And I’m so sorry for that! I humbly beg your pardon, I got caught up in some family and home affairs this fall. I should have more time soon to devote to the love of dance.

I did enjoy the rest of the fall season of Dancing With the Stars and was surprised at how far Bristol Palin actually got. Good for her! I watched her very critically all season and the only critique I had for her was to STOP being embarrassed and really enjoy herself. But geez, you go from speaking at a few abstinence rallies to frickin’ DANCING on national LIVE TV? She did great.

My absolute fave star was Kyle Massey. What a treat to watch. Absolutely the “Entertainer” of the season. I really wish that he would have won. But by the end we knew what would happen.

I knew by semi-finals that Jennifer Grey would win the trophy, especially when Brandy got the boot. Too bad for Brandy. Well done on Jennifer’s part, but I really could have done without aaaaaallllll the draaaaaaaama. I am not a fan of the drama queens. But, congratulations to her anyhow. She worked hard and deserved it.

The new season’s coming late spring, and the new season of So You Think You Can Dance, so I will be back with more comentary and with more dance quotes and lovely dance videos, so stay tuned!

Soullldiva

In keeping with the start of the Halloween season, Darren Aronofsky’s (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) new film is called Black Swan. What happens when you marry ballet and horror? This does:

I never thought I would ever say these words: ballet is creepy, geez. And what about the black feathers poking through her shoulders (shudder). I love Darren Aronofsky, and The Fountain is one of the most beautiful and sad movies ever made. I adore Natalie Portman as well. I will give this one a try!

Yes, I have neglected you, my reader public and I have to apologize.

Chalk it up to a busy personal life: closing on our first home (yea!), attending a busy and long family reunion (fun), and celebrating (and singing at) my dear brother’s dream wedding in Napa Valley, CA. And yes, you will be hearing more about that as there was a LOT of DANCING!

I will be back, if sporadically at first as we move in to our house, to write about all that is beautiful and interesting in the dance world (starting with So You Think You Can Dance, yes).

Until then, all my love!

Sorry for my lack of posting lately, I beg your forgiveness. My family and I are in the midst of a house-hunting frenzy (and if you’re shopping for a house now in SoCal, you know how difficult it can be). Lots of driving around, lots of open houses. We could be close to an offer acceptance, so please cross your fingers for me!

I will attempt to post regularly next week, so continue to tune in for more Dancemomma!

Pardon me while I exercise a bit of randomness:

a dollar sign is the cheesiest

Thanks!

“To dance, put your hand on your heart and listen to the sound of your soul.”    Eugene Louis “Luigi” Facciuto

Luigi Facciuto is a true father of modern Jazz dance (he is even sometimes referred to as “father jazz”). He was a very accomplished dancer when he moved to Los Angeles in the 1950′s to further his career. Instead, he became paralyzed after a serious car accident. He recovered enough to begin working at the dance bar again, but when he would leave the bar and attempt to dance out on the floor, his injuries did not enable him to have the same balance and coordination that he had before the accident.

But that did not stop him. He did so well at the bar, he thought “well, I’ll just take the bar out on to the floor with me!” And he created the very first formal Jazz technique. It’s a technique that I’ve been schooled in for the past 10 years, and if you’ve ever heard a teacher tell you to “push down to go up,” then you’ve used the Luigi technique. So, when you go up on your toes (or releve), you don’t just use your calf muscles to pop up. You “pull up” from the top of your head and “push down” within the space around you. This is the biggest part of the Luigi technique, the opposition. You “pull away left to go right” and so on. It’s an excellent technique and really allows for breath and reach in dance steps.

I love the quote from him above. He overcame the very worst kind of obstacles for a dancer and artist, and he certainly knows the sound of his soul. Because it is the soul of a dancer. Thanks for the technique Luigi. And the love of dance.

You can learn more about Luigi here.

In the midst of all the (kinda sorta) ridiculously grueling pomp and circumstance that was the season finale of ABC’s The Bachelor “On the Wings of Love” (gag), my homey Mr. Tom Bergeron bounced on to give the official announcements. And as it turns out, a few of my rumors were actually correct–wow!

Tom teased us several times with hints such as “the original moonwalker,” “the ultimate Baywatch babe” and “a name changing wide receiver.” The teasing was just too much for me after having to sit through the gawd awful sobfest in Saint Lucia (really sorry for the snarkiness, Bachelor fans). Ugggh! I’ve waited for too long.

