Sorry no SYTYCD this week

Last night was another pub quiz, and I usually don't go, but my partner's leaving for 3 weeks to do WASL alternative grading and then moving for a teaching job at a high school district 2 hours away maybe a week after he gets back (he'll be here the week I'll be in Denver too, though, but then again I won't be here). So I did that instead.

Next week will be back to regular as I'm on crutches and can't dance at the moment (X-Ray was clear even though the doc seems to be convinced I have a stress fracture and it just isn't showing yet. NOT ALL DANCERS GET STRESS FRACTURES, ARGH!) I'll definitely be craving dance. I'm craving dance as we speak. I spent the entire day at the ER thinking of ways I could dance without using my left foot or putting pressure on it in any way.

So You Think You Can Dance Top 12

Liveblogging this time to avoid last week's confusing note mix up. I mean, that's what commercials are for, right? And by the way I am not happy because I have ballet foot. My toes are killing me, but only on my left foot. It's not fun.

Round 1
Chelsie & Mark
Salsa:
What the judges kept saying was lacking with Mark I think was hip action. His Salsa left me wanting more hips. If he would have loosened up his torso as Mary said his hip movement may have been more obvious but as it was I wanted more Salsaness in his hips. There was really great footwork and connection. I love them and I loved it.

Comfort & Thayne
Hip Hop:
Blah. Can they go home already? I mean Comfort's solo last week was abysmal and Thayne's was nothing special. Seriously. They executed the steps well, it's true, but there was no connection, no chemistry, nothing. Blech blech blech. How are they still on the show? Seriously.

Jessica & Will
Contemporary:
Wow, Jessica was good for once. I mean she has been really bad thus far and I really think Will has been carrying her and was surprised that she didn't go home when she was in the bottom 3. But this time she did a really good job. There was definitely a lot of emotion and connection between them. It was a fabulous piece and they did an amazing job. The lines and the fluidity was gorgeous. But I really would have loved to see Kourtni and Matt perform this piece.

Courtney & Gev
Cha Cha:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! ANYA AND PASHA!!!!! OK. Gev's footwork was so sloppy, his hips were all over the place and not in the way that they were supposed to be. Like Mary said they should be moving in opposition, but they were just.... He wasn't working into the ground with his feet, just bad. His partnering wasn't bad, but that footwork, ick.

Twitchington
Krump:
Um, yeah. I hate Krumping. "Grrr, I'm mad. Grrrrr." All I can say is that Kherington's tough face was making me laugh. I thought it looked hysterical. And that at the end they were completely out of sync and it seemed as though Kherington forgot the steps, which like I said last week wouldn't happen if, besides learning the moves and routine, you listened to the music.

Katee & Joshua
Viennese Waltz:
The lifts were very light and executed flawlessly. But they didn't really dance into the floor or glide enough. There was too much bounce and they were definitely heavy on their feet. I do agree that Joshua had really good carriage, but overall other then the lifts I thought that he was really weak in this routine. I was surprised that the judges weren't more critical of the footwork as that is a huge part of the dance. Yeah lifts are great and showy, but the meat of the dance is in the connection and the footwork. One was there, one was not.

Round 2
Chelsie & Mark
Broadway:
I love them, seriously. Chelsie had really great lines and extension throughout the entire routine. Of course, as always, they had the characters down pat. They always get really into the routine and tell the story. Mia was right that Mark's movement was occasionally sloppy

Comfort & Thayne
Contemporary:
I agree wholeheartedly with the judges. Some of Comfort's lines were crappy-she needed to lengthen her legs and feet especially. There was an awkwardness to the way the steps were executed and once again a lack of commitment from Comfort that made it disjointed. They were also lacking chemistry again, but I don't think they're ever gonna get that. I seriously think they should go home. 2 weak performances stacked up with weeks of weak performances-at least the judges agreed that some of Kourtni & Matt's performances were good and *they* went home over these two. Blech.

Jessica & Will
Quickstep:
When they were dancing the Quickstep they had very heavy footwork which is very very bad for the Quickstep (I mean, can't you tell by the name?) Jessica had spaghetti arms at times especially when they were traveling which was about 90% of the time they were doing the QS (which is par for the course). At least there steps were in unison.

Courtney & Gev
Jazz:
Gev: where was that hip action during the Cha Cha? They had great chemistry and I thought that they brought a great deal of character to the piece. I thought that it was executed really well and you could really see how great Courtney's lines and extensions were in the lifts. It was great.

Twitchington
Smooth Tango:
They didn't dance to the intensity of the music at all. They totally could have brought the characterization to it and they didn't. Smooth Tango, key word *smooth.* Them: not so smooth, more bouncy, but I think that this could have been overcome (to the general public) with some performance since people (and the judges) seem to love them so much. Like I said with them not dancing to the intensity of the music they didn't bring the necessary passion to it that they so obviously knew it needed since they were talking about it in the preview. Bad tango.

Katee & Joshua
BOLLYWOOD!!!!
I watch Bollywood all the time so I hope this is good. OK I was waiting for backup dancers, but I wish they would have done it more back and forth style as in Bollywood movies instead of in sync as they did it. I really hope that more people pull this out of the hat because I love Bollywood. WOO WOO.

