Tag: TV

Posted on

Marissa Does Exemplify What The Comp is About: Dancing With the Stars Week 7

I really liked Marissa this week. I agree with Len that her opening Tango was her best dance yet. She had fantastic, sharp lines, perfect frame, never lost connection, lovely Argentine hooks, and great character — it was passionate with, as Bruno said, “a hint of disdain.” Carrie Ann said she’s what this competition is all about and I agree with her — she’s improved greatly, she’s working hard, pushing her own boundaries, testing her limits, really getting into it and making it her own while remaining true to the dance style. As for her rumba: I love the song “Cuando Cuando Cuando” 🙂 It wasn’t as good as her tango; she didn’t do hips, but at this point, I’m no longer expecting them — from anyone. Even though her technique was far from perfect and the moves were mostly basic, I thought she gave her routine great character — there was a lovely romance to it and it was sexy in parts. I love the ending full dip, especially when she dropped her head down all the way to the floor. Dramatic but beautiful!

Poor Cristian. I hope he’s okay. I could tell something was off though from the beginning of his Samba. He seemed confused throughout; I thought he might have forgotten his steps, but as it turns out, he’d hurt himself. I wonder how. He must have caught her weird or had too firm a hand-hold, because it’s more common to pull a leg muscle in a dance like that. Anyway, his Viennese Waltz was nice, but I agree with the judges that it was a little too lacking in control. But I thought it was pretty and romantic. I loved the ending where he spun her around, then let her go, then returned to her. I wonder if that’s where he hurt his arm, in that trick…

I didn’t like Kristi’s use of the umbrella in the opening of her Viennese Waltz. Too gimmicky and it detracted from the dancing. It was too much about that umbrella. Funny, but I thought her continuous chaine turns were gorgeous. I thought it was supposed to look out of control at the end, that she was supposed to kind of swoon, falling into his arms. I thought it was intentional! But the judges thought the chaines were messy and the “falling” into the dip was a mistake. And then, unlike the judges, I didn’t like her Cha Cha. It was cute, but I felt like it wasn’t enough about the legs, like Cha Chas usually are. She looked like she was trying too hard with the hips, shaking her butt, shaking her shoulders. I thought it lacked control and precision. But the judges felt completely the opposite, so it’s probably just me…

Mario’s Mambo was excellent, his Foxtrot not so much so, although it was fine. As Len said (I find myself agreeing with Len a lot), he’s not the most “elegant” dancer and the ballroom needs more definition and muscle control, but he’s still so much fun and he gives it everything he has and he really tries. It looked like they missed a hand-catch at one point, but they fixed it pretty quickly, so very professional. You could tell the pressure was on from being in the bottom two last week. His mambo will probably be enough to keep him from getting the boot this week. He really connected with the music, his flicks were good, his basic was perfect, great hip action — he’s got that down. What did Bruno say — “the devil was in your hips”? Only thing, he’s too turned in at points with his feet, which, for balletomane in me takes away substantially from the line — sorry I can’t help it! — but I’m trying hard to get over it 🙂 Another great Karina costume.

I’m glad Shannon apologized for last week. I feel like the judges were a lot easier on her this week because of it though. Her mambo was cute, and her dress was gorgeous — she really looked beautiful! — but the dance didn’t look right to me at all. It looked like Paulina Poritzkova’s mambo from last season. She was bouncing too much. Her long limbs are a disadvantage for that dance in particular. And the running up and taunting the judges gimmicks at the end of routines are getting tired. Her tango was very nice though. She’s far better at ballroom than Latin — no hips to contend with for one thing, and Standard tends to look better on people who are tall and thin. Her footwork was good and solid, clean swift kicks and hooks, and Derek’s choreography was creative. I like that she slapped him and kept trying to take his hat; I loved the dramatic ending dip. She was like a silent film starlet, as Bruno said.

