Category: Dance on Television

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Dancing With the Stars Season 11 Cast Announced

Via Marie at Ballroom Dance Channel, the new cast will be:

Women
Brandy
Jennifer Grey
Margaret Cho
Audrina Patridge
Florence Henderson
Bristol Palin

Men
Michael Bolton
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino
David Hasselhoff
Kurt Warner
Kyle Massey
Rick Fox

See Marie for more info on all of the contestants.

Personally, I’m excited for Margaret Cho and Jennifer Grey. Bristol Palin – seriously? What is becoming of the world we live in where politics and celebrity are merging like this through reality TV? Is there going to be a reality TV show called The Palins? There probably already is and I’m just too out of it to know about it, right? I never watch reality TV! (other than the dance shows). I don’t know much about any of the men other than David Hasselhoff and Michael Bolton, neither of whom I’m incredibly psyched about. What about you guys?

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So You Think You Can Dance’s Ellenore Teaching at DNA

 

I received news from Dance New Amsterdam that Ellenore Scott, finalist from season 6 of SYTYCD, will be teaching an intermediate / advanced contemporary class there for two weeks starting August 17th. I thought it sounded fun and thought I’d pass on the info to you guys, if anyone is in NY and takes classes. Apparently, Scott has been touring with Janet Jackson and is taking a two-week hiatus from that to teach. DNA is located downtown and has excellent rehearsal studios and a good little theater as well (I’ve seen performances and rehearsals there). The news on them of late has been that they’re in danger of losing their lease, and are trying to reach an agreement with the city. Hopefully they’ll work something out, because I know it’s an important space for small dance companies.

Anyway, here’s Ellenore’s schedule. And check out the rest of their upcoming classes and events here.

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First Gatorade Dancer Athlete is a Woman!

 

I’m really glad Lauren Froderman won So You Think You Can Dance last night. I didn’t think I had a clear favorite until it came down to the time when Cat Deeley was getting ready the winner’s name and I was practically falling off my couch, chanting, “Please Lauren, please Lauren, please!” in my head. I think one of the coolest things about the winner’s prize this time is that Gatorade ad. According to what Nigel Lythgoe’d said earlier, this season’s winner will get to be Gatorade’s very first dance athlete included in their advertising campaign. Very cool someone like this is finally recognizing dance as a sport. And very cool that that first athlete dancer  is female 🙂 When it came down to it, I couldn’t see Kent or Robert in that role – either as an embodiment of dance’s athleticism or as the ultimate winner of the show. I really think the right person won. She was consistently better throughout than the other two and she has real star quality. So good for her and good for the show and good for dance.

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So You Think You Can Dance Season Finale

So, first we go through a re-cap of the season – some of the silly try-outs, the judges’ harsh criticisms of certain contestants, Alex’s injury, all the tears, Adechicke’s becoming emotional over being able to dance a routine choreographed by Desmond Richardson, etc. etc.

Okay, first on, Kent and Lauren do a Bollywood routine by Nakul dev Mahajan. Well, that was really high energy and Kent definitely delivered on that, as well as really camping it up. That was a lot of fun. But what I felt was lacking was his styling. He didn’t pay much attention to his hands, to the shapes he was making and so it didn’t have that complete Bollywood look to me. And Lauren DID do all of that. At the end, he had perfect shaping with the hands. I just wish he’d have had that throughout. Also, those spins – both single-footed and on the knees – didn’t quite look that polished. Judges loved him though, had no criticisms whatsoever.

Next are Lauren and Twitch dancing a Tabitha Napoleon hip hop. Cute concept! They’re both politicians starting out behind podiums and then they come out from behind and have their little battle. As for the dancing, I thought he outshone her.

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So You Think You Can Dance: Is the Show’s New Format to Blame for the Loss of Viewers?

Someone at The Daily Beast sent me this post and I thought I’d pass it on to you guys. The author, Andy Dehnart, provides statistics saying the show has lost a good deal of viewers this season and argues that it’s the new (and constantly changing) format that’s to blame. What do you guys think? I personally think it’s just that the dancers aren’t as spectacular as in seasons past, particularly in ballroom and hip hop. There were too many contemporary dancers this season, and once Alex was out and then Billy knocked off, I thought it got boring. I mean, I’ll definitely watch tonight and tomorrow night since they’re the season finale, but I don’t think I’m going to invest my time in future seasons if I feel this bored by them early on again. Anyway, what did you guys think of this season?

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MELANIE LAPATIN AND BENJI SCHWIMMER STAR IN "LEADING LADIES"

 

So excited! I’ve been hearing about this ballroom-based movie Melanie LaPatin has a role in for a while now and it’s finally being released. It stars SYTYCD season three winner Benji Schwimmer as well.

