin doing those raunchy moves), Spider Man 2, and the penultimate Austin Powers Trilogy.
This lady is a master with seamlessly integrating dance into movies that are neither musicals or strictly dance movies. My favorite is her joy-inducing choreography to the infectious “Soul Bossa Nova” by the Big Q, Quincy Jones, for the Austin Powers movies. Another interesting tidbit–”Soul Bossa Nova” wasn’t written FOR Austin Powers, but was first recorded by Quincy and his band back in 1962. Amazing, doesn’t it seem like that song was just made for Austin?
First, the original:
And the third movie, my favorite:
Marguerite and Mike Meyers really come together in a fantastic symphony of creative choreography and a multi-talented character. There is no denying the fun appeal of snaggle-toothed, spectacled Austin in these numbers.
A lot of the ladies on my forum that I chat with said last Tuesday night: “Ding dong, the witch is dead”. And with that, my least favorite contestant of all time left Dancing With the Stars. She goes on to her new TLC show where she gives people relationship advice. Hmm.
OK–ONWARD. And all of those stars that are left are real contenders for the semis and finals on season 10. Tonight are two dances, one tough and the other even tougher. The Samba and the Argentine Tango, which is my all-time favorite ballroom dance. So I will be tough tonight.
Jake and Chelsie seem to have stumbles frequently, and this week was no exception. I have to give it to him, he sure knows how to recover and there is nothing like a big stumble in your dance to bring you completely out of it, and it’s a challenge to finish (another Tom Bergeron moment: “I hope you enjoyed our salt in the wound slow motion replay”). Pretty good on the Samba, which I think is one of the toughest dances to look good in. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7
Next are Evan and Anna, who also have the Samba. More Hips, More Hips! More hips because Anna will smash your head to the ground if you don’t! Ouch, man. He was so lucky he’s okay, I would not have wanted my neck torqued that way. Their Samba is super good, and Evan even does the Samba rolls well, which are super hard. These two have great chemistry together as well. Bruno gets on him for his lines being too lyrical for the Samba. Carrie echoed him, and Len said it was his worst dance. Bah Humbug, geez!! Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7
Niecy and Louis are the first Argentine Tango of the night. And she asks “Has anyone ever done a funny Argentine Tango?” I want Louis to bust her butt on technique so she gets better scores. He does not disappoint, and I hope it can translate to the dance floor. Good girl on the develope! Keep the cookie away from her, Louis! I thought she worked hard and they did a great job, big improvement. Carrie thinks she’s in the zone, Len thought it was great and Bruno wanted her to stay away from his lunchbox. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7
Erin and Maks bicker like a married couple (oh, right), and he begs her to stay out of her head and just dance. Please do! I’m trying to figure out what the heck she is wearing and my husband says as he walks across the room: “when are you getting pasties like hers?” My friend who was visiting swore they were going to rip off that feather tutu and it just never happened. Maks’ sleeves and shirt came off, though. Thank you Maks. I thought their Samba was decent, but a little forced. And oh boy, Len did NOT like the non-proper Samba and Maks talked BACK! I have never seen that from a pro before. Whew! Judges’ Scores: 9-7-9
Chad drags Cheryl back to Cincinnati for the Bengals draft party in order to get energized. After they get back for rehearsals, Cheryl tells Chad to manhandle her in the Argentine Tango. She really wants him to lead. He’s strong and forceful and his steps are more precise this week. He’s worked hard and it shows. But IMO Cheryl is still leading. The only partner I think she didn’t lead with was Gilles Marini (ooh, Gilles). Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8
I’m not sure what Nicole’s deal is, but she is over over over analyzing everything and driving Derek crazy. Just dance girl, because you can. Their Samba is the partiest, sexiest, gyratingest samba I’ve ever seen. They do a fantastic job of really engaging the audience and it seems like Carnivale is happening in the soundstage. No more insecurities for Nicole, baby. Len grinds them for not having any voltas or botafogos, two essential moves in the Samba. Judges’ Scores: 9-7-10
My underdog favorite is next, Pam and Damian, doing the Argentine Tango. Pam is such a trooper and a pro, she’s been in the bottom two the last two weeks after great dances, and she just presses on. She looks great in a brunette wig and really looks like Raquel Welch, although Bruno calls her Angelina. They dance really great and do some awesome lifts. Every once in a while she looks slightly awkward on her feet, but it doesn’t affect her character. This chick really knows how to act the dance and carries it over to the interviews (“I like being on top”). Some may say that the sexy is just second nature to her and big deal. But I say that it takes skill and style to use it in the dance and make it work. And while she borders on overly bawdy sometimes, she always manages to keep it clean and put a really great humor spin to it. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-8
The Swing Dance Marathon is new, and I love that they have integrated these more realistic style heats into the show. This is what dance competitions look like. Many couples out on the floor, where anything can happen and elbows and ankles do fly. The spectacular thing about Swing is the lifts (“ooh mother of sweet baby air!” exclaims Nicole), they are always fun to watch. Chad seems to think he can strategize his way through this with x’s and o’s and while that’s cute, I don’t think so.