I think that Jessica & Will, and Thayne & Comfort will be in the bottom 3 and possibly Twitchington, but they seem to have a huge following so who knows, but I would think that the people going home would be the people continually in the bottom 3.

So You Think You Can Dance Week 4

Sorry it's late, I'm so glad they brought that awesome popper back, I love him.

The camera work seemed to improve this week, thank god.

Jessica and Will:
Jive:
The footwork, especially Jessica's was heavy and clumsy though I agree that their retractions were good. Unfortunately my notes just say connection, hip movement, weight, bounce so I don't know what i was really thinking last night. Ooops.

Lyrical Jazz:
Will had some very lovely lines and I agree that Jessica definitely needs more confidence because there were some moments where she just fell completely flat and had no spark.

Thayne and Comfort:
Broadway:
They did A LOT BETTER with new partners, but there definitely should have been more pop and energy in the piece; it is Broadway and that's what Broadway is. They need to get into the spirit of the piece especially at this point in the competition. Even if they are doing better with their new partner that doesn't excuse the fact that they still need to step up to the level that is asked of them.

Smooth Waltz:
Did I say the cameras were better? I take that back. I wanna see the footwork goddamn it. In the lift Comfort had really lovely lines and their carriage was really great. Could have done better with the frame, however.

Kourtni and Matt: OK, this is gonna be sad for me as I love them (Kourtni is my favourite woman.) *sigh*
Hip Hop:
Obviously anyone who was watching could see there were parts that they were out of sync. It appeared that Kourtni kept looking at Matt to make sure they were in the same place and yes for choreographed pieces you learn a routine, but you should be listening to the music which they obviously were not doing which is a giant failure in my book. Learning where your moves should be connecting with the music is just as important as the moves and if you get that down you don't have to worry about being in sync. Also, something that would have been taken care of by this would have been the fact that there were moves that they obviously were supposed to hit on the beats and they didn't.

AT some points however I think Matt nailed the staccato and liquid movements, but he was not consistent at all.

Mambo:
Dude, Matt, what the hell! Kourtni was giving you enough sexy and smoldering and you just ruined it. That is not the spirit of mambo, that was so off character. Blah. Matt was too up and his weight wasn't over his feet (which happens when you're too far upright) and his was a little too bouncy. The steps were executed well, I felt Kourtni's footwork looked a little heavy at times.

Chelsie and Mark:
Jazz:
This has been the best Jazz routine this season though I haven't liked any this season. Of course they nailed it and they made it seem completely easy. They are awesome. (Mark's my favourite guy.)

Foxtrot:
This is my favourite dance this season. I love both the ones we've seen. Just lovely choreography. There was a great break hit by Mark about halfway through-he really nailed it. There was great footwork, frame, and carriage, and my only complaint is that Chelsie took control a little bit, but this is her thing and I doubt anyone else really noticed that.

Kherington and Twitch:
Paso Doble:
Okay. The commitment and passion was there. And it was highly entertaining. But was the dancing itself done right? Hell, no. Paso Doble is very stylistic and flamenco-ish. Twitch showed glimmers of the style here and there, but Kherington missed it. She was all up and forward like a properly-trained contemporary dancer should be, which is totally the wrong posture. Her shoulders were way too forward, she didn’t have the right frame - the claps and slaps at the end looked terrible as a result of this. And the kind of passion she was displaying was wrong - it was more aggressive, competitive and mean, as opposed to confident, prideful, and just damn’ ol rawly womanly. I found this rather distracting and jarring. On the other hand, I did enjoy watching it because it was so damn entertaining.

Contemporary:
I thought that they had great lines and executed it well, but I didn't really feel the story about Twitch's loss and Kherington's darting in and out was just confusing.

Katee and Joshua:
Contemporary:
When they were doing the same moves in the beginning of the piece Joshua was too reserved and didn't match Katee's intensity which captured the intensity and spirit of the piece. But I must say other then that they had great command of the stage, look at the execution of those beginning walks, and great form.

West Coast Swing:
Not impressed. But then I'm comparing them to all the WCS dancers I know, and I know some champion WCS dancers. Was it entertaining and energetic, yes. But think back to Benji, Lacey, or Heidi (this was Benji's choreography) and compare them. They seem to be favourites of a lot of people (including the judges) and I think because of this they were allowed to get away with a less then stellar performance.

Courtney and Gev:
Hip Hop:
Was that Courtney? OHMYGOD! What happened to Gev? I didn't watch him at all which equates to a really weak performance and this is his style. I agree with the judges that there were some parts that looked bubblegum-esque, but really Courtney really impressed me.

Broadway
Blech, just blech. I hated the choreography and I agree with Nigel that it was not as good as it should be (even though the choreography sucked) and it definitely wasn't good as *they* could do. I also agree that Courtney's kicks were not high or dynamic enough and just kind of fell flat. The only parts of the routine that could have been redeeming for me were poorly executed. Also as Tabitha (or Napoleon?) pointed out was that they kept the same intensity the whole time where the music obviously demanded that they bring it down and back up again to really explode at the end. Again this is a problem with not listening to the music and just executing the moves which is a fatal mistake for dancers IMNSHO.

I thought that Thayne, Courtney, and Comfort's solos were kind of weak. Oh well, I'll find out in 5 minutes.

