August 13th, 2010 by soullldiva

It’s going to be a show packed with amazing dance–and we get to see all our favorite pieces from the entire season as well! All that before we find out who is America’s favorite dancer on season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance. Let’s get movin’!

First off, let me say that I love Cat’s dress, it’s very ballerina-ish. And I always love her hair. Her stylist manages with extreme precision to style it in a way that it does not look styled, just like she pushed a brush through it after a couple hot rollers and went. Brilliant.

What we are treated to first is a completely amazing, whirlwind, entrancing number to “RA” by Nathan Lanier. This is very high-concept and stylized and just great dancing. The top 11 dancers and all the all-stars are in it, and nothing makes me happier than to see Alex skate out on a chair with wheels and do an incredible solo with only his hands and arms. Makes me tear up. I begin to think this is looking a lot like an LDX piece when it’s announced that Christopher Scott, from yes, the LDX choreographed it. A great beginning to the night.

There are SEVEN choreographers/judged shoved in behind the microphones:
Nigel Lythgoe (we get a montage of his hair, very funny–and I want to see him do the full dance with the kids!)
Mia Michael (we get a montage of her making up words and sayings, I didn’t realize she did that)
Adam Shankman (great montage of all his funny and rico suave faces)
Tyce DiOrio
Stacey Tookey (Emmy nominated, btw)
Kenny Ortega (lahhhve)
Mary Murphy (Mary’s back! Mary’s back!)

First up is the judge’s pick for their faves of the season. Kenny Ortega picks Tyce’s “Shoeless Joe” from Damn Yankees with Kent and Neil. Kenny thought that Tyce’s piece was a great homage to Fosse and the the thing that Kent needed at that monent in the competition to push him forward. I would agree with the great Ortega.

Nigel’s pick is Stacey Tookey’s number with Billy and Ade, “Mad World”. A real moment for Billy, and he left the following week. An exceptional piece of art, and I am torn between this one and Travis Wall’s piece with Kent and Neil as my favorite of the season. I’m sure we’ll see that one later.

First special guest tonight is Quest–which happens to contain all-star Dominic. How does Dominic land on his back like that and not rupture countless vertebrae? Love the music for this, combination of hip hop, disco, and old fashioned vaudeville. Great fun.

Mia’s favorite pick is AdeChike and Comfort with their lyrical hip hop NappyTabs number. Very interesting, as I would have pegged her to pick Travis’ piece. As I recall AdeChike got really emotional afterwards the first time. I do love this piece, I always love it when hip hop can successfully tell a full story. I like it when it just jams, too.

Next is not a pick, but Kent and Anya doing their Cha Cha Cha to “My First Kiss”. I have to say that Kent still pulls the faces, but he’s got it down to an art and a science now. He knows exactly when to pull them, what type and how much. Watch the cha cha again and see what I mean.

Tyce’s pick is another NappyTabs, the clown piece with Robert and Dominic. I can’t decide whether this is ultra cool or ultra scary with the clown makeup. Oh well.

We get a peek around the US at National Dance Day from July 31st. I love that there is a national day for dance and that dance is being recognized as a physical and athletic pursuit, one that you can do to not only express your artistic creativity, but to exercise your body and get into shape, Yea Dance!

Next is a Tap number featuring none other than judge and exec. producer Nigel Lythgoe. And he walks out on crunches claiming a season 7 curse. Suddenly there’s a seven year old on stage saying he wants to tap dance. Well let him tap dance! And he does. Boy he does. I guess no Nigel tapping (sniff).

The next tap routine by a duo of brothers was probably the most entertaining tap I’ve seen since Gregory Hines. Nice treat!

Nigel’s second favorite pick is Lauren and Pasha’s Argentine Tango to “Oblivion”. Oh, Pasha, you haunt my dreams in skin tight black tuxedo pants and patent leather shoes. This is really an outstanding Tango and I love it even more the second time around.

Adam’s pick for the season is Travis Wall’s “Fix You” with Allison and Robert.

OMG. Is that RUSSELL FERGUSON???? Where the hell has he been? Rehearsing with Lil C, I guess! And C really gives the stage up to him for practically their entire Krump. This is a good pairing, they compleiment each other well. I love getting a dose of Russell’s power and energy through the TV. Fab ending slamming down on one knee and jumping back up. Then they flash their abs. Cute.

