The popular DanceSport newspaper / website, Dance Beat, now has a web show called “After Hours.” Watch the first, free, installment here, focusing on a recent American Smooth competition, and hosted by Shirley Ballas (for Dancing with the Stars fans, that’s Mark Ballas’s mother). Included is an interesting interview with outgoing champs in that style, J.T. Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki (she’s pregnant, who knew!), along with some lovely footage of their dancing.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: NO ONE CAN TOUCH JAKOB KARR, IMO
There’s some real talent on the show this season — mainly, imo, Jakob Karr (above) and Russell Ferguson (who I blogged about before). I also think Karen Hauer is a true performer who can do just about any kind of dance, and will thus go far.
I was sad to hear Karen announce tonight that she and Matt are getting divorced. They taught at my former studio and I always thought they were a sweet and very in-love couple.
I liked Karen and Kevin’s disco routine, but I again thought Karen sold it; I could hardly watch Kevin! It was a rather Latin-y disco, which shows how much Karen made it her own, and did so very well.
But my favorites of the night were Jakob and Ashleigh’s jazz and Russell and Noelle’s Afro-jazz. More Afro-jazz on this show please please! I thought both did amazingly with that latter routine, although they weren’t quite as good as those dancers in Fela! on Broadway (review coming soon!), who just really really floored me and made me so want to learn African. I have never ever seen people move like that before! But Russell and Noelle’s routine was African combined with jazz and so should have been a little jazzier, less pure African.
Still, though, to me, no one can really touch Jakob. I mean, he always has these stunning leaps in every routine, but it’s not only that, it’s just his whole form is such perfection. They way he’d round his shoulders and kind of hunch over that cane tonight was so creepy — but it was so creepy because it was so real because his whole form transmogrified when he made that shape, you know what I mean?
I agree with the judges that Mollee and Nathan’s salsa wasn’t all there. It looked clumsy at times; it looked like they struggled partnering each other, though I think she in particular would have done fine on her own.
I also agree with Nigel and Mary that Ryan and Ellenore’s hip hop wasn’t so swift. They tried too, but to me they just didn’t make the swagger believable, and they were really out of sync on the side-by-side work. They were also both lacking in precision I think.
I agree with the judges as well on Pauline and Peter’s Quickstep, though I loved the sailor smitten with Hula dancer story! Go J.T. and Tomas! So happy they’re choreographing for this show now. (I also know them — or at least J.T. — from my old studio.) I do think both dancers were good on their own, and sold it quite well, but the technique wasn’t there at all — the shaping in closed handhold was all wrong, the runs and running jetes were sloppy and not in sync. But still, it was fun and they acted it well and sold the story.
I disagree with the judges about Kathryn and Legacy’s Broadway though. Well, the judges liked him — and so did I — I thought he nailed it, especially for a b-boy. The choreographer did use his strengths with the handstands and back flips. I thought she was good too, though in terms of the movement — the way she circled her pelvis at him, trying to get his attention. I thought she acted it fine — she was cute as opposed to angry and demanding, but I think she made it her own thing. She is rather sweet-faced and that’s what she used to try to grab his attention.
I agree though with the judges about Victor and Channing’s contemporary, and I can’t even put my finger on why it didn’t blow me away emotionally like I feel it should have. It was a story about a couple arguing, struggling, and ultimately breaking away from each other. They danced it well, they danced it with passion and intensity, and yet it didn’t make me feel all that much. Maybe it is just because they’re a new partnership this week. I have to say, I think Victor is an excellent dancer. I can tell that from his solos. His solos touch me the way Jakob’s dancing does. But for some reason he doesn’t seem to be able to take that with him to the duets … though it looks like he’s trying hard to.
BALLROOM VIDEO FROM VAIL IS UP
The Vail International Dance Festival website has finally posted a video of the festival’s ballroom night, Ballroom’s Best. I’d been waiting for this. There are interviews with the spectacular International exhibition champions Hanna Karttunen and Victor DaSilva (from South Africa; you might remember DaSilva from that TV show Superstars of Dance) and the sweet American Smooth champs J.T. Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki. For those of you who follow ballroom, there’s a bit of footage of American Rhythm champs Jose DeCamps and Joanna Zacharewicz in there too.
