Tag: So You Think You Can Dance

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My Favorite Dance-Based Workouts

I’m just not a gym-goer. I never have been. Even when I lived in an apartment complex with a small free gym for its tenants, I just didn’t go. Working out needs to be fun, and for that, I need to be in a class with other people and an entertaining teacher. And I love dance!

So was so happy when I moved to L.A. to find an absolute abundance of dance-based workout classes. There are a bazillion, and I tried practically all of them. My favorite quickly became Cardio Barre (pictured left).

It’s very ballet-based. One of my teachers actually calls it “ballet on crack!” It’s basic ballet – with tendus and grand battemants and deep plies and arabesque holds and kicks and releves for calf strengthening. They teach you what everything is when you take a class; you don’t have to know the terminology! But unlike a regular ballet class, this one adds, as the name implies, cardio. So you’re doing everything very fast to spiked-up pop music. In addition to burning off calories by working up a good sweat, the instructors teach you how to extend your lines and stretch and strengthen so that you’re toning your muscles as well as elongating them. So you build long, lean muscles – like a ballerina – instead of just bulk. I love it.

When I first moved to California I gained a lot of weight – about forty pounds! Basically all the sitting in cars and eating Mexican food. I was used to walking all around New York, and NY did not have very good Mexican food. I credit Cardio Barre with losing all of it. I’m serious. I dieted a little bit but I still ate what I wanted. It was the workout that made the difference. Plus, it just makes you feel pretty while you’re doing it – like a ballet dancer 🙂

Today, I had a teacher who had actually competed on the very first season of So You Think You Can Dance. She was really encouraging everyone, and handing out these words of wisdom about moving better and improving your body, and just about life in general. It reminded me of the yoga teacher in Maria Murnane’s delightful novel, Katwalk, about a young woman gaining courage to make big changes in her life – my favorite type of story. Part of her acquiring that courage came from a yoga teacher’s simple little words of advice before and during class. Like the classic hairdresser / therapist but teacher / therapist instead!

I’m also a big fan of LaBlast. This was founded by Louis van Amstel of Dancing with the Stars and is a Latin-dance-based workout. I love it for obvious reasons 🙂 It’s kind of like Zumba but more Latin than Hip Hop. Not that I don’t find Hip Hop fun; it just doesn’t look as good on my body, or I just seem rhythmically challenged or something. I just like Latin better. So LaBlast is a lot of the Latin ballroom-based steps but with more cardio, kind of bouncier and done in sneakers rather than heels.

 

Third is hot yoga. I don’t know if yoga is officially dance-based but it always feels balletic to me with the stretching and strengthening, and even acrobatic in the more crazy poses. It’s just classic. Yoga always relaxes me – especially in a nice, darkly-lit studio, like the one I go to (Aura Yoga). I can really clear my mind when I’m cocooned in that little room, in those deep stretches. And the poses build a lot of core strength, which is so important to prevent injury when you dance or do other kinds of workouts, or just in everyday life, lifting things and whatnot. The more strength you have in your center – your abdominal muscles – the less stress you put on your back or hips. I always love stretching and the feeling of lengthening my muscles. And if the room is heated to 85 degrees or above, you can go really deep in to those stretches. Plus, being from AZ, I love heat 🙂

Did I miss anything? Do you have any favorite workout?

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A CHANCE TO DANCE Premieres on Ovation this Friday, August 17

Reminder: A CHANCE TO DANCE, a new show on Ovation TV, where dancers throughout the US audition for and learn a routine created by Britain’s Ballet Boyz to be performed with the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE TOUR, premieres this Friday evening. The network sent me an advance preview and I really think this one will be better than many of the current shows — a big reason being that it seems to be more focused on – hello- dance. Most of the footage – at least what I was sent – is of Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt — the Ballet Boyz, both of whom danced with the Royal Ballet — actually rehearsing the dancers. They talk a lot about the choreography, about what they want from the performance, about what makes a dancer captivate the audience, about all the aspects of a show that really make a performance work, including, very importantly, the right music. Trevitt says at one point that great music can save bad choreography but the reverse is not true, which I found interesting…

At one point, one of the men (I think it’s Trevitt again) tells a dancer he’s focusing too much on technique, not enough on performance, which of course I love! As they rehearse the dancers, they’ll call out the name of the ballet steps, giving the audience insight into the dance, into this rarefied world. The backstage melodramatics, at least from what I was shown, seem minimal.