So You Think You Can Dance Week 2

Hello! I'm back to talking about SYTYCD. It's nice as I have Jazz and Tap on Tuesdays and Hip Hop and Lyrical on Thursday and SYTYCD in the middle.

Thayne & Chelsea: Jazz
Gotta say I agree with the judges that this routine wasn't as strong as it should have been and it was seriously lacking in character and chemistry. I did really love the staccato part in the middle of the routine. I thought that that part was the highlight of the piece. I wasn't really blown away with the routine's choreography, but if they had the characters down better it may have been different. And what the hell was up with Nigel and the costumes? I got what the costume people were going for and I thought it went fine. I got problems with him and his "masculine" this and "manly" that.

Mark & Chelsie: Argentine Tango
I LOVED that Mark did so well with this as I suspected people thought that he was just the "oddball dancer." Which made him a personal favourite of mine, but now everyone else gets to see that goofballs can be amazing dancers. I thought the partnering was great and his carriage, lines, and attitude were perfect. The footwork was great from them both. Chelsie, as a ballroom dancer, did well but that's not exactly surprising. In this case it *is* important to be very macho/masculine and he did it very well. *shrug* It's a tango thing.

Jessica & Will: Hip Hop
I definitely thought that Nigel was way too nice about this routine. Jessica was not crisp, sharp, or hard enough in her movements. Will did well, but I thought that she was severely lacking and I definitely thought that this was one of the weaker routines of the show.

Kourtni & Matt: Foxtrot
I loved it because they were doing a style of Foxtrot that I love. It was like Mia (?) said: a beautiful routine reminiscent of the Golden Age of Dance in Cinema which I adore. I fully enjoyed it and while their Foxtrot footsteps were a little loose and not fully realised I thought that overall they did wonderfully. I thoroughly *loved* this routine.

Courtney & Gev: Contemporary
I really liked the choreography, but I felt that the performance was lacking. Here's where I kvetch about the camera work. Seriously just show the whole damn dance. Stop zooming in and out on one person or in on their faces. I want to see their whole bodies and their feet, etc. Damn you. I thought Courtney was great and fluid, but it was also lacking connection and emotion for me. I think the choreography really carried them, which great choreography will do, but it's unfair to the other dancers.

Katee & Joshua: Broadway
First of all, can the judges EVER say anything bad about Broadway routines? I didn't like last week's, but this week's routine was good, but I don't think it was executed as well as the judges said it was. I thought that there were moves that weren't fully realised, there were parts and lines that could have been sharper and moves that should have been hit harder. There were moves they just glossed over giving a hint as to the move, but not realising or actualising it. So sad. Yes it's high energy and fun, but it should continue to be judged the same way every other dance is judged. I don't think this should have gotten as high of praise as it got. It was a fun routine, definitely one of the best Broadway routines, the only one I've seen that's better is Sara & Jesús's from last year: (give it a few seconds, it does work at around :08, but that's before the dancing starts)

But still, I thought that they could have done a much MUCH better job with it.

Susie & Marquis: Salsa
So sad. I am mad at Alex DaSilva. I definitely think they will be in the bottom 3. Susie did very well with execution, i.e. footwork, carriage, etc, but was lacking the oomph needed for salsa. I think that she lacked the heart and the spark behind the moves because of the comment Alex made that obviously really upset her and shook her up when he said he was disappointed that she was just a "street dancer" and not a "dancer." Her execution was flawless, but I really think that she was so worried and nervous about her execution that she concentrated on that and that's why there was no heart and no sass in her performance. It's no excuse, to be in the dance world you need to deal with that, but it's still shitty. Marquis was stiff in his movements. He barely moved his hips at all (they should be moving in a figure 8) and his legs were stiff. He could do the steps pretty well, but he needed to relax into the steps and at the heart of Latin dancing is the hips and the sway. He looked like a dancing broom.

Twitchington: Viennese Waltz
I loved this routine. I'm not a fan of waltzes really and I loved that this took the waltz in a whole new direction. It was really beautiful and like I pointed out before I was not really a fan of the Broadway routine last week as it didn't really showcase their dancing talents so I was really impressed by Twitch this week. He looked perfectly at home. He had great lines and there was a lot of great partnering going on during this routine. Their connection was superb I have to admit that I was just taken away by what Jean-Mark Genearaux did with the waltz. I love it.

Comfort & Chris: Crumping
I HATE crumping. OK. So I agree with the judges, from what I understand of crumping it should hit a whole lot harder then that. But it didn't. Yes Comfort should have stepped up, but also I think that it was great partnering on her part (if she did it consciously) because if she did it as well as I, and the judges, think she could have it would have been even more apparent that Chris was horrible at it. Blah, crumping.

More dance

I'm in a dance induced euphoria. So you'll be getting nothing but dance from me today. I have comments and will be watching Hillary tomorrow where I am sure she WILL NOT concede, but rather endorse and suspend her campaign (yes, she can do that

I posted the Janet Jackson song that my hip hop routine is to (well there are a few of us). Here's another one (not a hip hop routine). It's not a video, just a picture with a song playing:

DANCE!

A new season of So You Think You Can Dance has started, so I will be blogging critiques about that soon, but in the meantime, I have performances tonight, tomorrow night, one Saturday afternoon and again in the evening. Here's one of the routine's songs (it's fun it has chairs, I like dancing with chairs):



ENJOY!

