December 14th, 2009 by soullldiva

Ok, I promised that I’d be posting my favorite dances from the past seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. This has NOT been easy. I’m just sayin’, is all. I’m not that familiar with the first couple of seasons, and searching for dances on YouTube can be really frustrating. It seems that FOX is pretty stingy with their videos because they believe it violates their copyright. I say it’s just promotion for the show, right? Oh well. Many thanks to Wikipedia.org for having pages for each season so I can see names and weekly breakdowns!!

I did have some help from a reader also, and she helped point me out to quite a few dances to search for specifically (thanks, Dixly!). However, my first choice isn’t one of hers, but that doesn’t mean a thing, there are so many more to come. These are not in order, they are just fantastic dances. And this one is fantastic, plus, I had never seen this style before.

In season 2, Heidi Groskreutz and Ryan Rankine drew a Cuban Rumba. Heidi thought it was going to be pretty close to the American Rumba, which you see all the time on SYTYCD and Dancing With The Stars. It’s dubbed “the bedroom dance” for a reason, it’s very sultry and slow. However, the Cuban Rumba has its roots in Cuba and Africa as well, and is fast and frenetic. The man communicates to his woman that he wants her and the woman says “no no no” while her movements say “yes” because she wants him,too, as Choreographer Alex DeSilva explains. Yet, they still need to make that chemistry connection and create what I thought was really a courtship/mating ritual dance.

This is a down and dirty dance, mostly done way down in the knees (almost grande plie), arms and shoulders spinning round and round. You can see the influence that Alvin Ailey took from this and infused into his style, and if I’m not mistaken, Bob Fosse was slightly influenced as well.

Plus, their outfits just make you want to put on a wide-brimmed, white hat and sit on the beach with a mojito, extra rum. White with splashes of color in her top and his sash. Really authentic. Watch this and tell me you don’t want to go down south!

Steamy and delicious, and really well done.

Well, thats the first one, many more to come, and hopefully several each week so come on back soon!

November 11th, 2009 by soullldiva

Excitement is in the air as it’s now in America’s hands to vote for their favorite dancers on So You Think You Can Dance. So make sure you DO VOTE, or lament as your favorite dancer is sent home.

I love a good Disco routine, and opening the show with Karen and Kevin doing a Hustle to “Come To Me” was just what was needed to kick things off right. Karen and Kevin are finally really gelling as a couple, and it showed in this dance. They had great connection, and Karen (once again, miss hottie) really sparkled, but in the same way that she has the past few weeks, completely overshadowing Kevin. And as I watched Kevin, I thought “wow, this guy does not have lines like a hip-hopper.” His arms were fabulous, his jete popped magnificently, and his double pirouette was excellent. Once or twice there was a shadow of awkwardness, but they were very synchronized as a couple.

My pick as favorite dance of the night was Ashleigh and Jakob, doing a Mandy Moore Jazz routine to Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ”Relax.” The addition of a cane to the mix did nothing to diminish their dancing, nor distract. Where Noelle and Russell got sidelined a little by their rackets last week, Ashleigh and Jakob integrated their cane directly into their dance, so it became an extension of their movement. There was real relish in their dancing and I thoroughly enjoyed backing up to watch this again. Mandy put together a great piece with super hip movements–and managed to include another Jakob famous leap that blended in well.

Next was Pauline and Peter with the unlukiest draw from the hat, the Quickstep. Fortunately, JT and Thomas created a fantastic routine for them, incorporating great characters and story: an Army GI falls for an island hula girl. This is a great departure from the traditional ballgown/tails, no story Quickstep. Joy, personality and boisterousness erupted from Pauline and Peter as they danced, even if precise technique didn’t. I only spotted one big misstep, and overall they were really fun to watch.

Newcomer choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler created an adorable Broadway number for Kathryn and Legacy. As is the norm for Broadway, big characters and story were at the forefront for Kathryn and Legacy to sink their teeth into. It was a simple tale of the sports loving boyfriend and the put-upon girlfriend.This piece was just so frickin’ cute, I really loved it. They worked great as a couple but Legacy really outdid himself, bending his B-Boy moves seamlessly into the Broadway standard, amazing me with a backwards flip/headstand into an easy chair. This guy is growing in leaps and bounds as a dancer. Judge Adam Shankman wanted more anger from Kathryn, and I found myself agreeing with him, as it would have added a deeper dynamic to the couples relationship that would have cooled the cuteness slightly and made for an even better routine.

New couple Channing and Victor seemed to have gotten the luck of the draw, as they are both Contemporary dancers, pickedConteporary out of the hat, and had Stacey Tookey crafting for them. I really liked this routine that portrayed a toxic relationship and was set to Rachel Yamagata’s “Be Be Your Love” (amazing song). Channing and Victor danced with explosive, emotional movements that were stunning and told the story of two lovers who should save themselves the heartache and call it quits. I saw great connection in their very first dance together with lots of dynamics and sensitivity in their movement. Their emotional roller coaster definitely got to me. Judge Nigel Lythogoe, however, raked them over the coals for not being absolutely brilliant. I can see his point, as they’re both in their element and were able to super-humanly excel. He simply felt they didn’t take it to the next level, and sure told them so. Ouch.