Sir Alastair did not so much like this show when he saw it.
SOME FAVORITES FROM VAIL
Wow, there are a lot of video clips up of the many many companies and dancers that performed at this year’s Vail International Dance Festival. Here are some of my faves:
Dance Brazil in a modern / capoeira combo, Luna:
Daniel Ulbricht and Misa Kuranaga doing a Corsaire pdd:
Sofiane Sylve and Simon Ball in Forsythe’s In the Middle Somewhat Elevated:
Wendy Whelan and Edwaard Liang (dancing with Morphoses) in Forsythe’s Slingerland pdd:
Matthew Rushing in Ailey’s beautifully bluesy Reflections in D:
Linda Celeste Sims rehearsing Ailey’s classic Cry:
Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel’s Black Swan pdd:
Tyler Angle and Tiler Peck in the pdd from Wheeldon’s Mercurial Manoeuvers:
Some Lindy Hop with Naomi Uyama and Todd Yannacone:
And some Argentine Tango by Natalia Hills and Gabriel Misse:
There are many more vids and photos though, so visit the festival’s blog. I don’t see any up yet of the Ballroom evening — Hanna Karttunen and Victor DaSilva and J.T. Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki, et al. Hoping to see some of those soon. Excellent blog though, letting peeps who couldn’t be there in on what all went on. And splendidly diverse festival!
MANHATTAN DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
Sorry I am so late with this post, now that it’s been two weeks since MDC. Once again, ballet season kind of took over…
One of the biggest highlights for me this year was Emmanuel Pierre Antoine dancing with his new partner, Lianna, in the Pro Rhythm championships (pictured above). I like the way the pictures came out in sepia better than color, but if you want to see dress colors, etc. you can see all the color photos here. Emmanuel is a longtime favorite of mine and I always enjoy watching him. He has such character and his routines are always quite original. He and Lianna placed second in all dances, behind the champions for several years now, Joanna Zacharewicz and Jose DeCamps, but I actually thought they outdanced Jose and Joanna in a couple of dances, particularly with their expressive, jump-heavy Mambo and their Bolero, which was really beautiful with some nice spins. Dance Beat felt the same. But, as I’ve said many times before and I’ll say again, it’s definitely not unusual for the judges to give the top award (with wins in all five dances no less) to the same couple year after year, until that couple retires.
Other highlights, as always for me were the Pro Latin and Pro Standard events, which Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko won rather easily in the former,
and Katusha Demidova and Arunas Bizokas even more easily in the latter.
Both couples who normally place second in these events didn’t compete: Anna Mikhed and Victor Fung in Standard didn’t attend, and Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova (photo below of their heated Paso) showed but had to withdraw after the first round because of an injury (hers I’m told).
A shame since I always love watching Eugene and Maria.
Arunas and Katusha danced really really beautifully, as always, and according to Dance Beat, received perfect scores. Such an elegant couple, their dancing so radiant and rich and luxurious and full, you just can’t take your eyes off of them no matter what they’re doing, even when simply getting ready to take off.
And Riccardo and Yulia are so much fun. His Jive is to die for, as are her Rumba walks.
I kind of like this picture even though the light is obscuring Riccardo’s face because to me it shows the excitement of a competition, with the couples making full use of the floor, kind of darting across and seemingly coming right at you as such, no matter where you’re sitting. I think they’re doing Samba promenade runs here. Riccardo is a bit of a flirt, I noticed, flashing his cute smile, with raised eyebrows, at women sitting in the front seats. I think it’s an Italian thing, though. Maurizio Vescovo does the same thing (he dances for Hungary and so doesn’t come to these U.S. comps but I’ve seen him at Blackpool) and our fancy new ABT ballerino Roberto Bolle winks at audience members during curtain calls.
Speaking of Samba, interesting but Riccardo and Yulia actually messed up during the finals. He pushed her a little too far out at one point and she tripped. She didn’t fall but she was noticeably taken off balance. She recovered easily though and the judges apparently didn’t take any deductions, or else they did and it didn’t matter.