I can't sit down I laughed my ass off

The Evolution of dance:

SYTYCD Finale

Well I for one will be happy to not have to hear Cat Deely say "jidges" anymore. Everytime she did I wanted to scream and/or throw things. No critiques, just my thoughts.

I'm so happy they brought the clogger back, he's awesome. One sidenote: I HATE the camera work. It's spinning around all the time and doesn't really allow you to see all the parts of the dances like you should. It annoys the hell out of me. Thankfully I'll get to see the entire dances at the tour. (2nd row baby!)

Ummmm, what the hell did they do to Sara's hair? Not my favourite disco number, but I loved it. It had Sara in it, how could I not?

I love the Samba, I'm so glad they did it again. WOAH! Lacey got cut first? I didn't see that coming. GO Danny GO! Again Samba is really hard and they pulled it off wonderfully.

UGH. Pussycat Dolls. More dancing would be about a billion times better then this crap. What an insipid song, and if you have to try that hard to project sexy, maybe you should try a little thing called Confidence with a dash of self respect.

WOOOO SARA AND PASHA's WCS! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Benji's a good choreographer. They are two of my favourite dancers and the routine is so playful and delightful. I love it.

Oh Anya, mmmmm I loved seeing the Fox Trot again.

I'm so glad that they did that wonderful Jazz routine with Sara and Jesus. I was also secretly hoping to see it again, it is definitely one of my favourite dances of the competition.

Sabra and Danny are the top 2! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I'm kind of sad Neil's cut now, because I think that means that we won't see the good/bad jazz(?) routine. :( (I hope they do it on tour)

The whole Cat and Nigel dance thing: blech.

Good job Sabra. Obviously I would have preferred Danny, but Sabra is a good dancer. I cannot wait to see him on tour and in the future, because there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a very successful dancer. Congrats Sabra, Danny you still dance like an angel and love you.

(Oh and Tony, I remember you saying that Danny would never make it because he has the personality of a -tip. Well, 2nd place isn't such a bad place to be. ;)

SYTYCD Top 4

It's here, the last show (although IIRC they will be performing their favourite routines from the season tommorrow, which will be awesome and I really hope Neil chooses the good/bad routine with Lauren as I love it).

Solos:
Lacey's solo was the best solo I've seen from her all competition. It finally made me see why she should be here, but with her earlier solos I couldn't really understand why she was still here. Though this is the point where you need to have a solid solo. (01)

Neil (OHHHHH! His favourite is the good/bad jazz routine!! I bet we see it tommorrow *SQUEE*) I never realised how beautiful and perfect his feet are. They are always in such a fine point. Beautiful. (02)

Danny (WOOOOOOOO) Again, say it with me, Danny dances like an angel. His turns, his leaps, they all look effortless and with great lines and form. Like Mary said, I will never get tired of watching him dance. Amazing. He is the best dancer of the final 4, but I know that doesn't mean he'll win. But no matter what he will have an amazing career as a dancer and I look forward to seeing him dance many times in the future. (03)

Sabra is such a powerful dancer. She really dances so large, it feels like there's no limit to it. I would not be disappointed at all if she beat Danny and won. She is definitely a strong dancer that is someone who is just as good as Danny, but in a different way. Her presence is overwhelming, in a good way, and Danny's dancing is pure bliss. They are the strongest dancers right now IMHO, but in two completely different ways. But that's the fun of art, two things can be equally as good and be very different from one another. (04)

Partners/Group
Broadway (all):
I love Broadway. It's always such a pleasure to watch. The split leaps that Neil and Danny did were amazing. They make it look so effortless. It truly is a showcase of amazing dancers right now, they all had great technique and danced fabulously together.

Hip hop (Sabra and Neil):
I wasn't that into the choreography (sorry Shane). Neil didn't look sexy, he was making some funny faces, it definitely cracked me up. Neil did look very stiff and he seemed to be holding something back or lacking something. His stiffness of movement made some of their movements out of sync with each other. It definitely seemed too happy and not the sexy that Shane was going for.

Viennese Waltz (Danny and Lacey):
There should have been more rise in Lacey's waltz steps. Other then that it was very fluid and dreamlike in quality as the Viennese Waltz should be.

Jazz (?) (Sabra and Lacey):
Cute choreography. I liked the nuzzling. I agree with the judges that it didn't really showcase what they are capable of. I too am at a loss for what to say about the dancers.

Contemporary (Danny and Neil):
I wanna watch it again! AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN!!! It was explosive, tense, and they had such great characters and played them well. They handled the physicality of the piece amazingly, and Danny's moves looked so amazing.

LINDY HOP!!!!! (Lacey and Neil):
All I can say is this dance is something I've been doing for well over a decade and will therefore be watching very closely. I don't trust them to get the true lindy hop, but we'll see. I want a good swing out or it's not lindy hop.

WEAK. Very little lindy hopping going on, and on the swing outs I did she Lacey did not move her hips enough. Their charleston was off, you they were not matched up at all in the timing of them. It definitely did not have the right energy for me, and the judges obviously don't know what good lindy hop should look like. Though it is not entirely their fault as that was so obviously a ballroomers take on lindy. Also those aren't the hardest lindy flips. For real good lindyhopping look at this. (BTW I've danced with Todd, he's amazing).