Mary’s favorite number is Dominic and Jose doing their duet to the music from District 9. I hardly remember this piece. Oh, it’s because I missed it the first time! Love Jose and hate to say I really didn’t care for this one.

Next special guest is the winner of SYTYCD UK Charlie, dancing with Neil. Great lyrical jazz piece, not sure if it shows her uniqueness, but good all the same.

Robert, Lauren and Kent are called on stage right now, in their next costumes. Can we tell what they are dancing next? Yes. One will be eliminated now. Third place goes to: Robert. A disappointed “awww” escapes my throat. Robert is a fantastic dancer who only got better as the show went on, more able, diversified, emotional and available. Congrats to him.

Blue Steel, AKA Adam’s next pick is another NappyTabs number, who are dubbed the “MVP”s of the season (I would agree with that). Lauren and Twitch dance like no tomorrow to “My Chick Bad”. I just love this song because it talks about how bad-ass a gal is.

We get one more look back at my early pick for the winner season seven, Alex. They replay a recording of his Sonya Tayah piece with Allison to Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”. I remember not quite liking this as much the first time around, but I have such nostalgia for Alex that I can see it in a new unit of time and it’s really a heart-wrenching piece. I heart Alex.

Stacey Tookey’s favorite for the season was the Dev Nakul Bollywood danced by Billy and Robert. A harem pants, arm waving, foot slapping great Bollywood piece, Dev’s best for the season and amazingly done by Robert and Billy.

Mia gets to pick last and she picks the only one left to pick: Travis Wall’s “How It Ends” with Kent and Neil. Real perfection in storytelling through dance, excellent from Travis and amazingly well done emotion and moment to moment from the boys. A great way to end the performances.

The group Black Gold performs their fab single “Shine” and it’s too bad they do it through a video montage. Although I like the clips, I think the band deserves the full time on screen.

Ok, what is this super duper huge surprise fabulous guest Cat has been hyping the entire show (and who we have to wait for the results through)? Ellen DeGeneres??? Doing Alex’s part with Twitch for “Outta Your Mind”? Whoa! Ok, I have to say that I LOVE this. It’s light, totally un-serious, adorable and really fun. Ellen is such a fan of dance and of SYTYCD and this was a real treat to have her dance for us, and that she tells America that you can dance and have fun even if you’re not schooled. Alex is obviously thrilled.

Last up, the crowning. Kent and Lauren both deserve the title, and for different reasons. Kent for discovering his artistic roots and his emotional value, and Lauren for her womanly power and willingness to put it all on the line. I have no favorite, I have grown to love them both.

And the winner is: Lauren. I am shocked, but absolutely not disappointed. SO well deserved! And Russell brings her Gatorade bottle with her picture out for her (she of course also gets the exclusive Gatorade contract as they are now acknowledging dance as a sport!)

That’s it for Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance everyone! So glad you could make it through the season with me. I’ll be there for Season 8 next May!

Until then, I have more dance videos, dance quotes, and of course the upcoming season 11 of Dancing With the Stars, so come back for more!

P.S.: I WILL get the performance night music up asap tomorrow, I promise ;o)

August 11th, 2010 by soullldiva

It’s the first of two finale nights on Season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance, and while I regret Alex not being here with all my heart, I wish Kent, Lauren and Robert luck as we launch into the first night of the Top 3 Performances! Who will win America’s Favor? Let’s find out.

First up is All-Star Lauren and Kent with a Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood routine. Can Kent deliver the cheese? And the lightning-fast hand gestures? Oh most definitely. There could have been even more cheese in my opinion, but the dance moves were simply too fast to deliver it. I LOVED the bit where they clapped hands together while Kent was behind her. Great visually, and lots of fun. Judges loved it but did not have too much to say.