Here are a few clips.

Meet the choreographers here:

One on Trevitt’s dance tips:

Allison Holker’s dance tips (you’ll remember her from SYTYCD)

And a couple funny ones — Trevitt learning to pole dance:

And the two Brits in a Texas road-side shop trying to find clothes that will allow them to fit in with the locals, and a place to go dancing:

For more info on finding your local Ovation station, go here.

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A CHANCE TO DANCE Premieres on Ovation August 17

A few weekends ago, I was invited to participate (via Skype) on a Dance Critics Association panel about dance on television (read a detailed write-up in Dance Magazine). Moderator Lisa Traiger mentioned this new show, A Chance to Dance, produced by the Lythgoes (Nigel, and son Simon) that was set to premiere soon. So I was really excited when Ovation network sent me more info. It’s going to premiere August 17th on Ovation (an arts and culture cable channel), and appears to be a more arty version of the popular shows like So You Think You Can Dance, or perhaps a kind of combination of that show and Breaking Pointe.

It will follow the formation of a dance company, helmed by Michael Nunn and Billy  Trevitt, the duo behind the well-respected U.K.-based Ballet Boyz. In the first few episodes, they will choose their dancers – and this will be the dance competition aspect of the show. Then, once the company is formed, they’ll begin choreographing and preparing for their first performance. This will take place at the esteemed Jacob’s Pillow, which, if you’ve ever been there, you know it’s the complete antithesis of Vegas, or Hollywood. I love it! The company will then tour with the SYTYCD tour.

Below is the flyer:

I have high hopes for this one; I like the Ballet Boyz. So, mark your calendars. More reminders as the date approaches…

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Los Angeles Ballet’s “Next Wave L.A.”

 

Last weekend my friend Christopher McDaniel (a fabulous dancer with Los Angeles Ballet!) invited me to Santa Monica to see the company’s “Next Wave L.A.” program. There were four pieces by four contemporary choreographers – including two who regularly choreograph for So You Think You Can Dance. I really enjoyed the whole program. I think contemporary looks very good on this company.

The first ballet was Colony, by Kitty McNamee. McNamee is the artistic director of Hysterica Dance Company, a Los Angeles-based company. She’s choreographed for Julianne Hough, Margaret Cho, Vanessa Williams, Anna Netrebko, and the women of The L Word among others. All of the ballets were on pointe, which happily surprised me, since much of contemporary ballet seems to eschew toe shoes. But other than that, Colony, about a group of men and women who seemed at times at war, at times at peace with each other, bore little resemblance to ballet, instead seeming more modern, with sharp, staccato movements and angular lines. The women wore white, flowing gowns and I found it interesting how the lyricism of the clothing and the women’s free flowing long hair were sometimes at odds with some of the sharp movements.

The second piece was called Duets in the Act of… and was by Sonya Tayeh of SYTYCD. This one was my favorite overall, and the photos posted here (courtesy of Los Angeles Ballet) are from that dance.

 

There were four duets: “Cold Desperation, “Artificial Seduction,” “Fleeting Nostalgia,” and “False Ego.” Each was lit differently (by Ben Pilat) which helped contribute to the changing moods and tones of the relationships. “Artificial Seduction,” my fave, was replete with lots of snaky, sinuous, seductive moves. I also liked “Fleeting Nostalgia,” where we saw some of Tayeh’s more signature shapes that manage to be simultaneously sad and funny, ethereal but human, like two dancers doing backbends over each other, then walking that way, a bit crab-like. Tayeh is always so original and clever, and intense.

