So You Think You Can Dance, S3 Top 18
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 01:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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hesychasm is watching as well! And her post has YouTube links, as do the comments! Most of them are to last year's routines, but I could watch this all day.
I think one of the reasons why I can take it is because they don't focus much on the personal lives of the dancers. Honestly, I do not care about the personal lives of most people on reality shows, and I absolutely detest how catty people will get. I like that the show and the judges actually take themselves seriously. It is funny sometimes, because it's couched in language of learning and improving, but what I get out of it is a whole bunch of people -- judges and choreographers and dancers (and some are all three) -- who love dance and take dancing seriously and really, really, really love and believe in what they do.
And of course, I am completely biased, because I too love dance, even though I can't do anything even close to what those people on the show are doing!
Every week I am just so stunned by what all the dancers can learn in six days. This must be one of the most intense boot camps ever -- they're not only learning their own routines and potentially a brand new style, they're also learning a group routine for Thursday and possibly even prepping an individual number just in case. And I am so jealous that they get to spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, dancing with all these amazing people to awesome choreography, and getting serious critique as well.
Wah! How could people not have voted for Pasha and Jessi?! They were awesome!
So far, I think my favorite dancers are Sabra, Pasha, Danny, and Jesus. I feel a little bad that none of the other women are really standing out for me, except maybe Sara as well. The women seem to have more similar styles in general, so it's a bit harder picking them out from the crowd, whereas with the men, there's a pretty clear division between the b-boys and the more formally trained dancers.
I love Hok as well, but I think Mary and Nigel were right: he was performing the hell out of the routine, but he really didn't have his technique down. I could see him being awkward and not flowing like he should, and I suspect the footwork wasn't as clean and snazzy as it should have been. Also, his posture felt off at times -- Latin is so very upright, straight back, long straight legs, sharp snappy turns of the head, and some of that didn't come through. On the other hand... Hok! With an unbuttoned shirt! And the cute Aussie accent! And I really want a b-boy to win, I do, just because I am so amazed that none of them have had formal training. I, er, don't remember Jamie much at all, which is generally not a good sign.
Jimmy and Shauna's stepping routine was a bit forgettable to me; part of it may have been because it was just two people. I think it would have worked much better with a group. The choreographer said they had to be loud, but I don't know how loud you can be on a stage with a screaming audience and music blasted out of loudspeakers. Same with Lauren and Neil doing hip-hop; my favorite hip-hop routine is still Sexy Love from last year because of how it played with people's expectations of hip-hop (and because it is cute like a cute thing!).
I actually liked Faina and Cedric's foxtrot; I think Cedric was a better lead than Hok, though not necessarily a more charismatic performer, which may partly be why Nigel swung his way in the end. I would have sworn up and down to the second of the announcement that Cedric was going to get voted off, but maybe they are seeing him pick things up. Also, I think it was very difficult to be paired with Faina, who dances ballroom gorgeously. Lacey and Kameron's Chicago routine was fun, but I think it lacked a little spark. It's hard to say what, because they're both very good and very good together, but Chicago man... that's a high bar to meet. Especially because the choreography in my mind is still Catherine-Zeta Jones with Fosse-style dancers or the minimalist Broadway revival. The sexy is fun, but, well, it's not Fosse.
I loved Jessi and Pasha's jazz; I loved the funkiness and the movements. I just loved watching the two of them move, and I am so amazed at Pasha in particular. I keep thinking of ballroom as somewhat stiff; it's not actually, but that type of contemporary styling just seems so very removed from the world of Latin! I also loved Sabra and Dominic together; I have a hard time believing that Dominic is a b-boy! And Sabra! Oh man, she was breathtaking. Just... her legs! The pointed toes! The lines! (These aren't technical things, by the way, I have absolutely no idea about contemporary at all. But... oh, so gorgeous.) That throw! And I loved how fluid Dominic was, and also, wow. Partnering skills like mad! My favorite thing about their routine was how her movements would flow into his, or vice versa, how they were always connected and pushing off and pulling in one another. It's hard enough getting your own body to work right, much less getting it to work right with someone else.