Jason had probably the two most different dances this week: the light, sprinty Quickstep and the heavy, drama-laden Paso. His legs weren’t straight in his opening splits jumps and it was noticeable and threw off the line to me. I know people like tricks, but dancers need to understand that you have to be careful about the line you’re making; it’s not just about doing something “big”. But the rest of the Quickstep was nice — he was light on his feet, the runs and little jumps were good, his lock-steps were clean and polished, and I liked the little Charleston Edyta put in at the end — cute! It looked like he was having a lot of fun, which is kind of the whole point for amateurs. The football theme — for him at least — of his Paso Doble was fun. I didn’t understand what role she had though — cheerleader? Opposite team member, but female? I just prefer straight Spanish-themed Paso; anytime someone tries to do something more original with it, it just doesn’t seem to work to me. But I love Jason. I love his enthusiasm, his diligence, and, mostly, I love his lack of pompous assery! He said something along the lines of how he can’t believe how ballroom has taken over his life; this is all he does, and he loves it — now he can’t stop! I definitely know the feeling… It does take over your life, it really does.

Oh, I almost forgot: I was alerted to Edyta’s newly revamped website with message board. It can be found here.

Posted on

Austin & Liza on Dancing With the Stars!

Hehe, weren’t Austin and Liza cute! (the second young pair). I was so excited to see them on the show. They used to dance at my old studio and I feel like I kind of saw them grow. I highlighted them in last year’s Dance Times Square showcase here. I particularly love Austin. I think Liza is growing too fast for him and it’s difficult for him to keep hold on her, but he is an absolutely brilliant mover himself. I’m not surprised the other couple won — they were technical perfection and stylistically beautiful. This is why it’s so hard to become good, or at least do well at big comps, when you’re starting as an adult. These are the kinds of people — when they’re grown — that you’re competing with. It’s just like ballet — ballroom dancers also start as little kids; if you ever want to be a pro, or an advanced amateur, you had to have started at that age, there’s kind of no catching up as an adult.

I totally understand how Shannon felt when she cried. It can be so aggravating when you’re trying so hard and putting everything you have into it and you just get ripped apart (in my case by my teacher, in hers before millions by judges). I did think they were way too harsh on her. She had hip problems, but so did most of the others. Kristi did a lyrical hip-less rhumba last week, so give Shannon a break! I’m glad she ended up making it.

No way, Mario’s in the bottom two??? I didn’t expect that at all.
Well, I guess we were all expecting it would be Marlee this week. I’m so sad. I still feel that they could have done something yesterday to help her with the music — if there was anything they could do?… I don’t know, I just feel like the show kind of failed her in some way. I am happy Cristian made it one more week.

Posted on

"If You're In the Bottom Two Next Week, I'm Showing My Bum at the Supermarket"

After Len said this of Cristian, Carrie Ann said of Mario and Karina, “that was better than good sex!” — this show is getting out of control… and the other judges are stealing Bruno’s one-liners!

My two thoughts up front: Whoa Cristian! And Kristi was born with clubbed feet???

I thought Jason was excellent at Hip Hop — excellent! I thought wow, he’s really improving. But then when it came to the Cha Cha, it was fine and cute but nowhere near as good as that Hip Hop. It just shows you how hard ballroom dancing is — especially Latin with all that hip action. It’s hard! Jason’s so cute with his self-deprecation. That face he made when Len told him he wanted to see him actually dance more. Then, the “I suck.” Aw!

The Shannon and Derek at the beach so she could ‘get in the mood’ was almost as corny as Cristian and Cheryl’s visit to the sea lion shrink. But I thought Shannon did much better this week. The hips were screwed up during the traditional Latin opening out steps, but she has a ballet body — tall and thin and few curves, and if he gives her more balletic moves — like that gorgeous slow ronde de jambe en l’air in the beginning and that beautiful stretch near the end– she’ll do much better and the lack of hip action won’t be so noticeable.