 

Third on was Sirens, by Josie Walsh, a former dancer with the Joffrey and the Zurich Ballet, who has choreographed for a lot of TV and opera, particularly rock operas. The sires here are those Odysseus encounters, except the men are dressed more modern, in garb that reminded me of cowboys. This piece was really beautiful, with some lovely music by Paul Rivera Jr. that gave it a bit of a new age-y feel.

Last was Be Still by Stacey Tookey, another SYTYCD alum. Hers was a study on time, on the ways it can pass so quickly, how we sometimes want it to, and sometimes long for it just to stand still. There were many literal evocations of time here – like two men swinging a ballerina’s leg back and forth, like a metronome – and many more metaphorical. There would be “fast” dancing – like a group of men doing high corkscrew jumps, long jetes – interspersed with slower, calmer movement, like women standing in place doing port de bras, or very slow-moving floor work.

A Facebook friend, Leslie, asked me if I knew of any videos, particularly of Tayeh’s work with the company. I found a few of the company’s Next Wave rep on YouTube. Here’s one of the season overview:

And here’s one of Tayeh rehearsing with the dancers:

You can find more on YouTube on LA Ballet’s channel, here.

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Winner Melanie Moore Explores Reasons for Her Success

 

On Friday, I was invited to participate in a press conference, via phone, with Melanie Moore, the 19-year-old contemporary dancer from Marietta, Georgia, who just won season eight of So You Think You Can Dance. I thought I’d share some of what she said, especially what she attributed at least some of her success to.

She attributes it to discipline and work ethic, unsurprisingly. She said she and Marko, her partner for the first half of the season, were the only couple to rent studio space outside of the regular rehearsal space they were given by the show’s producers. She and Marko would go to the studio and rehearse for a few hours after hours at the regular rehearsal space were over. They’d stay until about a quarter til midnight and practice over and over again their routine for that week. She’s thankful to Marko, who allowed himself to be pushed so, and said he was a wonderful partner.

She was surprised she’d won. She really thought it would be Sasha, she said, mainly because the judges kept telling her throughout that she was a favorite, and usually favorites don’t win. Plus, Sasha had improved a great deal throughout the show, and audiences love that. They love to root for someone. Another thing she attributed her success to was not allowing herself really to be affected by the judges’ continuous praise of her performances. She knew they could easily jinx her or that she could let their praise all go to her head, but she didn’t allow either to happen. She just took every week as it came, didn’t think about the judges’ comments from the former week, and just tried her hardest to do as well as she could with the new choreography.

Asked what’s ahead for her in the near future, she answered that she’s just going to relax for a couple of weeks. Her boyfriend is returning to school in Georgia and she sweetly said she’s going to help him, let it be all about him for a change. She was nice and polite, and sweet, by the way, without being overly giggly. She seemed very sophisticated and mature.

As for her professional future – she’s currently enrolled at Fordham University as an art major. She may re-think that and major in dance instead. She’d chosen the art major (she specializes in oil paintings, and likes portraiture) after lengthy conversations with her mother. She realized a dance career could be short – she could be injured – and wanted something else to fall back on. After she tours with the show, she’ll move back to NY and likely continue at Fordham, though she’ll also try out with various companies. Her goal has been to dance in a company, since that is what her movement style is most suited to and that is what her dream has been. She’d really love to be able to sustain a living dancing though. She said she’d also love to tour with someone like Lady Gaga (Gaga had made that suggestion when she guested on the show), and she’d love to be in a movie, like Dirty Dancing (director Kenny Ortega had also suggested she might be cast when he guested on the show). She has no formal offers for tours or movies at this point, though. She may want to choreograph at some point. She’s never considered herself much of a choreographer, though she’d like to get more exposure to that, and try. She definitely wants to return to SYTYCD as an all-star. She laughed when she said she told the producers many many times, since making it into the top ten, that she couldn’t wait to return.

The dances she struggled most with were the American-style tango, because of the closed handhold, which was so unnatural to Marko and her. She also struggled with hip hop since it’s so far from her style. But tWitch really helped her when he partnered her. She was extremely grateful to him.