Second place couple was one of my favorites, a tall, thin pair from Bulgaria, Delyan Terziev and Boriana Deltcheva. Delyan is a really charming dancer and very personable too — he often wins awards for best teacher. And Boriana has such long limbs, she makes these really gorgeous, spidery lines. And, in my mind, she always wins the award for best costume 🙂
Even though it’s not centered, I like this picture. They’re married, they’re cute 🙂
Other highlights were JT Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki, always snazzy, winning Pro Smooth, with the very popular Mazen Hamza and Lisa Vogel placing right behind them (wow, did they get lots of applause).
(JT and Tomas above; Mazen and Lisa below)
And of course the Amateur Latin was as always a blast. Valentin Chmerkovskiy and his new partner Daria Chesnokova took first, and I loved them. I’d liked his old partner Valeriya Kozharinova, but I always thought he was significantly better than she and that it looked like she wasn’t as emotionally involved in the dance as he (as if she was just going through the steps). But Daria is not at all like that — she is more his equal. I think they’re going to go far.
And placing second were a couple I’ve long liked, Oleksandr Althukhov and Oksana Dmytrenko, who I’ve watched coached at my old studio, Dance Times Square. At first I didn’t recognize their names, since I’ve always heard him called Sasha 🙂 Russian nicknames!
Other highlights: Event founder (and former U.S. National ten-dance champion) Gary McDonald, dancing with two other guys, did a fun tribute to Michael Jackson complete with moon walks and floor spins. They also played Michael Jackson music in between the heats and during awards ceremonies, which was nice.
Judges and scorers and just people in attendance included Tony Dovolani, Mayo Alanen and Anna Demidova from Dancing With the Stars, which made me think of my friend Sharon Balik, who passed away several weeks ago and who I still think a lot about. She loved that show, especially loved Dovolani, and she so would have enjoyed this competition. Also partial to Maks Chmerkovskiy and so always very interested in hearing how his little brother placed, she would have loved to know how well he and his new partner are faring. I’m still so sad about her.
I missed watching Pavlo Barsuk — whose intensity is always mesmerizing to me — now that he has broken up with Anna Trebunskaya, but I saw him in the ballroom watching. I’ll look forward to seeing him and his new partner compete, when they are ready. I also saw Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kruschkova in the ballroom watching. They’re former US National Latin champs, now retired, and I miss watching them. And another favorite Latin couple of mine — Vaidotas Skimelis and Jurga Puplyte — he reminds me of my favorite ballet dancer, Marcelo Gomes — this is the second year they haven’t shown up for this competition. I know they’re based in California and traveling is expensive, but c’mon man, when am I going to get to see them again? I guess I really do have to go to Blackpool next year.
WOW — DANCE TIMES SQUARE IS GOING ALL OUT
For their May11th “ballroom” showcase at the Danny Kaye Playhouse. I put ballroom in parenthesis because, though the studio specializes in Latin / Ballroom instruction (and is the studio where I took lessons with Pasha), it seems that they are really expanding, at least for their biannual showcases, which used to be student-oriented and are increasingly centering on pro performances — and pros of all kinds, not just ballroom.
The May 11th show will feature, in addition to Pasha and Anya (!); David Parsons Dance Company performing Caught (regular readers of this blog know how I feel about that dance 🙂 ); Sabra Johnson, Travis Wall and Twitch from So You Think You Can Dance; the Mark Stuart Eckstein Dance Company (which I don’t know of); choreographer Tricia Brouke’s OtherShore; opera star Aprile Millo; and for ballroom, the EXCELLENT Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova, top American Smooth contenders J.T. Thomas and Tomas Mielnicki, and (the very good, very sexy) former Latin junior champs Manuel Favilla and Karolina Paliwoda.
Expected guest attendees include Baryshnikov (!), Desmond Richardson (!), Edie Falco, Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon, Mickey Rourke, Barbara Walters, Antonio Banderas, Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, and more — including judges and choreographers from SYTYCD (which DTS studio owners Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin choreograph for as well).
I’m happily stunned that my ballroom studio has become kind of this major outlet for popular concert dance in the city!
There’s also an after-party at the studio, as well as a pre-show reception at the Danny Kaye Playhouse for Angel on a Leash, which the program is benefitting. Angel on a Leash sponsors rehabilitative dogs (for people with seeing, hearing disabilities, etc.) Go here for more info.