Poor Marlee! I actually didn’t think the whole thing looked forced, only parts. The worst was the pelvic rolls with him standing behind her. They may not have been connected at the start because she seemed off on the rolls at the beginning, and until she caught up with him, she looked uncomfortable. And that can be a really rather funny (in a bad way) move to look uncomfortable with! But I thought the shoulder shakes were much better — she really seemed at ease with those and really let loose. I thought the basic mambo steps were fine; the hip action wasn’t quite there, but I disagree with the judges that they looked stiff. It is really hard not to be able to connect with the music in this most rhythmic, musical of all ballroom dances. I was hoping she’d be able to connect through other means than simply her partner — maybe floor vibrations she could feel through her feet? Maybe she should have been barefoot? Sorry, I’m just remembering Helen Keller’s telling an audience she could hear their applause through the floor… Anyway, I feel for Marlee and I hope she can re-gain momentum for next week. The judges were too harsh. Fabian was most pleasing though, no?!

“You can just call me Frederico Astaire.” Cristian is so cute. He was wonderful this week. I couldn’t believe it. The water actually helped him this time — the swimming was a good idea on Cheryl’s part. The water slowed those crazy, out of control arms way down. He was, as Bruno said, the perfect dashing gentleman, the way he glided over that floor. His footwork was excellent, not a step out of place, even on those fast intricate grapevines in the beginning, his partnering was perfect, his posture and lines were even good. I do agree with Len — he’d better not be in the bottom tomorrow night!

Wow, I get ridiculously dizzy too; I wish my teacher would have sent me to an aerial spinning class like Tony did Marissa. It looks like they helped. Maybe I’ll look into one. Seriously. Marissa looked really good tonight. She did a couple of lovely arabesques and the ending floor sweep was beautiful.

Kristi was perfect, as always. She really is a pro out there — not even like a pro, but a real pro. Mark is so lucky because he can choreograph the exact same kind of routine he’d do for himself and a professional partner; he doesn’t really need to search for specific strengths to highlight and weaknesses to hide. That was I think the first Jive ever on this show to be danced at full speed, and he gave her some really intricate, complicated footwork. She’s really the best, by far, no competition. But a commenter on one of my Huffington Post pieces said the fact that she was so perfect up front, that she had dance background, ruins it for her. If someone you can connect to because they, like you, are not a star from the get-go, and they can, with practice, be made into a dancer, that makes it possible for you to as well. Kristi is already basically a pro, so it’s not fun to watch her try and struggle the same as the average person would. It’s an interesting perspective on the show.

Mario’s routine was near perfect, but I kind of agree with Len that it was a bit too much about the sex and not enough about the dancing. Before Len made that comment, I had thought, hmmm, very sexy rhumba, but he’s not really doing a whole lot of moving. I don’t think I would have used the same words as Len though — strumpet and gigolo? Eeeh.

The group routine: those were the funniest practice lifts I think I’ve ever seen. I’m surprised Derek didn’t get hurt on that rotating cartwheel. I actually took lessons with Christian Perry, the guy who’s teaching these group dances. He taught at my first studio DanceSport, so it’s always so funny to see him on TV. I think I actually preferred the practice sessions to the actual performance though. All the lifts were the same and it seemed there was more unstylized jumping about than actual dance steps; it was more fun watching them all try to learn.

Posted on

Dance in America’s Great Outdoors Special on PBS Monday Night

Tomorrow night (Monday, April 21), PBS is airing a dance special honoring America’s national parks. Several choreographers made site-specific dances which were performed in various outdoors national monuments including: Yosemite National Park; the U.S. Virgin Islands; the Coral Reef National Monument off the coast of St. John Island; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, from which the Wright Brothers first took flight; Mammoth Cave; and Hawaii’s Volcanic national park.

I was fortunate enough to be given an advance preview. My favorite parts were the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Team performing underwater amidst the beautiful corals and exotic sea life of the Virgin Islands, the dancers often looking like tantalizing sea creatures themselves; members of Donald Byrd‘s troupe performing dances evoking freedom and slavery set first on Cinnamon Bay, Virgin Islands, then in ruins of an old Sugar Plantation on St. John’s Island. I also liked the very end, Doug Varone‘s troupe dancing to folk music in the Mammoth Caves. Varone uses film and video in his productions as well, to good effect. I also loved seeing the footage of the Hawaiian volcanic beaches — breathtaking. And Project Bandaloop (whose dancers perform airborne activities, often while climbing large mountainous rocks), whom I know other bloggers like, is included as well.