Here’s the synopsis:

“Nothing matters more to the Campari family than ballroom dancing. When star daughter Tasi reveals she’s pregnant, larger-than-life stage mom Sheri reluctantly turns to her other daughter, Toni, to win the upcoming dance competition. But Toni’s a little distracted since she’s fallen madly in love with Mona. Now Toni is under pressure to pull it together, train for the dance, and find the courage to publicly declare her exciting new love. Packed with astounding dance sequences and an infectious pop soundtrack, Leading Ladies is alternately outrageous and touching, and sure to please everyone from film buffs to dance lovers to Hairspray fans.”

So far it’s hit several film festivals, and if you’re in New York, it’ll be showing at BAM on August 29th. There will also be a pre-showing Q&A with directors Erika Randall Beahm and Daniel Beahm. It’s at 7 p.m.

Visit BAM’s website for more details on the August 29th showing. And here’s the movie’s site for updates on when it’ll premiere nationwide.

Melanie is a natural actress, and this sounds like the perfect role for her (I’ve often imagined her in the Patti LuPone Gypsy role). And will be fun to see Benji on the big screen too. I can’t wait :)

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEMI-FINAL

So, Tyce Diorio guest judges tonight, in addition to the regular three. But the judges’ opinions no longer matter this week; it’s all up to the voting public.

First on is a Tyce Diorio Broadway number to Guys and Dolls involving all four finalists. I thought this was pretty fun though it didn’t really blow me away. Lauren stood out the most to me; she had really beautiful form throughout and danced with a lot of spark, as usual. Kent’s backflips were a trip. The other two were fine.

First on competitions-wise is Lauren dancing an Argentine tango with Pasha. I thought this was really beautiful. More beautiful and romantic than steamy, but I loved it. I thought her leg lines were gorgeous, I loved how she danced on her toes, on releve, throughout, I love how almost balletic it looked. I love balletic-looking Argentine tangos. I think it’s the most ballet-like of the ballroom dances, and I feel like she understood that and drew that out, via her contemporary training. I totally agree with what Tyce said, about how the silences here were golden and she really drew those out. Mia tells her she just became a woman and she laughs. Mia then says she’d just become a woman until she giggled. Don’t the judges say so and so has become a man / woman every week? I think she was laughing because of that. Imo.

Next is Adechicke dancing African jazz with Lauren.

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 6 – THE SEASON OF INJURIES CONTINUES

Ok, where is Billy?

Cat announces that this is the 150th episode, so they have a giant birthday cake. Wow has the show really been on for five years?

Kenny Ortega is joining as a judge tonight.

Argh! So, Billy has hurt his knee and, though the doctor says he’s okay to dance, he doesn’t feel he can. He’ll be in the bottom three tomorrow night.

First on are Lauren and Twitch in a Tabitha Napoleon hip hop. This was fun. Loved those somersaults – wow, what form she has! She really had the attitude down, and you can tell she worked really really hard. Every movement was right on the beat, was totally sharp. She actually stood out to me more than Twitch, which is saying a lot with a hip hop routine.

Next are Jose and Allison in a contemporary routine by Sonya Tayeh. Wow, Allison! She is really blowing me away. That was SO Sonya Tayeh; she did that perfectly.

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 5, OR POST ALEX, SOB!

 

Photo from Jonathan (which Alex posted on Twitter).

Uh-oh, where’s Ashley? Oh, another injury – a rib problem. So, she’ll be in the bottom three tomorrow night, could suffer same fate as Alex.

First on is Lauren dancing a Tahitian dance with Mark Kanemura. Wow, fun costumes. And music! At first I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, and then I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was repetitive movement — knees shaking for the man, hip shaking both side to side and front to back for her. It looked simple but that kind of movement takes precision and concentration to pull off because it is so repetitive and so fast. It’s the type of movement that could look really sloppy if you lose your concentration, you know? Mia says Lauren looked like a “duck in heat.” Hmmm.

Next, Adechike and Anya dance salsa. Wow, some really difficult lifts – I think this is the first overhead one we’ve seen this season, and perhaps even on the show? I mean that was a full-out overhead lift, like you see in classical ballet. And that opening throw and catch with a double twist in the air. It was really exciting to me, but I think the tricks kind of took over and made it difficult for Adechike to concentrate on getting his basic movement right. He was fine and he did all of those crazy tricks right and well, but the hips weren’t all there. It just wasn’t the sexy salsa I’m used to in competitions and in clubs.

Next, Jose and Courtney do a Broadway routine. Well, he did a jump in the air with a multiple turn that was exciting. But that was all to me, unfortunately. He just didn’t have the polish, there was no pizzazz with those jazz hands, the line wasn’t there – his barrel turn was just not a proper barrel turn at all. I mean, he looked like a regular person dancing that. As the judges said, it just showed how little dance training he has.

Now, Robert and Allison do a contemporary routine. Wow, well that’s the first time Allison has really blown me away.

Continue reading “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE WEEK 5, OR POST ALEX, SOB!”