Next is Lauren with Twitch doing a political NappyTabs Hip Hop routine. I’m sure she can hold her own against Twitch, so I’m looking forward to this. The first moment with them smiling and shaking hands is funny and very accurate for dueling politicians. Their movements at the podium are super brilliant, I think, and Nappy Tabs has come up with a very cerebral Hip Hop number. Probably not a fave with those who love old school, but a great piece overall. And well danced! Lauren is praised for her strength and trustworthiness as a dancer with a choreographer’s steps. High praise from Mia Michaels. And I love Twitch, he was a cutie-pie with his shaved face and glasses.

Robert drew a Tyce Jazz number with All-Star Mark, and they do it to one of the best songs of the early 80′s, “Whip It” by Devo (I’m still a Mark Mothersbaugh fan, and he’s appeared with Devo very recently on one of my son’s favorite shows, “Yo! Gabba! Gabba!”). Kitschy, flashy, hand shaking, silly, hair-sprayed hair, jazzy fun. And I actually thought that Robert was better than Mark and stood out by a mile. For Mia, Robert is the most improved dancer on the show. Adam Shankman “threw up” with happiness that he danced for the joy and not for the competition (the things that come out of Adam’s mouth…).

Kent’s interview one-on-one with Cat was very cute and funny, just like him. They talked about the “faces” and we got to see a lot of them through a little tape. He does a hilarious bit for Cat where she asked him for happy and he gives her his happy face. Then she asks him for sad and he doesn’t change it. Very Kent.

Kent’s solo is pretty amazing technically and full of pauses within his leaps and jumps and throwing himself on the ground, but I found it very frenetic and desperate. Something he doesn’t really need. Super powerful dancer, though.

The contestants are now paired up with each other (how are they going to do that, is one person going to dance twice?), and Lauren and Robert are doing a Dee Caspary Contemporary. Prop Alert!! Looks like they are dancing with a pillow. Let’s see if they are overshadowed by their prop or are able to integrate it seamlessly. The golden lighting on them is beautiful. And I like the concept of them as a couple just trying to get home, and there are some moves with the pillow (like the last move, and the move where she threw the pillow to him and jumped to him) that are really fantastic. Well done to both of them. Judges love them. I have a feeling that there will not be much negative commenting tonight and I am intrigued by this.

Lauren is now paired up with Kent (I guess they’re all dancing with each other, so how many dances is that, I’m no math major) for a Mandy Moore Jazz number and they are playing the kooky weirdos that they really are and dancing to “Hip To Be Square”, which I always loved for the Tower of Power horns. Fun, simple, silly. And I could have used even more silliness, over the top would have been completely fine with me. Nothing super remarkable about this dance, didn’t seem to be enough of a challenge for both of them, which is echoed by Nigel Lythgoe.

Robert’s sit-down with Cat, he cites his favorite dance as the Travis Wall piece with Allison, which I will concur. He found the hardest thing to be all the ballroom stuff (which he did amazingly flawlessly, btw). His solo was a great mix of everything that got him on the show to begin with, and a nice cohesion with the music.

To now confuse me further, Kent is paired up with Allison for a Stacey Tookey contemporary about a couple having difficulty with maintaining their “perfect” relationship. This is such an interesting piece. You see the love, the hate, the manipulation, the desperation and the emotion from both of them. Emotion Kent, way to go, very real. In fact, he’s still affected into the judges’ interview and I am very moved by him. Mia tells him she loves him. When he tells Adam “you get so invested with the movement and the story, that the steps don’t even matter, ” Adam tells him he just became an artist. CAN I GET AN AMEN???!!! I am very impressed with this kid.

Last woman standing Lauren talks with Cat, and says her favorite dance was the prom dance with Kent. She had never shared and experience like that with someone on the stage before (and she’s not just talking about the very real kiss at the end). Her solo is the most satisfying of the night for me, from the Mary J. Blige music to the to the luxuriously sensual movement and declaration of her womanhood and her saying “I’m here and I want you.” was simply perfection. Bravo. I just also love that Lauren has an affinity for the classic soul. My kind of gal.

Robert is up next with Kathryn for a Spencer Liff Broadway routine to “Cool”. Ooh, I just love that song. It’s so interesting to see this concept for this song since it’s really the Jet’s gang song (and one of the most awesome pieces ever written/choreographed). But SOOOOOOO cooooool. Amazing choreography and amazingly danced (so well, Robert split his pants). Kathryn and Robert shine like neon pennies and Robert once again proves that he can pretty much do anything they throw at him.