Overall, I felt this program, which is 90 minutes long, gets bogged down in too much discussion of process – the choreographers trying to figure out what they want to evoke, how best of evoke it, instructing the dancers on the same, the dancers telling us how best they feel they can draw something out, how difficult it can be to do so — it’s too much, and it gets boring and ruins the magic of the performance. Anyway, it’s worth watching for everything I mentioned above even if it gets tedious at points. And since it’s not on until 10:00 (ET), it won’t interfere with Dancing With the Stars 🙂

Check here for local listings.

Posted on

Step it up and … Finally … Dance!

Finally, for the first time last night, I liked the new Bravo show “Step It Up and Dance.” I felt like it was finally about dance. The camera actually showed me the dancers’ bodies, not just their faces as they made angry or odd expressions or ranted against someone. It’s probably the hip hop — hip hop’s just so visual, there’s so much going on, especially in a showdown / battle like that — the camera can’t just focus in on a face. (I have to admit, by the way, I knew next to nothing about hip hop before “America’s Best Dance Crew.” And now I love it. Hip hop is just so real — they’re real moves, real gestures you see on the streets, they resonate. And yet they’re stylized and clever, and at times played up for comical effect.)

Anyway, I still think this show (Step It Up) panders too much to the gossipy judgmental crowd: “oh I can’t believe he’s so gay,” “I can’t believe Miguel is such a jerk,” “I can’t believe she said that,” “I can’t believe he nominated him for elimination” etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam. You end up just judging people based on their personalities, what they say rather than how they dance, which you can’t see anyway because the camera is too busy homing in on the person’s face while they say something nasty. I know audiences vote partially based on personality on all reality shows, but at least with “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” you can see the entire performance. You see the bodies moving in time to music — which is dance. You’re not just getting a personality. Last week I began to like Tovah. I thought she made a really beautiful line at one point, but the camera was on her for all of a half a second before shifting to Nick who was busy making angry faces at Cody for dominating; I couldn’t really see Tovah in full and it annoyed me so much. I thought, this show isn’t even pretending to be about dance.

But as I said I felt that changed this week with the hip hop competition. I liked Tovah even more because I know her background is in ballet and she feels really out of her element with hip hop, and yet she really belted it out last night. To me she looked just as good as Janelle. I’m also impressed with Cody, for the same reason. He also had some really unique moves, combining some balletic movement — leaps and fouettes — with the posturing, the attitude, the awesome floor acrobatics of hip hop.

So Natalia was right in telling me I should give the show another chance!

Also, if you live in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, it looks like you can take a class at select Crunch gyms that will focus on the dance moves on the show that week. That’s kinda cool!

Tonight is the finale of Lifetime’s “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” I’ve missed a few episodes but am going to try to tune in.

Posted on

Oh Louis and Priscilla!

I’ll sure miss Louis Van Amstel, but it’s not like we didn’t know it was coming. For one thing I really really wish they wouldn’t reveal the bottom two each week. I thought they weren’t doing that this season. It ruins the fun and surprise for the audience and it puts so much pressure on the dancers for the entire following week. Stop it, producers! I also think the ‘popularity situation’ with Priscilla was similar to that of Jane Seymour last season: the more mature women, audiences just don’t relate to that well. But I also thought she was one of the least promising left, although she was a classic and I enjoyed Louis’s choreography for her.

Did you guys enjoy Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian? They compete in the exhibition / cabaret divisions at the big championships. I love watching those; they’re one of my favorite parts of competition … although, oftentimes the routines are too much about the tricks and end up being lift after lift after lift. But here I thought they did a pretty lyrical dance that nicely complemented James Blunt’s lovely song. Oooh, I was last working on a lifty lyrical routine myself when I decided to take my dance hiatus; watching those two makes me want to return…

Posted on

It's Not Latin Without Proper Hips!

