April 1st, 2010 by soullldiva

Head judge and executive producer of So You Think You Can Dance Nigel Lythgoe seemed to say over and over in season 6: “The chair is here for you Paula, come and join us!” Well, those weren’t his exact words, but you heard him talk about it enough through the entire season. And did Ms. Paula Abdul show up? No.

Well, that’s very unfortunate for her, because Nigel has officially withdrawn his invitation for her to come on SYTYCD. Pity. Seems her deal for a new Star Search just fell through (as reported by PopWrap).

At first I kinda chuckled about that, you know, “loopy Paula” and all. But then I went, wait. I would have really liked that. I mean, enough with her being a judge, why couldn’t she come on and choreograph? If you will remember back a few years ago, Paula Abdul was the go-to choreographer in Hollywood and the music industry. Yeah, remember “it’s Janet. Miss Jackson if you’re nasty?” I do.

I mean, look. Paula was discovered by THE JACKSONS for pete’s sake, at a Laker’s game. They saw her dancing with the Laker Girls and invited her to create the choreography for their “Torture” video, a process she’s not sure how she even got through. “My only problem was how to tell the Jacksons how to dance. Imagine me telling them what routines to do. I was young, I was scared.” But survive she did and went on to choreograph their Victory tour.

And tell me you didn’t know she choreographed this scene from the beloved american film Big:

I didn’t!!!! (thanks bunches Wikipedia)

Geez, I mean she even did those great African dance scenes in Coming to America (one of my favorite comedies), and she IS an Emmy Award-winning choreographer (for The Tracey Ullman Show and American Music Awards).

What really brought her to the forefront and ultimately, I think, led her to a music career is her close relationship with Janet Jackson during the Control era. And you have to remember that Janet was just coming up, too. Control really put her on the map and set her apart from the Jackson family. And damn if they weren’t hyper-danceable songs.

Ooooooo, I got chills just watching the open dance moves. Hot Hot HOT!! And it’s more jazz than hip-hop (didja SEE the guy do a zillion pirouettes??), something you just don’t see anymore in music videos. Little elements of West Side Story thrown in as well. Hurrah for 80′s stirrup leggings and big jackets with shoulder pads.

So loopy or not, she is a dance icon in America, and in my heart. Love ya, Paula–come back to the dance world!!

March 22nd, 2010 by soullldiva

Wow, what a week for moi!

I am super excited that my very good friend and dance teacher, Maria, is going ahead with her original musical “From the Heart of Love”(TM). I was part of the original workshop when it was done back in 1997 at the Glendale Center Theatre. It was an amazing production to be a part of, as it began with just a really beautiful poem (and was slated to only be a poetry reading with dancing), and grew to be a full-fledged show, with scenes, original music, and all types of dancing from ballet to African, swing to rhythmic stepping (we had a former member of STOMP! in our cast).

Maria and her producers have brought the project out again for a backers audition in August, and we’re beginning auditions tomorrow. The (what turned out to be) huge task of setting up all the auditions came down to me. Now, I’d done this before, but not on this huge of a scale. We’re holding auditions from 1pm to 8pm, and I was to double-book appointments every 10 minutes. That is a total of eighty-six (I spelled it out so I could bold it) appointments to fill.

Now, you think it would be easy-peasy to fill up an audition in THIS town. Yes, I’m talking about Los Angeles. A town where probably half the population is in the entertainment industry in some way, yet only about 10% (or less) of them work regularly. It’s a tough biz, baby.

We had posted casting calls online, and got a good amount of submissions. Maria also had people she’d already worked with the wanted to have come in. First I went through all the submissions (with Maria) and picked out those we wanted to see, then transferred them one by one from the online sites to a spreadsheet with their info and personal notes about them (like, they do Bollywood, or mime) we’d all want to know. That took more time than I thought!

Then the calls. I made over 75 phone calls and got to speak to probably only about 25 of them initially (you artists are busy). Then I waited. And waited. And sent a few emails out, and a few Facebook nudges. And calls trickled in. Wow, talk about biting my nails! I started actual calls on the Thursday before the Monday audition and just now (on Sunday) have filled the day with 56 appointments.

Whew! I’m exhausted. And the auditions are tomorrow!! And there will probably be more auditions before the workshop cast is finished.

But now is where the real fun begins: the discovery of wonderful, beautiful, orignal talent. And what are we looking for? The Individual. As Miss Mia Michaels says, “You are the only one of you.” Damn straight.

Let you know how it goes, cross your fingers for us!!