When asked what she planned to do with the award money, she laughed and said she really didn’t know but thought she’d buy a really nice piece of luggage since she expected to do a lot of traveling. The rest she’d probably put away. One of the media participants asked her if she planned to buy something big, like a car, and she quickly said, “No, no. I don’t want to drive. I want to go to New York!”

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Literary Aperitif

Hi guys – I’ve just begun a new Tumblr blog, called Literary Aperitif, pairing two of my loves (other than dance of course): books and booze. I wanted to call the blog something along those lines but didn’t realize there were about 100,000 websites, meetups, blogs, books, book clubs, webzines, and what have you, all with variations of that name… Anyway, I plan for that one to be photo-heavy, minimalist on words (unlike this blog :S)

Sorry once again that I’m so behind here. Part of the reason for that is that I write so many review-style posts, and it really takes a long time (as opposed to posting pics and doing mini photo-based essays, which takes virtually no time at all). And I haven’t had a lot of time since I began working full time plus again. Nevertheless, I maintain fantasies of spending this weekend blogging about: the Mariinsky at the Lincoln Center Festival, the Royal Danish Ballet’s recent visit to NY, the Paris Opera Ballet’s Children of Paradise (streamed live via Emerging Pictures’ Ballet in Cinema series), the Bolshoi’s Swan Lake (ditto), a wrap-up of American Ballet Theater’s Met season, a wrap-up of So You Think You Can Dance thus far (including what’s been said during some of the Friday afternoon over-the-phone press conferences I’ve participated in each week with the eliminated contestants), and the Manhattan Dancesport Championship held in Brooklyn last weekend. Okay, I’m obviously not going to get to it all this weekend – especially when I have more Mariinsky to see tomorrow and Saturday – but I’ll have material for the rest of the summer, if you can bear with me that long 🙂

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“Live to Dance” Premiere

So what did you guys think of Paula Abdul’s new show, which premiered mid-last week? For people who missed it, it was basically “just” the auditions, but I put “just” in quotes because it seems like this is going to be a rather large part of the show. If I understand correctly, next week will be the semifinals, then the following week the finals. So, short show, right?

The three judges were Abdul herself, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, and music / dance choreographer Travis Payne, who’s worked with Michael Jackson, among others. The grand prize is $500,000 and will go to either an individual, a pair of dancers, or a group. Unlike So You Think You Can Dance, there’s no age limit – and contestants ranged from small children to 90-something-year-olds. And any form of dance is acceptable. Abdul said she simply wants to see “amazing people who live in their own unique abilities.”

So the standard for judging seems very subjective, to make an understatement. Plus, there aren’t separate categories for individuals, groups, and pairs – the winner can come from any of the three. I’d think it would be impossible to judge such a competition. Which makes me question again why all these shows are so wedded to the competition format. This one did kind of have a variety-show feel to it, which was nice.

You can’t really judge many of these contestants from any kind of technique perspective. How can you judge the 90-year-old woman who’d been accepted into the Rockettes what – 70 years ago, and who was just picking back up her young adulthood passion, after her lifelong husband passed away. She could barely move but she could move and that was fantastic. Plus her story – her husband went off to serve in WWII and she had to quit dance to work – nearly made me cry.

And then there was the little girl who tried out in – not sure what style to call it – very earthy-looking ballet without ballet shoes – and who I personally thought shouldn’t have advanced to the semis. She was certainly flexible (as most children are) and she could turn, but her feet and lines were a mess and she really needs training. But she wanted it so badly and she was so sweet, and how do you say no to a child?

And then there were all those groups – mostly hip hop, one from Cuba that was kind of Latin / contemporary – and how do you compare the theatrics of those, who take up the whole stage, to what one individual can accomplish on it?