All the couples look so adorable in their bright colors. The guys wear suspenders and the girls halter dresses and spectator pumps. Much fun ensues, and it’s super cute. But the couples are eliminated one by one until they are down to the winners Nicole and Derek (didn’t he win last year in the Mambo Marathon?). They get to add a whole 10 points to their Judges’ Scores for the evening.
Who will be eliminated tonight? I’m biting my nails in anticipation…
If you’ve ever heard the opening piano riff from Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll” then surely the picture that comes to mind is of a stringy high school kid on the verge of manhood, sliding across the living room floor in his button down shirt and tightie-whities. Yes, I speak of Mr. Tom Cruise in the 1983 film Risky Business. “Princeton could use a guy like Joel.” Amen.
To continue where I left off with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I adore when dance is used in a non-dance movie. It’s just so real-life. When you are so excited you can’t contain yourself, you do a little jig. When you are completely alone and want to let loose, you pull out your hairbrush and sing “I Will Survive” at the top of your lungs while gyrating in front of the mirror. When you need to step in for your best friend to do a skit, you dance to “Canned Heat” (uh, what).
Here’s the original, that stands the test of time:
As all iconic images do, they spawn copies, spoofs and tributes. Here’s a quick one from the TV show “Scrubs”:
And another from “The Nanny”:
Here’s the sexiest version I’ve ever seen:
Wow, bazoombas…
How about a bunch of athletes? Kobe, don’t you think those shorts are a little long for tightie-whities??
Throw a cute Brit foodie into a small town of slightly overweight and sometimes touchy West Virginians and what do you get? You get an awesome dance smack dab in the middle of Marshal University! Yeah, WHAT?
That’s just what Jamie Oliver (one of my favorite celebrity chefs) did on his ABC show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. And I have to admit he chose a pretty tough task to go into a small southern town as not only an outsider but a foreigner and tell people how they should eat because it will change their life.
After a very (very) rocky start, Jamie made headway. And one of the first things he did to promote his program and attempt to teach 1000 people how to cook a simple, healthy, yummy meal was to stage a performance at Marshall University (yes, “we are Marshall”, that college). Complete with woks, dancers, spring onions, a sweet song and olive oil. Sounds crazy, ends up being delicious in more ways than one.
How fun was that? I love it when dance is worked into even the oddest of circumstances–or on to television shows that don’t normally have dance in it (that includes movies that aren’t dance movies).
Happy Happy Joy Joy!!
Thanks Jamie, for the little spark of awesomeness on my Friday night.
Tonight on Dancing With the Stars they are continuing with themes and rolling out “Movie Night”–a theme with great possibilities. We’ve already seen The Mask from Julianne and Helio, and Star Wars from Kym and Joey (seasons 5 & 4), which were absolutely unforgettable. Can we hope for some more unforgettable dances tonight? I really hope so!
So a few dances in and everyone is doing fine, I’m just not very…excited. The scores are a little on the low-end as well. When will I sit up in my seat and my pulse quicken?
Here comes Erin and Maks! They’re doing their ode to Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman/John Travolta and the Jack Rabbit Slim’s twist contest. Here is some fun, excitement and great dancing. I thought they did really well, even if there is a little too much cute bickering before in the rehearsals (but are they really dating? That’s the rumor…). They are basically saying there’s something going on, but being very coy about it. Judges’ Scores: 8-7-7
And surprise, surprise (for me), Jake and Chelsie’s tribute to Risky Business was also really fun and well done. I think Jake is a real underdog that might last a while more. I was delighted to see that he did the first 8 bars without pants–a true ode to that iconic image of Tom Cruise from the movie. Judge’s Scores: 8-7-8 (big improvement for him)!
Pam and Damien’s Quickstep to “9 to 5″ (from the movie of the same name) was amazingly cute and Pam is improving even more, every week. I felt that the dance itself had odd musicality with the song, but what do I know–pretty much nothing about the Quickstep. Oh, and Len blasted them for waiting to dance for 16 bars (big no-no in Len’s book). Judges’ Scores: 7-6-8
At this point with Kate (SAVE TONY!!), I am fed up and really tired of watching her. I have never felt this negative about a star on Dancing With the Stars before, and it brings me down, man, and I don’t LIKE being negative. The show would feel so much lighter without her (hint hint, America).
Nicole and Derek bring me back up to happiness with a truly amazing (and really really fast) Tango to “Pretty Woman” (from the movie of the same name). Their cute little comedic timing bits fit in really well with the lightning quick movements–and also made the slow moments matter even more. Super work from the two of them. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10 (woo hoo)!
Finally Evan and Anna’s Rumba to “Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” from Armageddon. FINALLY a Rumba costume that I actually like!! Let me tell you, Evan knows how to do lines and arms like nobody’s business. His hips are good, but could use a little more looseness, but I’ll take it. Gawd, I love that dress. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9
I know I didn’t talk about everyone, but I just want to leave the other dancers be, especially since my favorite, Niecy hasn’t done well for the judges two weeks in a row. If you have a spare vote, she could use it!
Who will be eliminated tomorrow night? Will Kate survive another week to whine more? Will underdogs Pam and Niecy stay out of the bottom 3? Let’s all tune in to find out tomorrow night on ABC.