I guess I must be boring because I wasn't entertained.

Cha Cha (Sabra and Danny):
I love the way Danny uses his body, especially his hips in this number. They had some wonderful turns. Like mary said, there were some parts that were technically were flawed, but really I was more impressed by the magic that they created on the stage.

SYTYCD eliminations

(live blogging)

I still don't get crumping. Maybe I'm just a dance snob, maybe I just don't like the whole bs "lookit me I'm so tough" persona, but whatever it is, I don't care. I think it's not really dancing and kinda stupid.

Sabra kicked ass in her solo, as did Neil (who incidentally I wouldn't have danced for if I had remembered to vote). Beautiful. Now I don't want to lose any of the guys now. I still think Lacey is the weakest link for the women, but I know better then that, and her solo could have been much MUCH better. (I didn't like her solo from Thursday either.)

1st woman safe:
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

1st man safe:
(please please be pasha or danny...they're all so good, but they are my favourites. I would be disappointed, but not terribly so, because Neil kicked ass on Thursday)
DANNY!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2nd woman safe:
please be sabra, please be sabra, please be sabra.
YAY! (Though I think Lauren should be there too)

2nd man safe:
Neil. Awwwwww Pasha. I'm so sad, I will miss the hell out of you. I wanted a ballroomer (other then Lacey) to be in the finale. I love Pasha. I kind of thought Danny may be off, I never thought Pasha would be.

Looking forward to the finale. I hope they get to pick their favourite dances from the year again, because Neil and Lauren's good/bad dance was AWESOME

SYTYCD Top 6

I missed the first solo, I was pleasantly engaged.

Solos
Pasha: He had some good moves in there, but I felt that this was his weakest solo to date. Now I love Pasha, but it's a good thing people aren't voting on solos alone, because he has done much better and I'm afraid the other solos are going to outshine him, unless Lacey gives a piss poor solo like she did last week.

Lauren: Her solo was very moving. I felt she told her story really well, and I was entranced and moved by it.

Neil: I just realised how hard it is to critique the solos because at this point they are all doing wonderfully.

Lacey: Well her solo was better this week then it was last week, but compared to the other solos.....

Danny: He has amazing control in his dancing. He makes everything seem so effortless. Again he dances how angels dance. Beautiful. He definitely has my vote, he just shows how beautiful the art of dancing is. Beautiful.

Lauren and Danny
Contemporary:
It was awesome. They are both amazing contemporary dancers. They move so gracefully across the stage and their lifts and throws and Lauren's recoveries from them were so beautiful and seamless.
Disco:
That was a fun and upbeat. They were pulling off really hard moves.

Sabra and Neil
Jazz:
Wooo. They had great moves and terrific lines. They worked so well together. I'm really impressed with the partner dancing so far.
Paso Doble: Waiting to see if they'll pull this off. It's a really hard dance to do. LOVED the ending. Neil really had the character of the dance down pat.

Pasha and Lacey:
Smooth Waltz:
He moves so well, his frame and lines were gorgeous. There was great passion and Lacey's extension needed some work, she should have sharp lines at this point in the competition.

Sorry for being so brief in everything, but there's stupid drama that's distracting me.

Just to let you know

My birthday was on Sunday. Happy me. I got a birthday dance Saturday late night and a whiskey present. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Post exchange death

Having recently returned from the Seattle Lindy Exchange (30 hours of swing dancing), I feel like death warmed over. I, of course wanted to go to late night last night, and not have to leave the evening dance at 11 (we were shooting for 10:30, it's like herding cats), but I, of course, had a quiz this morning so I had to come back last night.

Being still on exchange time (dancing until 5 am everynight, and since I did most of my dancing during late night (it was my dancing peak, I would dance the entire time and only half the time or less at the evening dances) I was there until 5 Friday and Saturday ), I could not fall asleep until 6:30 this morning. Needless to say, even with the alarm I did not wake up until noon (quiz at 10). Luckily I was able to take it late.

Now I wish someone would just put me out of my misery. My stomach's all screwed up and I'm tired as hell AND I have salsa tonight. UGH.

(Weirdly enough my sides are killing me. It must be because of my crazy lindy style. There were more then a few times where I ended up crouching on the floor or doing something else equally ridiculous. I loved that there were so many crazy leads there. It was AWESOME!)

SYTYCD eliminations

I HATE YOU AMERICA! YOU ARE STUPID.


that is all.

SYTYCD Top 8

I'm happy with the top 8, it should be well known to blog readers that I thought Kameron only made it as far as he did because of the audience's love for Lacey, and I was right *pat pat pat*. On to the dances! (Again live blogging this as not to waste recycled tree products.) To vote (if you get this in the 2 hours after the show, i.e. after this post is published) the number is 1-888-83676-(insert the number next to the person's name).