And had anyone heard of that White Tree Fine Art –  the only ballet company we saw? A pair from the company tried out, and the woman said they’d worked with Michael Smuin before he passed away. I hadn’t heard of them before and thought they were decent, but may have been better if they’d just stuck to classical instead of trying to do something more poppy. I know they were trying to show Travis Payne, who was critical of ballet, calling it “extreme,” that they could make it contemporary, but sometimes that can really backfire. I do love that Kimberly Wyatt liked them so much, and snapped at Payne, insisting ballet is the basis of all dance. So ballet fans know we have at least one person in the world of popular dance we can count on!

I don’t know. I’m going to have to hold off on my verdict until seeing more. So far I think it works as a variety-style show, but not so well as a competition.

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SLSG’s Dance Highlights of 2010

Instead of trying to remember which were my favorite performances of the year, I’m just going back through my blog archives from January of this year and linking to the most memorable posts. More fun that way! A lot happened in a year…

January

Pacific Northwest Ballet made their debut at the Joyce; it was my first time seeing them live.

The Post‘s Page 6 announced that you know who and you know who are dating, and the ridiculous homewrecker attacks began.

Baryshnikov and Annie Liebovitz starred in a very cool Louis Vuitton ad.

February

I totally fell for New York City Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty.

…and Mark Sanchez 🙂

I found myself quoted in Colin Jarman’s book, Dancing With the Quotes.

I also fell for Sara Mearns’s Odette in Peter Martins’s Swan Lake.

On a personal note, my former judge, the esteemed Honorable Sylvia Pressler, passed away.

The Kings of Dance came to town.

Morphoses shocked the ballet world by announcing that Christopher Wheeldon was leaving the company.

March

My friend’s organization, Art for Change, held a benefit for Haiti after the earthquake.

Rasta Thomas’s Bad Boys of Dance announced that Danny Tidwell and SYTYCD’s Jacob Karr were joining the company.

Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon finally made their NYC debut!

I found myself actually getting press for liking Kate Gosselin – or for not hating Kate Gosselin rather – on Dancing With the Stars.

I fell for Keigwin + Company’s Runaway.

I was delighted to receive an email from NYCB ballerina Yvonne Borree’s aunt regarding of all things, my novel.

April

I had my first experience as a dance writer panelist! Thank you, Marc, from TenduTV!

Tiler Peck appeared on Dancing With the Stars in a Travis Wall routine, which everyone was so excited about. But it ended up amounting to not a whole lot…

Roberto Bolle danced a naked Giselle, in Italy of course.

May

New York City Ballet opened their spring season with premieres of Millepied’s Why Am I Not Where You Are and Ratmansky’s Namouna, both of which I liked, though Ratmansky’s had to grow a bit on me.

Baryshnikov returned to the stage.

I greatly enjoyed ABT’s new production, Lady of the Camellias, though most critics panned it.

June

ABT celebrated Alicia Alonso’s 90th birthday with three all-star Latin American casts (plus Natalia Osipova) dancing in Don Quixote.

Yvonne Borree gave her farewell performance at NYCB.

Bill T. Jones won a Tony for best choreographer for Fela!

Philip Neal gave his farewell performance at NYCB.

Natalia Osipova was mugged right outside of Lincoln Center.

Two of the greatest ballerinas in Europe – Osipova, and Alina Cojocaru – gave back to back Sleeping Beauty performances at ABT.

Albert Evans gave his farewell performance at NYCB.

Tap great Savion Glover made headlines by voicing his annoyance with Alastair Macaulay’s NY Times criticism of him – onstage, during a show.

Conductor Maurice Kaplow gave his farewell performance with NYCB.

Darci Kistler officially ended the era of the Balanchine-trained dancer with her farewell performance with NYCB.

July

Carlos Acosta announced his retirement from ballet and his foray into modern dance.

Alex Wong, probably the second greatest contestant ever on SYTYCD was injured and unable to finish the show.

My friend, Taylor Gordon, was profiled as a freelance ballet dancer in a New York Times article 🙂

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s beloved Denise Jefferson passed away.

Nilas Martins retired from NYCB oddly sans fanfare, sans criticism, sans a performance.

August

I interviewed tWitch about his role in the movie Step It Up. Fun fun interview!

I had a blast covering Ailey Camp.