March 17th, 2010 by soullldiva

I really wanted to find more quotes about dance from Mistress Mia, and I stumbled upon a speech that she gave to her students during a dance convention (called WGI World Championships) in 2009. Her speech is amazing. And it’s great to hear her say it, but I thought that I would transcribe a couple minutes of it. This isn’t paraphrased, but there is a sentance missing here and there in between the paragraphs (dooesn’t take away from it at all). It’s even better when you can read it slowly, then read it again.

“It’s not about tricks at all. In fact I don’t want to see tricks at all…

“What is so important is about the vulnerability that you have to allow yourself to have.

“Everybody moves differently. If you are a B-boy or if you are a–whatever you are, whatever style it is that you love to do, if that represents who you are, you bring that into this space, under this music. You find a way to phrase it, make it yours.

“I want to see you. You are more interesting to me than doing a trick. What I find more interesting is seeing the individual come out, the uniqueness of each individual come out, and how you move.

“You are the only one of you. From the beginning of time till the end of this world to the end of eternity. There’s only one of you ever created. Ev-er. You are the only you. That’s pretty powerful.

“So why on earth would you want to look like anybody else, dress like anyone else, dance like anyone else, be someone else, when you are a legend in your own right?”

Can I get an AMEN?

Gives me goosebumps. The art of dance is the art of the individual communicating their individuality to the universe. Mia’s got it, and she was able to put it into words. I love me Mia. Thanks lady.

March 8th, 2010 by soullldiva

I read a couple of reviews of the Oscars performance last night, and I don’t agree with all of them. There are a bit of naysayers about the hosting, the dancing, the choice to honor John Hughes (as opposed to other Honorary awards recipients), having “NPH” sing for the opening, etc. etc.

I thought it was a good show. For gawd’s sake, people, it’s nearly four hours of awards and presentations! How is Mr. Adam Shankman (director of the Oscars show) going to please everybody, all the time? He’s not, so there.

I thought two hosts, especially such as Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin was a super idea. Hey guys, I loved Chris Rock even more and I’m sure they paid Shankman NOT to hire him again. His first choice was actually Sacha Baron Cohen–a revelation even beyond Chris Rock. But they pulled back on the idea, thinking that it would just be too much for most of the people in the room (much less the rest of the US, who are quite more conservative than us here in Hollywood) to handle. Darn.

But Steve and Alec did a great job. Steve’s quip about both himself and “Gabby” Sidibe’s first starring movie roles were as a “poor black child” made me roll. Too young to know what he’s talking about? Check out Steve Martin in The Jerk,it’s a comedy classic. This was still when Steve was a “wild and crazy guy.”

Now, I do get the protests about honoring John Hughes instead of one or more of the Honorary Awards recipients (lovely Lauren Bacall, bigger than life Roger Corman and outstanding cinematographer Gordon Willis). But, as a child of the 80′s, it was really great to look back at all his films and really know that he knew who I was as a teenager. He knew and was able to display it, with charm, humor, grace and humility, for those of us suffering from teenage-itis to share. He was a great filmmaker and I’m so sad that he had to depart too soon.

And then there’s Adam’s choice to have the John M. Chu’s Legion of Extraordinary Dancers perform to each of the movie score nominees. Popping and locking to the theme from a war movie??–was the protest I heard.

Look. I get it that it was a bit different than your usual fare. But doncha get it? Music–any and all music–inspires movement. And that can be any movement of any kind. So yes, music from a movie about the war in the middle east can inspire LXD to move. And that they did amazingly well. And actually, the piece to “The Hurt Locker” score was my favorite of all of them (and the stunts done for the “Avatar” score were crazy good). Face it, naysayers. Popping, locking, b-boying, breakdancing, hip-hop, krumping, freestyle. It’s all here to stay and they are ALL legitimate art forms.

Yea for Dance! And Yea for a great Oscars night!

February 12th, 2010 by soullldiva

It’s kinda a bummer that a bunch of So You Think You Can Dance videos got taken down. I realize that Fox owns the show, so they get to do what they wish with them. Oh well.

This one from my favorites list is still standing, however, so I get to write about it. I swear, Cat Deely and the Judges couldn’t say “cheeky” enough while talking about this dance. From season 5, Evan and Randi performing a Mia Michaels contemporary to “Koop Island Blues”.

This is a decidedly lighter side of Mia, and I love that as much as her darker side. I’ve always adored mismatched couples, and that’s exactly what you see the first moment in the dance, especially with Randi wearing those stilletto platforms (those come off eventually) and towering a half a foot over Evan. You can just see this slightly dorky guy who can’t believe his luck to get this curvy, sexy bubbly girl on his arm. And of course, the focus of his admiration happens to be her behind.

Mia uses clever and cute choreography to illustrate this admiration and tongue-in-cheek”iness” abounds.