Danny (02) and Sara (01)
Argentine Tango:
Hot hot hot! If you read my weekly recaps/critiques it should come as no surprise that I LOVE this pairing. And not only that, but they did wonderfully. The judges were dead on with the fact that Sara is the most transformed dancer, anything that gets thrown at her she does with grace and great technique. Again, Danny dances like an angel, and his pirouettes were simply amazing. The chemistry was there, he was always there for Sara, and his carriage and frame throughout the dance were spot on. This dance should keep them out of the bottom 4. *jumping up and down with joy*

Hip Hop:
I hope Sara gets to show off her moves, because she's good. They work well together, no matter what Mary or Nigel says. They were together the whole time, though I agree that Sara definitely outshined Danny, but given how far this is from his style I thought he did incredibly well, screw the judges. (Though I may be slightly biased.)


Lauren (03) and Dominic (04)
Krumping:
Well I don't like it, I have no way to judge it, but I loved the Lauren running over Dominic move, especially now that I know she wasn't supposed to fall and made it seamlessly fit into the routine (from what I can tell, anyway). That takes a level of ability that is strong. So yay for her, good job.

Rumba:
1st off, Dominic needs to understand that all of the hottest Latin dancers wear Cuban heels. I caught a little misstep, I think it was a balance problem, from Lauren. Not good at this level of competetion. But the dance was HOT. They weren't really pushing their heels into the ground, which produces the hip action that Mary was talking about. If Lauren was more grounded and dancing into the floor she wouldn't have stumbled. It took me a long time to get off my toes (well, long enough to push my heels into the floor) in Latin dancing, but it is *very* important, especially when you're in a competition. They should have practiced pushing their heels down while going up the stairs slowly. It's the best and fastest way to learn. Plus it produces that super sexy hip action that Latin dancing is all about, and without it, it just ain't Latin. (I always said I wouldn't date a Lindy Hopper, but I would definitely date a Latin dancer.)


Lacey (05) and Neil (06)
Latin Jazz:
Sexy little dance, though it should have been sexy and was kind of tepid for me. Great lines and extension throughout, but the latin steps were off and their carriage for those places was strange and awkward. It lacked the passion that the routine required. I'm actually quite surprised with Lacey, who does Latin dance, that her steps and carriage were so...off. She could have done a lot better, especially because she knows how the steps are supposed to look and feel. But she's never going to be in the bottom 4 no matter how badly she dances, plus there's another dance to go. *shrug*

Contemporary:
It was so beautiful, it gave me shivers. Very touching, but I think in part because of what Mia said before the performance. Ok, it made me teary eyed, I've got to be honest. I have no critiques, as I just got lost in it, which made the dancing amazing.

Pasha (08) and Sabra (07)
Broadway:
Funny. Broadway always feels to me like it should just be judged on the performance because it's so insane. I thought the characterisations were great. The first move, the roll thing, was amazing. Love it, and I love watching Broadway routines on the show, so I can be picky. WOO WOO!

Quickstep:
Pasha is the perfect partner for anyone who's never done this dance before. Love Pasha's sparkly pinstripe pants. Pinstripes are sexy on their own. Pasha, as always, has perfect form in partner dances. I feel like I don't need to continue praising Pasha for the same things every week. You know he kicks ass in ballroom and has perfect form and wonderful steps. 'Nough said. Sabra had great frame, which is a lot easier when you have a partner with a great frame as well. Her carriage and both of their steps were amazing. Between this routine and the one before, they really are the top performers of the evening.

Voting for Sara, Danny, Pasha, and Sabra. Really impressed by Sara and Danny's tango. Not an easy dance to pull off by any means. I'm so happy they did so good because I love them so much. *squee*

SYTYCD Top 10

I'm live blogging this, by the way. Cuts down on wasting trees (well, recycled former tree products, anyway.) Even though I'm not posting it until after the show.

All right, I missed the first solo and the first partner dance.

Solos:
I'm still voting for Sara and Pasha, because I think it's kind of unfair that their solo is not in their style, while it obviously is for other people. I can't really say much because I didn't know they were all doing the same solo (I eventually caught on) and was confused as to why Sara and Pasha chose that as their solos, and spent the whole time going, whaaaaaaaa? (It dawned on me halfway through Pasha's solo that I was watching the exact same thing.)

Lauren KILLED that solo, but then she is a contemporary dancer. I mean it, her movement, her lines, the crispness of her performance. If people don't vote for her then America is stupider then I thought (we've all ready seen that it's stupid by past voting patterns).

Sabra did very well too, but, again, she's a contemporary dancer.

Kameron was passionate, but that didn't make up for the quality of his movements, which felt very rough, especially in comparison to the other dancers, and definitely apparent when they're all doing the same solos. It was not up memorable especially seeing as that's his genre. There have been some great contemporary male dancers that have been let go. He's only still here because of Lacey, I'm sure. It makes me sad to see him in his element, especially because his first contemporary dance was beautiful and moving. Sad that we had to say goodbye to others, but then I kept hoping that he and Lacey would be in the bottom three because I thought that he deserved to go home. Sad, because I like him. But then again, it was better then his partner dance by light years.

Lacey: Pretty good. Nothing much to say.

Danny: What can I say, he's what angels would dance like if their were angels. I could watch him dance for hours and hours and hours. He's amazing. I'd call him a gift from god if I believed in god. He's definitely a gift to dance, no doubt about that. Wow. I'm swooning over his dancing. I want to marry it (not him, the dancing) and have lots of beautiful dancelets. *sigh*

Partners:
I MISSED PASHA!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Sabra and Kameron:
I agree with the judges. Sabra looked extraordinary. Beautiful lines and extension, really feeling the music and moving with it. Kameron, what I said about his solo still applies.