I nearly fell over when Wendy Perron, esteemed E-I-C of Dance Magazine recommended Swallow on Twitter!

September

NYCB began their excellent “See the Music” series.

October

I loved Ashley Bouder’s Serenade.

Emerging Pictures’s awesomely exciting Ballet in Cinema series began with the Bolshoi’s Flames of Paris.

This cool new Lincoln Center-area street art sprouted up.

One of my favorite posts of the year, though it received no comments, was about Anne Fortier’s novel, Juliet. I jokingly daydreamed about it being made into a film, and which of my favorite ballet stars might take the lead.

November

ABT made an historic visit to Cuba and oh how I wished I could have gone with them.

I think I was the only person in the entire dance world to sympathize with Bristol Palin on Dancing With the Stars.

I had a blast covering New York So You Think You Can Dance auditions.

All of a sudden Black Swan was everywhere.

Nearly fell over again upon hearing Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko took the world Latin ballroom title – making them the first U.S. couple ever to do so.

December

My take on SugarPlumpGate.

Black Swan finally premiered which I didn’t love but was happy to have ballet brought back into the spotlight.

I was in awe of Alvin Ailey’s 50-dancer Revelations, staged in honor of the 50th anniversary of that dance. I also loved several other dances in their City Center season – Ailey’s Cry, Ronald K. Brown’s Dancing Spirit, and Geoffrey Holder’s The Prodigal Prince – just to name a few.

Robert Wilson / Roberto Bolle’s Perchance to Dream exhibit in Chelsea was a lot o’ frightening fun.

ABT’s new Nutcracker premiered, which I really enjoyed, almost as much as the Bolshoi’s.

Portman and Millepied revealed they are now engaged and expecting.

I had great fun, despite the crazy snowstorm, going down to Wall Street and covering Judith Jamison’s ringing of the closing bell at the NYSE.

Pretty busy year.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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Dancing With the Stars’ Rock Week

I wasn’t impressed at all with last night’s show. From now on, I am refusing to comment on Paso Dobles that are not Spanish. It is a Spanish dance. Therefore if it is not Spanish-themed, if it is set to rock music, then it is not a Paso. There were no Pasos on last night’s show. And I really dislike Standard Tango unless it is performed by pros, and mainly by the Italians, for some reason. They just seem to do something with Standard Tango that no one else does. Maybe later in the week I’ll embed more YouTube videos of real dancers dancing Paso and Standard Tango, but right now I’m too tired and must go to bed. I have to get up early to go to a sneak preview of a Flames of Paris film, which will be shown in a couple of New York theaters next month! So excited!

The one thing I did like about last night’s show was the ending swing / jive dance-off. When they do these ending dance-offs, they kind of remind me of the 60s and 70s era dance til you drop shows and I think they’re fun. I’m glad Brandy and Maks won that competition. They deserved it. It was their night. Go Brandy! I most liked Brandy and Bristol last night. I thought they both had good, clean footwork and exuded character and attitude in their dancing (which is pretty much a first for Bristol). I liked Jennifer too, even though she was reprimanded for being sloppy. I think she was just trying too hard and threw herself a bit too much into it. That’s sometimes good, but can sometimes damage the dance, especially if you end up throwing yourself and your partner completely off balance. First she almost fell, then Derek almost fell on top of her. Still, it’s better to do too much than not enough, in my opinion.

I have a feeling Rick or Kyle may go home tonight. Maybe Kurt though I hope not! He didn’t have such a good night but I generally like him and think he’s done so well in the past that I want to see him dance again.

 

Also, in other ballroom happenings, Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin are having their biannual pro / student showcase in New York at the Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on November 1st. These are always a lot of fun and you leave the theater wanting to dance, or wanting to take dance lessons, which is the point I guess! I’m told one of the dancing pro couples will be Iveta Lukosiute and Gherman Mustuc. If you’re not a ballroom person you may remember Iveta from her So You Think You Can Dance tryout last season. Anyway, if you’re in NY, it’s a fun night. Go here for more info.

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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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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 :)