I thought the only good routine on tonight’s Dancing With the Stars was Mario and Karina’s. Ironic because my two favorite dances are rhumba and samba … or, perhaps maybe that’s why I always dislike the weeks devoted to those dances. Somehow Karina was able to teach Mario how to perform the hip and undulating pelvic movements properly, in a way none of the other pros were able to convey to their celebrities. Oh, and, I LOVED the music — “A Tisket a Tasket”! The first time I saw Karina dance (and wanted so badly to be her), she danced a Samba with her former partner, Slavik Kryklyyvy, to that song. Here it is on YouTube.

My second favorite was Marissa, although I wouldn’t really say her movement was Samba; it was more just fun all-out groving. There were no pelvic contractions and expansions at all — the rolling movement that gives the dance that seductively intriguing snaky feel. She said during practice to her Samba was all about shaking your booty, and it’s not. If she saw it that way, then no wonder she looked all wrong. She was cute and her dancing was a lot of sassy fun; it just looked more like something you’d see in a club.

Marlee had the same problem — no pelvic rotations, though she looked cute and gave her routine a lot of pizazz. It just wasn’t Samba.

Priscilla, Jason, and Cristian all tried to move their hips, but didn’t understand that the hips need to be connected to the lats (back muscles). It’s the lats that push down on the hips that make the hips move. If you just move the hip without first moving the lat, it looks like you’re just shaking your butt. It looks superficial and silly. One of my ballroom friends, Juana, once told me that rhumba emanates from the slaves. The quintessential rhumba walks that people now see as being so sexy, actually evolved from the movement one makes while trying to carry a heavy load atop one’s head. Think about it — you’d take a step, then the load would bear down on your shoulder, the weight would ripple down to your hip, the hip would settle into its socket, and you’d move on, taking another step and setting the movement in motion anew. After she told me this, I envisioned myself as such a woman, carrying heavy bottles of water atop her shoulders, and unbelievably it worked so much better than my teacher shouting, “foot, lat, hip, foot lat, hip” over and over again.

Anyway, Kristi and Shannon didn’t even try to move their hips. Shannon complained she had none to move. I used to use the same excuse (see my blog’s tag line), but now that I’ve seen plenty of tall, thin women (Joanna Leunis) do rhumba quite well, I know it’s just that — an excuse. Kristi did a lovely lyrical routine — and she’s definitely a natural and beautiful mover — but I felt that it wasn’t really rhumba without the hips — it was a nice theatrical dance you might see on Broadway, but not Latin ballroom.

Depressed! What did you guys think?

Posted on

"I Lost 10 Pounds of Fat, I Gained 100 Pounds of Angel"

Awww. That’s the most genuinely sweet thing he’s said all show. I won’t ruin it for you West Coasters, but I think a lot of people will be very happy after tonight. I am not happy though that they’re back to revealing who’s in the bottom two though. And I’m very unhappy with who that other couple was tonight.

Very happy Delyan Terziev and Boriana Deltcheva were on! They’re not the “Latin champions” as the announcers called them — more like number three at the last U.S. National Championships, but they are finalists, and so champs I guess. I really like them — they’re a tall thin couple with some really lovely artistic movement, especially in rhumba — which of course they didn’t do. Sexy shaggy haircut, Delyan 🙂 They were Pasha and Anya’s main competitors back before SYTYCD, when P&A were still competing. Everyone always wondered who’d place above whom of the finalists.

And how cute were those kids! But not so cool to have them compete against each other, huh? Couldn’t they just have danced for cry eye? But I finally got my Espana Cani with the Paso!

I wish the opening pro couples would have danced a West Coast Swing to Cheryl Crowe’s “All I Wanna Do Is Dance.” It would have exposed audiences to something new and with the honky tonk flavor of the song, it would have made more sense than a quick, sexy, trick-ridden cha cha.