With another big stretch, Ryan and Ellenore took on a Lil’ C Hip-Hop routine where they attempted to find their “swagger.” Swagger they definitely got, and they did pretty good. This was a huge change for Ryan who expanded himself greatly here. Unfortunately this piece just wasn’t a favorite of mine, the choreography fell slightly flat for me, and it lacked excitement. Oh well.

Next we went from flat to disasterous, with Mollee and Nathan’s Salsa. Gustavo Vargas gave them a super cool routine to do, but this was just so far out of both of their scopes that they really struggled with it (and looked like it, too). They were not in synch with each other on many moves, looked awkward on the lifts, and there were several moments where I had to back up the DVR, saying “what just happened there?” This was super tough, and I give kudos to the kids for attacking it with what they had. Mollee rolled those hips fantastically and looked very sexy in her dress.

The evening ended with a bang when Noelle and Russell performed their Sean Cheeseman Afro-Jazz routine. I adore African dance movement, and Noelle and Russell did not dissappoint, throwing their bodies around in the frenetic movement. Sean gave them characters of a princess and a frog, and their story came through as they attacked it and gave their all. I will make no bones about it, Russell is my personal favorite on the show, and I was so happy to see him in something that he could easily excell in (Afro-Jazz is not totally 180 from Krumping). Noelle, as well was able to shine with this movement as her Contemporary style lends itself well to Afro-Jazz. And yes, Russell is still on the Hot Tamale Train. Woo Hoo!

That’s it for this week, please please PLEASE vote for your favorites, or they may not be there next week!

(Images courtesy of FOX and buddytv.com)

November 4th, 2009 by soullldiva

The dancers (well, at least those that are in for the long run) are beginning to “settle in” as the top 18 performed last night on So You Think You Can Dance. More talent is coming through, and nerves as well, and its easy to see at this stage who is going to be eliminated at the end of the night.

I am always thankful that the dancers have Cat Deely as an anchor on stage when they’re coming down off their performance and have to face the harsh reality of the judges. Besides being amazingly tall and devastatingly beautiful (not to mention a fashion maven), she really takes care of the kids and makes sure there’s positive spins on everything, as was the case last night when Channing was called a “sack of potatoes” by Nygel Lithgoe.

Some pieces on Tuesday night fell a little flat, such as Bianca and Victor’s Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine, and Channing and Phillip’s Samba, but there were some jewels as well.

Wade Robson has a fierce, fantastic imagination and was able to look at Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and play with the idea that there were once people in the painting and Vincent got rid of them (which makes them come back for mischevious revenge). He comes up with an amazingly quirky and mesmerizing jazz routine for Peter and Pauline that cranked with immense enjoyment. The dancers really committed to the movement and their characters and it really worked for me.

The only not-so-great thing about this piece was the darn screen in the background, making me so dizzy with a spinning “Starry Night” that it was hard to concentrate on the dancers!

Since Mia Michaels is not on this season (sniff), Wade is now my favorite choreographer. I must have watched his group piece to “Comanche” ten times on my DVR, I loved it so much. His choreography just has a hungry, on-fire attack to it that lends itself so well to the dancers this season. They seem to love performing his stuff (almost as much as I love to watch it)!

Karen and Kevin got a Tabitha/Napoleon hip-hop number where they got to be a manly mechanic and a sexy racing groupie. I realize that NappyTabs is not always a total crowd favorite, but the combination of Karen/Kevin, racing and sex really percolated into something fabulous, clever and fun. Much gyrating! It’s safe to say that Karen is the SYTYCD resident hottie this season (Mary Murphy already put her on the Hot Tamale Train last week). It’s well deserved on her part, as she really made the hip-hop moves work for her, even though she was out of her element. And she plays the sexy card uber well (did we mention she’s sexy?).  Judge Adam Shankman fell out of his chair describing her and the rest constantly say they can’t keep their eyes off her because she’s a magnet on stage.  Kevin has his work cut out for him.

Argentine Tango is by far my favorite ballroom style dance, and last night’s Ryan and Ellenore Tango really delivered. Choreographers Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo created a slow and sultry dance with a ton of precision work with the feet. Ryan and Ellenore smoked on the stage, with a quiet fierceness and “laser-like connection” (Adam Shankman’s words).

Image courtesy of FOX

They committed completely in both technique and the emotion the Argentine Tango demands. In fact, they were so focused that even Ellenore’s dress being caught in the heel of her shoe for about 40% of the dance didn’t faze either of them one bit. Amazing.

So it was with sadness, but no surprise that the two sent home by the judges at the end of the show were Phillip and Bianca, both of them tappers. Well, at least there is one tapper left–good luck Peter, I’m rooting for you from my living room. Hopefully, there are more out there who are rooting as well.

October 28th, 2009 by soullldiva

Ok, yes I realize this was over a month ago, but I don’t watch daytime TV and just stumbled upon this traipsing around YouTube. The top 10 from Season 5 So You Think You Can Dance contestants kicked off Ellen’s season 7 opener with a dance that she joined in on! Very cute.

I love Ellen, she is such a sweet, positive, funny nature.  And I think she’s going to be a shot in the arm to the next season of Fox’s American Idol, which she is now a permanent judge.  Take that you serious curmudgeons Simon, Kara and Randy!  Let’s have some FUN judging on American Idol!!