OMG FINALLY Tom comes on with…Melissa Rycroft! Does that mean that she’s the new co-host? Oh, more Bachelor to watch…

Whew, Jake just let go the girl who I think is cuter. They both look tortured. Who would want to put themselves through this??

Now Finally Tom and Melissa come back on to make the official announcements. But what is this, they’re only announcing 10? Who is the 11th?

The Official Cast:

Pamela Anderson: For sure she’s going to be fun. And fun to watch bounce!

Chad Ochocinco: There had been rumors about Chad going around for some time, apparently. No cast of DWTS is complete without an NFL football player!

Aiden Turner: I used to be a big soap fan, but couldn’t handle trying to catch up with it after I joined the 9-5 workforce. Aiden is a cutie-pie from All My Children (ABC soap, hello!). Let’s see if he’s got lead feet or wings. Oh, and he’s a Brit, so love the accent.

Erin Andrews: ESPN sportscaster who I’m not familiar with. It seems she’s popular with sports fans “for her beauty” (according to Wikipedia).

Shannon Doherty: 90210′s Brenda comes to DWTS! Hopefully not the ‘tude, though. We’ll see…

Buzz Aldrin: This one was hard to believe, but turned out true. Is he as light on his feet on earth as he was on the moon? Ok, bad pun. Hopefully no stress fractures for him.

Niecy Nash: Ok, I’m gonna love this one. I adore Niecy on her Clean House show, and I know she’s done some outrageous stuff on Reno 911. We’re in for a treat.

Nicole Schertzinger: Here’s ringer #1 for this year. Lead singer of Pussycat Dolls who can ALL dance. But can she Foxtrot and Mambo?

Evan Lysaceck: And here’s ringer #2 for the season. Hello, remember Kristi Yamaguchi? Still loved her, who cares that it came easier to her? But Evan is male, and the game is just a little different for male star dancers. Very interested to see how he does.

Kate Gosselin: Not. A. Star. All I have to say.

And of course, there was ONE more surprise announcement: Mr. Bachelor himself, Jake Pavelka!!  He’s sure cute and he can fly airplaines!  Let’s hope he can dance a little. Put those muscles to use, kid.

Oh, so sad to see no Jonathan Frakes. I was really looking forward to seeing Number One do a little Cha Cha Cha. Sigh.

Tomorrow morning, bright and early on Good Morning America they will be announcing who the stars’ pro dancing partners will be.  I’ll have my laptop out and ready with the insight and wit! Come back tomorrow morning and we’ll have it!

Ok, now I’ve heard it ALL. According to Access Hollywood (a bastion on news accuracy), legendary astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong have been tapped to be on season 10 of Dancing With the Stars. They’re like 80! And while I’m a fan of theirs (of course the Earth orbits and Moon landings were “one giant leap for mankind”), it can’t make for super exciting TV now, can it?

I have to say that this season’s star cast rumors are exciting, cool and just…silly. It’s kinda a “things that make you go ‘hmmm’” area (does that reference age me?). But hey, it’s buzz and if it weren’t exciting, I would’t be BLOGGING about it now, would I? ;o)

Well, once again we will find out if this rumor is solid on March 1st during the finale of The Bachelor. I WILL be watching with bated breath!

In an interesting turn of events, co-host of Dancing With the Stars Samantha Harris (she’s the back red room, wonderful Tom Bergeron is the front stage host) will NOT be returning when DWTS starts it’s 10th season March 22nd. She will be taking up a position as a correspondent on The Insider. Hmmm…while they dress Samantha to the nines and I love seeing her new outfits every week, I will not miss her interviewing style. Safe to say she can give backhanded insults better than anyone that I’ve ever seen. It seems she’s being straightforward, then you go “did she just dis Kelly Osbourne?”

So, it will be fun to anticipate who they will pick to fill the role of human clothes hanger. Any guesses? If I hear who ABC has chosen, I’ll let you know!

So even though it seems like we just crowned Russell Ferguson, So You Think You Can Dance has kicked off it’s season 7 auditions in steamy Miami (is it still steamy in January?). Many of the Vegas Week dancers come from this great city, including season 5 winner, Jeanine Mason. Choreographers who joined judges Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Adam Shankman for the audition process were lovely Sonja Tayeh and “Burn the Floor” choreographer Jason Gilkison.

Here’s a great article by Anthony Jones who spoke to Nigel during the auditions. Nice scoop!