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!

January 28th, 2010 by soullldiva

Last week we learned that the famed Mr. Adam Shankman (judge on So You Think You Can Dance and director/choreographer of Hairspray) would be holding auditions for dancers in the 82nd Annual Academy Awards Telecast. A story by Sandy Cohen was published on the ABC Entertainment website and gave a really nice, personal recount from three dancer’s point of view. Pictures were also published of Adam with Travis Wall next to him, and Adam dancing with the auditioners. Really great to see him in action! You can read the full story here. Enjoy!

Producer and choreographer Adam Shankman, center, watches a dancer perform during open dance auditions for the 82nd Academy Awards Telecast in Burbank, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) (AP)

Producer and choreographer Adam Shankman, center, demonstrates a dance move during open dance auditions for the 82nd Academy Awards Telecast in Burbank, Calif. on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) (AP)

January 20th, 2010 by soullldiva

Think you got what it takes to dance for Adam Shankman on the 82nd Academy Awards telecast? Well then, get your buttinsky over to Burbank, CA this weekend and audition! Eat your Wheatiesand “Break a Leg”!!!

Check out Adam’s video invitation to dancers and the press release here on the Oscars.org website. Ciao!

January 20th, 2010 by soullldiva

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!

January 19th, 2010 by soullldiva

The LA Times today published a great article by Vincent Boucher on costume designers for So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With the Stars. This is a great read and gives a little insight on what goes into the creation of costumes for these talented dancers. He spoke with Soyon An who designs for So You Think and Randall Christensen (who is incidentally a former dancer) who designs for Dancing With the Stars for the story. Check it out here on the LA Times site. Enjoy!

'SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE': Show judge Adam Shankman says costumes affect how viewers see the acts. Shown here: Russell Ferguson and Noelle Marsh. (Mathieu Young / FOX)