Lauren gets to do a Cha Cha Cha with Pasha! Oooh, good, we get to see Pasha again. And coincidentally, the dance is about Lauren seeing Pasha and not being able to contain herself. Pasha shakes his hips like NO ONE can as usual. Lauren is hot and strong and does a damn impressive body roll (I know that’s an odd thing to pick out, but it stuck out to me). Plus, where she jumped with her knee on his shoulder and then he flipped her completely over then set her down so softly–that thing you know? Crazy amazing. Mia said that if she was still dancing, she would want to dance like Lauren. Whoa. I think Mia is making up for a whole season of some really harsh comments tonight.

The last dance of the night I something new, I believe. A “Malevos” dance, which means “gangster” dance, but Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionnuevo (yea! I get to say his name twice this season). The guys are in zoot suits and spats and black hats as they do this. And it’s not what I expect, as they hold each other’s shoulder’s a lot and do some tango like-looking steps. The one moment where Kent jumps up on Robert and then he flips him over was spectacular. Interesting and new, huh. Very powerful from the two of them. Apparently, this is the dance the men do together to practice their tango before they go do it with their women. Even more interesting!

Well that is it, let the voting commence! Who will be crowned America’s Favorite Dancer? We’ll be tuning in tomorrow night to find out!

August 5th, 2010 by soullldiva

We’re here, the Top Four before the Finale to crown America’s Favorite Dancer! Let’s get started. Music Recap to follow this post, so if I don’t mention choreographers, don’t worry, I will!

All four start out in a Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine from Guys and Dolls. And they are excited to work with Tyce! This piece was decent, but nobody seemed to really shine in it. I also was constantly distracted by Lauren’s dress which looked like it was unbuttoned in the back, but I figured out it was just the design. This was a complete dud for me, unfortunately. I did like, however having all four of them perform together. Not much commenting from the judges on this one.

Lauren is up next with an Argentine Tango with Sexy Mr. Pasha. Argentine Tango is my favorite ballroom dance, so I’m anticipating this one. This dance is slow, so it’s deceptively simple (it is NOT, btw). It’s very smoldering, intricate, intense and long moments are taken. The one moment where lifts her up in a sweeping motion and her legs work a little dance was simply exquisite. Lauren does very well in this, I think, but I have to say Pasha is the eye catcher for me, just because he’s Pasha. He really gives on the dance floor.

We look back on where Lauren was before she started SYTYCD, and I didn’t realize she was SOOOOO young! I thought she was at least 23 or something. I give her even more props for growing up on the spot and being mature beyond her years.

AdeChike takes the stage next with All-Star Lauren for an Afro-Jazz number. I instantly love their outfits, that terra cotta color looks so great on them. The song is very interesting and tribal. Unfortunately, other than the beginning moments, this was a low-key dance for me as well, it wasn’t especially sparkly. AdeChike gets the note again to loosen up some more, especially in his back. I just remember his solo to “Woman’s Work” and I don’t agree with that note, but maybe he could let go some more. I didn’t see the celebration that Sean Cheesman’s piece needed here.

Robert gets to do the season’s first Viennese Waltz with Anya. And we get to see Dancing with the Stars’ Jonathan Roberts as a new choreographer! Yea! I love the dragging splits move. Once again, my opinion is that Robert actually LOOKS like a ballroom dancer. He also looks somehow older in this piece, more mature. I really liked this, the movement, the exciting moves that I’ve never seen, really pretty. They also had a great connection, very lovely. Judges marvel at the “straight arm” lift that he did and I realized how hard that was. Robert is good at ballroom!

Taking a look back at Robert, he really loves his mom and Step Dad. He also lives with Season 6′s Channing in North Hollywood and it’s fun to see them move all the furniture back and dance in their apartment.