Lacey and Danny:
Yes, the samba is the hardest latin dance, because while most latin dances have the same type of hip, foot, and leg action, with one knee bent at a time, some samba moves have that, but they also have moves and steps where you are bending both knees. (I can get more detailed, but this is boiling it down a lot for non-samba dancers.)

Jaimie and Dominic:
First I need to say I LOVE the choreography. Brilliant, blody brilliant. I want to be in something Toni choreographs with every fibre of my being now. Unfortunately the judges were right. Jaimie had good lines, but the technique was not there at all. It was a beautiful routine, badly executed. I wish it wasn't the case. Sadly I have to agree with the judges that Dominic looked like a characture of a dancer. :(

Sara and Neil:
Damn, that flip. Disco is perfect for them. Seriously. Crisp, great lines and extension. They hit everything well. Funny and really entertaining. Makes me want to vote for Neil.

Update tommorrow for the results show.

SYTYCD

No post last week due to a lack of computer, and no post this week because I myself will be at a dance workshop rehearsing a West Coast Swing routine and Samba. I may do one late if I am so inclined (I'm obviously going to tape it). But I can't promise anything.

(And oww are my feet sore from dancing in heels...stupid ballroom and their stupid heels. I still giggle whenever we do 'ballroom arms' like we were doing today in the Rumba. If you watch so you think you can dance you know what I'm talking about and we just don't do that in lindyhop. People were looking at me because I was giggling about all the arm and wrist circles I have to do. They're just silly silly silly.)

Venting a little for a second:
We randomly chose partners for the performance and I got someone who has NO rhythm, tried to take my arm off with a turn, dances like he weighs a ton and can't count the music. Thank god it's a routine because I had to lead myself into the turns or else we wouldn't be in sync with the rest of the dancers. I've thought about ditching the performance, but that would just be evil. Maybe we can practice afterwards tommorrow and before the session thursday night. Oh lucky me.

This bird has better rhythm then my partner. And I have to dance with this oaf IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE!! As long as he doesn't succeed in breaking my arm first.

So You Think You Can Dance week 3

This week is hard. Unfortunately I missed Sara and Jesus, so I don't know how they did and can not comment. :( But I will vote for them because I love them and they were doing hip hop which Sara is obviously going to be fantastic, and it looked good on the recap clip.

Here comes the critique (thumbs up means I'm going to vote for them, thumbs down: not):

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Ohh la la Pasha. I love latin dancers, oh that hip action. *wipes drool off of chin* That was one hot cha cha. mmmm mmmm mmmm baby baby. He of course NAILED IT. That is what cha cha should look like. As Mary would say, he was on the hot tamale train. If he's in the bottom three I will LOSE it. Seriously. I'd have to get trampled by wild horses not to vote for him. You should too. (side note: I'll be sad if Jessi has to leave because of illness, her and Pasha work so well together, even though I HATED her audition)

Cedric and Shauna:
Shauna was amazing and fluid. Great lines, beautiful movement. I loved watching her, she was amazing on that stage; she danced with so much passion and skill. Cedric was awkward and stiff (big surprise there). They both had great characterisation and performed their roles wonderfully, even if Cedric looked awful while he was dancing. I think because Mia likes Cedric so much she coereographed the piece to keep him from having to dance too much, which upset me because after 3 bad performances he should go. Thumbs down, and I definitely believe Shauna will pull through.

Lacey and Kameron:
Obviously Lacey is somewhat more comfortable in a ballroom type dance. She of course had great footwork and a great frame. Kameron needs to work on his frame. He did well, but you could see his right arm sagging and Lacey holding her arm above his in a proper frame. His arm should look like it's supporting hers (even though a follow is only touching her arm ever so slightly on his....it just looks like he's supporting her.) Frame is the cornerstone of good ballroom dancing, but it is more important when you are not doing a routine you practiced. Thumbs up.

Anya and Danny:
Again they performed fabulously. I agree with the judges that they are indeed the dream couple on the show right now. I know Lacey and Kameron may be the most popular, but they have performed the absolute best out of all the dancers in all their routines. Anya did amazing for a ballroom dancer. SHe may not have hit every break with the right strength (hard v. soft), but regardless she still did very well. I absolutely adored the ending of their piece. I have nothing written down for Danny, strangely enough, but he did perform well. Thumbs up.

Sabra and Dominic:
I wanted more passion. They partner well together, but for me they lacked the passion neccesary in a Rumba. Dominic had some great leadership skills. They had great lines and Sabra had great footwork. Good turnout, perfect placement. But for me half of what makes a Latin dance great is the passion of it. That's what's at the heart of Latin dances: passion. 50/50

Lauren and Neil:
Another Latin dance that was lacking passion. Tango is best known for its intense passion. Along with the passion, the sexiness and the partnering were also missing. They looked and felt awkward together. While they were dancing on their own they moved well, yet together they faltered. I wholeheartedly agree with Mary that they were too high on the floor; they needed to dance into the floor-it's a highly grounded dance. Thumbs down.