I was proud of Priscilla for asserting her right to dance as she wished: a routine with lifts. She likes the look and feel of “both feet off the ground”; so do I and I applaud her for her that. The rules are ridiculous; she didn’t do any crazy showoffy tricks, it was simple and classy and fit her routine nicely. Screw the judges, but not in the way Adam suggested…

Posted on

DWTS Week 4: A Balance-Less Viennese Waltz?

Well, perfect Paso Doble from Mark and Kristi — not only technically marvelous, but splendidly dramatic with some real creative spins as well. Good choreo for Mark. But why why why WHY can’t anyone dance to real Paso Doble music? Does anyone who doesn’t have background in ballroom understand this dance? I bet not. How can you when you don’t hear the real music? It’s a bullfight song. Has anyone heard of “Espana Cani” “Paso Royale”? I mean, come on, you guys. I’m starting to get really annoyed at the producers. At least these two had authentic costumes… Oh, I just realized there were no flamenco taps. I like those and I missed them.

Aw, pretty routine from Louis and Priscilla. Except, for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off Louis, which is very weird, looking at the man, in Viennese Waltz, right??? I loved her use of her skirt. I do think she looked a bit stiff, didn’t flow as well as a waltz is supposed to. The footwork was right, but it looked like she was concentrating hard, like it wasn’t natural. Especially those turns in shadow position (where the guy is behind the lady, “shadowing” her; that’s where she was playing up the skirt). Viennese Waltz is fast and if you don’t have the footwork completely down, if you’re worried you’re going to trample your partner, it’s going to register on your face. I liked the swooning end, though.

I liked the flavor of Adam and Julianne’s Paso better than Mark and Kristi’s. I liked the fire in the background; I liked the costumes. And hello, real music!!!! The unicycle was corny. But the Zorro thing with the mask was pretty funny and worked well for him. Adam’s a pretty decent dancer. I thought at one point, he was going to stomp on her feet, but he didn’t do any wrong footwork, and there was a point where he had a couple of turns to do, and he looked like he spotted well and there were no balance problems at all. And his tour jete (jump and turn all in one) was cute. Not at all a ballet dancer’s, but of course that’s not to be expected. It’s fun when non pro-dancers try them 🙂

Viennese Waltz can be a killer if you have any balance problems whatsoever. You can’t spot, for one thing, at least not normally, because your head has to stay with the rest of your body; it all has to flow. That’s the beauty of it. So, you have to spot only with your eyes, by focusing on one object as it whooshes past you, then another, then another, and do it rapidly — quickly change focus and objects just gush by. It’s damn hard. You can’t whip your head around all at once, like in ballet. Marlee said she thought her problems were due to her hearing. Interesting, because I know I have balance problems because of serious eardrum problems I once had. But I didn’t know they would also be a problem for someone who’s completely deaf. Well, regardless, I thought their VW was lovely. Marlee did look stiff — and that odd head-hold Len talked about is typical of someone who’s trying hard not to lose their balance. Her shoulders were tensed up a bit too — probably something only I noticed since it’s something I do a lot — especially when nervous about balance! Well, she definitely overcame. She’s obviously a great actress too, and that helped with this very actable routine.

I thought Mario’s Paso was good — at least step-wise, albeit a bit boring choreo-wise. Ending fun trick though, with Cheryl’s flip over his head. I didn’t like the modern song, regardless of how much Spanish flavor it had. I just like Paso to be traditional Paso; danced to a modern song, the dance just doesn’t make sense. And where are my flamenco taps, anyone, anyone?…

Oooh, sexy VW for Jason and Edyta! I liked it! I liked the close romantic hold that would sexily open up when she swung her head around, I loved that seductive deep dip. They did screw up on a pivot, right? But whatever. It was gorgeous. His lines are a bit weird — especially his hands when he extends an arm out — but I think it’s just because of his size. I noticed this with Marcelo Gomes, my favorite ballet dancer. I used to criticize him for off lines and thought it was some kind of mistake he was making, then saw another dancer make the same exact line with his arm and hand and it looked totally different. So, it’s just plain and simply size.