Next, Kent gets a Dori Sanchez Disco with Courtney. Yea! I think there’s only been one disco routine this season and I’ve missed it dearly. Dori knows how to do it hard, hard, hard and fast, fast, fast, so I am anxious to see how Kent copes. There needs to be fun, party and hot moves for sure. I have to really admit that Kent is a good partner, very very strong for a smaller guy. This is a much slower Dori Disco than I’m used to and I’m wondering why! BUT–Kent’s super fast spin with Courtney across his shoulders is jaw-dropping. Crazyness! Kent’s comment about not being very big was cute. And Judge Nigel Lithgoe was right, there was no cheesiness from Kent in this dance. Amazing. Mia and Adam thinks it’s his worst performance.

Kent seems to not have changed at all since right before he came to the show, he’s still a ball of crazy energy. And a great dancer.

Lauren is paired with Ade to do a Sean Cheesman Jazz number, and she’s playing the part of a black widow. The lights are too bright again here, as they were for Sean’s first number. This is an interesting Jazz piece, I’ve never seen anything quite like it, mix of African and Jazz and Hip Hop. Lauren was incredible, though, and Ade’s lift of her from her upside down was mind-blowing. Could have used a smidge more sexual chemistry between her and Ade, as Tyce echoes. Nigel proclaims that Lauren will be in the finale. She gets extra points for dancing jazz in heels.

AdeChike and Kathryn are put into a Desmond and Dwight (Complexions) Contemporary piece. Desmond is AdeChike’s inspiration for becoming a dancer. This was a great piece that really showed their love for dance and their enjoyment of dancing together. Who wouldn’t love dancing with Kathryn McCormick? AdeChike is spanked again for not going to the limit of his abilities the whole time. The judges really want more more more from him. But it looks like unless America comes through, he won’t be in the finale.

As we look back on AdeChike, we see that it is not cool to be a male dancer when you come from Brooklyn. Glad he flourished and prospered and did not give up. He’s a doll and he deserves success.

Robert and Dominic pair up for a NappyTabs Hip Hop routine. They play two clowns in a circus who find out they’ve been fired, and it looks like this is a perfect opportunity for Dominic to cut it up and Robert to join. But this is also the “darker side” of clowning! This is super fun and I love the integration of clowns with hip hop, plus the balloon, very cool. Not super technical, but Robert does well. Judges love it and him. Mia loves the “Hip Hop Theater”. I love that term!

Last up, Kent joined Neil in a Travis Wall Contemporary. This is a story of friendship and betrayal. I adore male dances, so this should be good. I really, really loved this piece. It told such a story about friendship and love and what we can do to each other when the degree of love is so high that it can also be as equal the degree of hate. Very heart-wrenching and real and personal from these two dancers (and Travis). Excellent. Kent shows up with all heart and no cheese and inspires Mia to tears (wow). Kent is my late choice for the winner of season seven.

With that said! We move on to the elimination show tonight. Which dancer will NOT make it to the finale? Tune in tonight and find out!

July 21st, 2010 by soullldiva

Yes, there have been a LOT of upsets on Season 7 of SYTYCD. Two of the best dancers are gone, and not because of lack of votes. My first pick for early choice to win is gone. The best female dancer on the show is gone. What NEXT? Billy Bell sidelined with a knee injury? Oh, what’s that? Billy’s injured? Oh.

Gorgeous, wonderful, teddy bear Kenny Ortega is a guest judge tonight which is really amazing and a great treat for us. Sa-weeeet!

Does anyone know what Cat Deely is wearing tonight? My husband said it looked like her original dress had static cling and picked up a red scarf. He has a point.

First up: Last girl standing Lauren and all-star Twitch with a Hip Hop routine. I’ll give this to Lauren she is one powerful dancer. She’s got muscles and she’s not afraid to use them. She works this dance within an inch of it’s life. What about that rollover she did–twice? What? Cool. Not my favorite NappyTabs number, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Judge’s love it and her. Nigel noted that Twitch looked like he’d been “ridden hard and put away wet.” Ooh, baby.

Jose is next with all-star Allison for a contemporary number with Sonya Tayeh. A sad, breakup contemporary number, which will be interesting to see Jose in, since he’s super good at loving the girl. And Allison says she melts when she’s around him. Hmmmm… The dance starts on the edge of the stage which is awesome, we’ve not seen that for a while. Jose really got nailed bad last week for his dancing and I’m not certain that he pulls it out here, either. He’s very into the acting and the moments with Allison, though, to his credit. But then again, there is not much dancing for him to do here. The piece is mostly acting. Very quaint and sweet. The judges have trouble critiquing it, as his performance was great but his dancing didn’t seem to shine because of what she gave him to do.