Jaimie and Hok:
Good lord did they look great! They showed incredible control in their movements, just look at Jaimie's first movements. Their lines were impeccable. I was blown away by Hok's performance (Jaimie was also phenomenal, but she's been doing better then Hok in the dances). They played well against each other-really stepped up their partnering skills. I didn't think they had it in them to be honest, esp after last week. I am so proud of Hok, his performance blew me away. I hope America votes for him even though they probably don't understand the routine. Thumbs waaaaaaay up.

I'll update this tommorrow after the results show with notes on the solos and what I think of the bottom 3 and the cuts.

Edit: Results Show

Again, I would like to point out that America is stupid. Cedric and Shauna did not have to dance for their lives, but Anya and Danny did. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Were they watching the same show I was?

I agree with the judges that the women's solos left much to be desired. I know that they can do better; it was sad. The two who got eliminated were Jesus and Jessi. I'll be sad to see Jessi go, because her and Pasha danced so well together. It will be interesting to see Pasha dancing with Sara. I hope they do well together, and I'm sad that we have to wait two weeks until the next episode.

Moving on/Random Bullets

Car Troubles
SO my darling '94 Toyota Pickup died on a trip up to Vancouver. My 4 month old radiator neck snapped off causing the radiator fluid to spew out which totally destroyed the engine. I love that truck so much, I've been around the country several times and put my futon mattress in the back to make those cross country trips possible. It holds so many memories and it's so strange to have a new car that runs so silently and is not a truck. I mean, my new 99 Subaru Forester is a good car, but it's so fancy compared to Truckie. And I entered the adult world of making car payments every month. I will be paying for the next 5 years. Wooo. Her name's Audrey. It's just weird b/c my truck was one of a kind and everyone around here has a subaru w/lots of Foresters. Pooo. I got an IWW window cling and a Cubs sticker on the window, but I'm hesitant to put any more stickers on, for now.

School
My lab may be cancelled this summer, fingers crossed that it doesn't because I need the money. We didn't get the grant for writing the new labs this summer, so I don't have that job either, but hopefully we'll get the grant this fall. The labs need a lot more work, and I'm not just saying that because I'll get paid to work on them. Classes start on Tuesday. I'm taking Multivariate Calculus (which I put off way too long...I elected to take the harder non-calculus courses first) and Limits and Infinite Series, which is kind of scary as we don't have a textbook. It'll be weird to go back to 200-level classes after a year of 300-level. I passed Discrete, which makes me soooo happy, and I aced Advanced Linear Algebra. WOO WOO.

Dance dance dance
Preparing for the competition in October, and the performance on the 20th I got some practice heels and new performance shoes. Stupid ballroom competition means that I must wear heels. F*$%ing hell.

Practice shoes because I can't even walk in heels:


Performance shoes:

Mmmmmm, shiny and red. I'm in love.

So You Think You Can Dance

Personal Favourites:
Pasha
Faina
Lacey
Anya
(go ballroomers! Gotta represent)
and a special place in my heart for Hok and Sara (B-Girl!! WOOO WOOO WOOO)

Funny enough I don't like Jessi, but her and Pasha have been so good with their dancing the past two weeks I just had to vote for them. It was amazing to see another ballroom dancer move that way. Of all the ballroom/lindyhoppers I know I am the only one who has trained in Jazz and Modern/Contemporary. It's just not what ballroomers do, so to see him pull it off so spectacularly warmed my heart.

Shauna and Jimmy make me smile, and I've voted for them the past two weeks, but that also may be because they have such great energy...I'd like to see them in something more serious to see if they really are flexible dancers. Performing hish energy routines is one thing, but pulling off a lyrical, contemporary, or smooth routine (like the waltz) is a horse of another colour.

I absolutely adored Sabra and Dominic's contemporary routine. The way they played off each other, the chemistry, they had some beautiful lines and it blew me away. It was amazing. Simply amazing. They better be safe this week, they have my vote.

Jesus also blew me away, he looked like someone who had danced the Paso Doble for years, he had the additude, the lines, the stature, everything that dance requires he had. Sara was amazing for someone who had never danced in heels and who has never partnered before. She sure looked better then me when I first did the Paso Doble (sans heels).

People I'm voting for whose routines did not blow me away:
Lacey and Kameron: their routine needed more energy and Kameron needed more. My notes on this dance are somewhat shabby so I can't comment on it too well.

Anya and Danny: Anya looked spectacular, but she's a ballroom dancer, it's no suprise she pulled this off. Danny was uncomfortable and it showed. His lines, his partnering, and his footwork were sloppy. Anya carried the dance, but in ballroom it's the leads job, whether male or female, usually male, who is supposed to make the follow look good.

My friends make fun of me for not only being obsessed with the show, but also take comprehensive notes on each of the dances so I can make good choices on who to dance with. I always vote for multiple couples, leaving the three who impressed me the least out of my voting. It was hard picking today, but I believe Hok and Faina can save themselves if they dance for their lives. I would really like to see Faina with a new partner, because I think she sparkles.

Up on my plate this summer: 3 day workshop with Ron Montez, Salsa, Viennese Waltz, Argentine Tango, the Seattle Lindy Exchange, and preparing for the DVIDA National Closed Championship in October. Which means I better start dancing in heels, booooooooooooooooo.

Looking forward to the elimination show tommorrow. I hope none of my favourites get cut.