Cristian is shyly flamboyant. Such a contradiction in terms. I couldn’t help but laugh at his grunts. I like him, but I thought the routine was plastic, if that makes sense? I thought the choreo and costumes were a caricature of PD. It’s not Cristian’s fault though. His footwork and technique were good and he gave it all the dramatic flourishes he was apparently told to.

Shannon and Derek’s VW was gorgeous. That was like a fairytale. I can’t believe how she just became a real dancer after the first week. Lovely arched-back spin. And her lines are beautiful; like a pro dancer’s. She’s really impressing me, especially after the first week.

Yay, Marissa and Tony. I got my little flamenco-y stylistics at the beginning 🙂 And my traditional music! And she had some great moves — great kicks, great ronde en l’air, very swift, very passionate and very clean technique. Oh yes, and beautiful wrist expression at the beginning, Marissa! The judges are being really nice now, which they should be. I still don’t think this one was any different from last week. My only qualm is her costume — that French maid sexpot thing… hmmm. And her arms need some work, she just kind of throws them out a bit too harshly. She needs more control and styling there. But overall excellent dancing, and that’s what matters.

Who do you guys think is going to go this week? I have no idea… Very tricky how they’re not telling us who’s next to bottom each week.

Posted on

Step It Up and Do What?

So, did anyone watch the first episode of “Step It Up and Dance,” on Bravo? My first thoughts, honestly: it made “Dance War” look like a work of genius. I think this is the worst of all the dance shows I’ve seen. What was that horrid “choreography” in the group competition numbers? Who were those people sitting in the judges’ chairs, telling the one guy to act more like a “man” and the two women (doing hip hop after all) not to be so butch. “I need you two to be careful not to dance like angry men.” Well, I need intelligence and sophistication. This was an insult. And, they almost eliminated the only decent dancer, the Italian guy. Well, the Movin’ Out guy was the second best, and they liked him, surprisingly. I feel like I just have a completely different concept of dance than the show’s producers, to put it mildly…

Posted on

Bravo’s Step It Up and Dance This Thursday Night

Tomorrow night (Thursday, April 3rd) Bravo network is finally going to premiere their new dance show, “Step It Up and Dance.” Hosted by Elizabeth Berkeley, this one is supposed to be similar to “So You Think You Can Dance,” with contestants who have at least some dance experience competing in a variety of dance styles for overall best — except there are more styles here, including Ballet (yay, finally!) and burlesque.

Bravo has put out some good shows (Project Runway), so I have high hopes for this one. It’ll be on tomorrow night at 11 p.m. EST. Go here for more details.

Posted on

Oh No, Farewell Mr. Funnyman Steve

I’m so sad that Steve Guttenberg’s now gone. He made me laugh. I really did like him; he added so much personality and humor to the show. I really didn’t think it was going to be him. So, Adam’s still there and Steve’s gone. I do wonder if audiences are voting for pro dancers too — they love sweet Julianne, and maybe Anna not so much?

I am glad, though, that the judges didn’t have an effect on audience votes for Marissa. They made me so mad last night. I was blogging as the show was happening and I began typing about how it was the perfect routine for her, and had to stop and stare for a minute at the screen when the judges’ remarks began. I couldn’t believe how opposite they felt from me. Anyway, she was so happy tonight, and that was fun.

So, what did you guys think of Alvin Ailey??? I’m dying to know! Unbelievably, there was a tornado warning in New Jersey and they interrupted the show here right as they were on, to tell everyone how to batten down the hatches, so I only saw about half of the Ailey! I couldn’t believe it — ugh what timing! Who cares about New Jersey!!! Just kidding 🙂 But that was the end of “Revelations”, and they even changed some of it to fit it all into the small amount of time they had, so I’m not sure how much sense it made to people who’ve never seen it before…