Robert is paired with Lauren for a Tyce DiOrio Jazz routine. The boys are fawning (or is that foaming) over Lauren and her juicy booty. Sexy dance indeed for the two of them, along with sexy music from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult…although I am left a bit unimpressed with the entire thing. It was good, though, don’t get me wrong. I just wasn’t blown away. Mia noted that it was refreshing to see just a strait jazz piece with no story. The choreography was good, but I do miss story (that’s my thang and all). Judges loved it and Robert.

Little Kent is matched with Kathryn for another Sonya Tayeh number, but jazz this time. Hopefully Kent can contain his love for the audience this time. I love this piece from the music to the costumes, to the great choreography. The chemistry is there between them, but is more like sister and brother rather than romantic. But it works for them because the both of them are so sweet. This is just tons of fun. And the song, “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae is just first rate music, I’m checking into her right now. Mia gets on his case for making the choreography “juvenile” with his facial expression. I really see her point, but it seemed to work in this piece. The other judges love him.

AdeChike gets to do a NappyTabs Hip Hop with Comfort next. This one is a bit more serious than the cowboy one, so it should be interesting. Not to mention she really smacked the hell out of him in the rehearsal (did you see the slowmo?). Lyrical Hip Hop? We’ll see. Oooh, props on the stage! Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’” lends itself so wonderfully to hip hop, yet is not the usual driving music. I liked it. I think that it needed a bit more of the softer side of the love to match the violence, but it was very good, especially Ade, he really was moved by the scenario, you could totally tell. It was very raw and real, and very cinematic, as the judges said. Nicely done by AdeChike!

Lauren and Robert are the first contestants to be paired together for the night, and get to do a Dmitry Chaplin Samba, set at a beach party. Lauren’s butt is a lethal weapon, ya’ll. I’ve never seen a behind cocked up and rolled so much. Pretty amazing stuff. She shot me with her butt. This was a non-traditional samba, pretty cool, though. I love Dmitry. They did a great job, very clean, precise and lots of shaking and rolls. Robert really looked like a ballroom dancer, wow!

AdeChike and Jose get to do a…Paso Doble together? Two guys, very interesting concept. Will Dmitry and the boys be able to pull it off with the concept of them fighting over the girl? I think the Paso is the most challenging dance anyone will ever do on the show for so many reasons. It is unfortunately clear who the more technically accomplished and undoubtedly better dancer is here, folks. It is kinda unfair to pair Jose with AdeChike. But on the whole, it was not so bad, they were both committed to the piece and had connection.

The last contestant pairing is Kent and Billy. Will Billy bring Kent down to earth or will Kent send billy up into the stratosphere? We’ll never know, will we? Nor will we ever get to see Billy do Step. And I’m disappointed, because for two contemporary/ballet boys to do straight rhythmic movement would be something to see. Twitch gets to do the routine with him which is fine, but defeats the purpose of having two ballet boys do it. I much prefer stepping with a large crowd of men, I think it resonates better and has more power. But I think it’s great we get to see a new style on the show, one that doesn’t get much air time on national TV (Tahitian dancing, Russian dancing, what’s next?) Not my favorite thing, but done pretty well. The judges gush over it and that’s…okay. Mia says Kent is the one to beat. Mia, love ya, but we’re not on the same page.

The standout solo of the night is the only one I’m going to comment on and that’s AdeChike’s solo to the infamous “Women’s Work” covered by Maxwell. This was an absolutely superb solo, and I could not take my eyes off him. I was a little nervous for him using the song that was already “done” two season’s ago with Tyce’s cancer piece, but no. He ripped his heart out and left it on the stage. Perfection. Ade is officially my new front runner and favorite dancer on the show. Can I get an amen?

That’s all for this week, it’s whittling down to the best of the best. Who will go home tomorrow night? Let’s hope it’s due to votes and not an injury. Cross your fingers, people.

June 11th, 2010 by soullldiva

I’m still not certain how the new format for season 7 of So You Think You Can Dance is going to sit with me. All I know is, I had a frickin’ BLAST watching the introduction show, where all the dancers are showcased with their respective “all-stars”. No pressure this time around, no cutting this week, it’s all fun and hard work and lots of sparkling. The only thing I will say about cutting 20 down to 11 is that 9 new dancers lost out on the chance to be on the show. But we won’t get less dancing, so I guess I am satisfied.

The show stared off with a gigantic, explosive bang with a Wade (thank you gawd) Robson dance: Teaparty and Croquet anyone? Only Wade can turn something stuffy into a hawt, cutting edge dance. On grass. To “Fame” by David Bowie. I watched it three times in a row. Love. It. Let’s treat ourselves again, shall we?

This is most likely the last chance that we will get to see the Top 11 dance without (or nearly) a care with phone numbers or judges’ thoughts. And a dancer who dances with the knowledge that nothing negative will be said about their performance on prime-time TV is something special to see, ya’ll. Free expression and excitement on a level that is causing me to salivate in my Venti Iced Green Tea with 1PCL.

Let’s get going. First up is Lauren and Kent, dancing a Travis Wall number with all-stars Mark and Kathryn. How do you even describe this? The costumes are complicated and rock with parasols and cravats–and don’t upstage the dancers. Fierceness and grandness with fire in their eyes. Travis tells us it’s set in the 20′s in Paris and about the dark and twisted souls who come out at night, celebrating the fall of an empire. Totally got it. And Mr. Wall is now my favorite new choreographer for this season. I have my stand-bys with Wade and Mia, but am looking forward to much more Travis.

Alexie (finally made it!!) and Melinda are up next doing a Tyce DiOrio jazz number with all-stars Allison and Lauren. Ooo, and it’s a Sweet Charity number. A little predictable for four girls (or West Side Story), but he girls are pure pleasure to watch, and the song is so character driven how could they not get that much into it? The only thing I miss is the live singing (but that would be a different show). LOVE the dresses. The red one shouldered one on Allison is my favorite. Love that Cat wants to come up and pose with them on the stage. And even though I thought there would be no negative notes, Nigel felt the need for the critique for Melinda, shame.

Jose, the lone B-Boy in the top 11 is next doing a TappyTabs number with Comfort, Twitch and Dominic. What a crew. I love the beginning, bedcuase it’s Jose vs. the three all-stars, like they want him out, and it also makes it easy for him to dance solo. Sweet booty shake by Comfort! And OH what a move putting the feet inside the hoodie and doing a backwards somersault to reveal his shirt–he’s part of the group, ya’ll. Very cool, high, energy, great  stunts. Fresh NappyTabs, baby.

Did I just hear the words Jason Gilkison? Oh yes, I did, and it’s coming up for all-stars Pasha and Anya and newbie ballroom hottie Cristina. Two girls, one guy and a big competition. Amazing lift and flip of Anya over Pasha’s shoulder. Jason does it again with an incredibly hot ballroom number that breaks the mold. I’m getting chills. You get that they BOTH really want the guy and are fighting for him. Loved that they stretched out the ending and the girls led him on then pushed him to the floor. Go girls. (and another critique again, Nigel? Ugh.)

Celebrated returnees Alex and Billy are next dancing a Mia Michaels piece with Ade (love him). Mia gets to talk about the piece beforehand, and speaks about time and the journey of life for a man, from childhood to the infirm age. Billy is the boy, Alex is the man and Ade is the elder. Beautiful lines, amazing extension and a huge amount of emotion laced right in. “This Bitter Earth” plays and these three men dance their lives out on stage, this is a truly gorgeous piece and not overdone in any way, IMO. Storytelling at it’s best. Thanks, Mia.

Adechike, Ashley and Robert are the last three doing a Sonya Tayeh number with all-stars Neil and Courtney. The costumes leave a bit to be desired, but I love the combination of a little hip hop and classic jazz moves. Sony a knows how to do that best. Just plain fun. And I love Sonya because she loves dancers and loves making them give all they have.

Next week the competition stars for REAL. I hope my nails can grow a little more!  I’ll be there watching.

Didja love it, didja hate it? The stage is still the infernal new stage, but no video projections. What do you think? Let me know!