I also loved the waltz routine. I did think that Danny's footwork was a little off sometimes, but I can't quite say why. Legs too far apart or something? But I agree with whichever judge made that comment about his hands, because oh... I think his arms just float. And it's so perfect for the waltz. (I am biased here as well, because I desperately want to learn waltz now. Also, I asked one of my ballroom friends last week what the difference between standard waltz and Viennese waltz was. Her answer: "Viennese waltz is like standard waltz, only on crack.") And the spin! The way Anya just held it right there, perfectly centered!
And I was of two minds about doing the paso doble to Queen, but in the end, Jesus convinced me. Sara was a little iffier; you could tell she wasn't as confident, though as everyone say, it's still damn good for the first time dancing ballroom. But Jesus killed me... his hips and his posture, his stance throughout the entire thing was perfect. It was just a little exaggerated and stylized, even more than normal paso doble, but it ended up working for me with the music. Also, now I want to watch Strictly Ballroom again.
For the cuts at the end: Faina! You ripped off Dirty Dancing! Totally! The skirt swishing, the song, dancing with the bannister, all of that! I mean, I suppose that is fine with the rules, but you ripped off Dirty Dancing and didn't have fun with it! That just feels criminal. I wonder if that played in with the judges' decision or not? I suspect a lot of it was also last week's hip-hop performance, when she was awkward, and possibly made them think she wouldn't pick up non-ballroom styles very well. Like everyone else, Shauna completely changed my mind with her solo; I had thought of her as mildly forgettable at first, but she really threw herself into that. Jessi danced like she had already lost hope.
And for the men... huh. I knew they weren't going to kick Pasha off, though I wonder how he'll do with a non-ballroom routine. And I am still surprised at picking Cedric over Jimmy. We'll see how that goes next week, I suppose.
I am rooting for a lindy routine in there somewhere. C'mon! Please?
ETA: added links for the routines I remember best. Yay for YouTube!
ETA2: fixed links
hesychasm is watching as well! And her post has YouTube links, as do the comments! Most of them are to last year's routines, but I could watch this all day. I think one of the reasons why I can take it is because they don't focus much on the personal lives of the dancers. Honestly, I do not care about the personal lives of most people on reality shows, and I absolutely detest how catty people will get. I like that the show and the judges actually take themselves seriously. It is funny sometimes, because it's couched in language of learning and improving, but what I get out of it is a whole bunch of people -- judges and choreographers and dancers (and some are all three) -- who love dance and take dancing seriously and really, really, really love and believe in what they do.
And of course, I am completely biased, because I too love dance, even though I can't do anything even close to what those people on the show are doing!
Every week I am just so stunned by what all the dancers can learn in six days. This must be one of the most intense boot camps ever -- they're not only learning their own routines and potentially a brand new style, they're also learning a group routine for Thursday and possibly even prepping an individual number just in case. And I am so jealous that they get to spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, dancing with all these amazing people to awesome choreography, and getting serious critique as well.
Wah! How could people not have voted for Pasha and Jessi?! They were awesome!
So far, I think my favorite dancers are Sabra, Pasha, Danny, and Jesus. I feel a little bad that none of the other women are really standing out for me, except maybe Sara as well. The women seem to have more similar styles in general, so it's a bit harder picking them out from the crowd, whereas with the men, there's a pretty clear division between the b-boys and the more formally trained dancers.
I love Hok as well, but I think Mary and Nigel were right: he was performing the hell out of the routine, but he really didn't have his technique down. I could see him being awkward and not flowing like he should, and I suspect the footwork wasn't as clean and snazzy as it should have been. Also, his posture felt off at times -- Latin is so very upright, straight back, long straight legs, sharp snappy turns of the head, and some of that didn't come through. On the other hand... Hok! With an unbuttoned shirt! And the cute Aussie accent! And I really want a b-boy to win, I do, just because I am so amazed that none of them have had formal training. I, er, don't remember Jamie much at all, which is generally not a good sign.
Jimmy and Shauna's stepping routine was a bit forgettable to me; part of it may have been because it was just two people. I think it would have worked much better with a group. The choreographer said they had to be loud, but I don't know how loud you can be on a stage with a screaming audience and music blasted out of loudspeakers. Same with Lauren and Neil doing hip-hop; my favorite hip-hop routine is still Sexy Love from last year because of how it played with people's expectations of hip-hop (and because it is cute like a cute thing!).
I actually liked Faina and Cedric's foxtrot; I think Cedric was a better lead than Hok, though not necessarily a more charismatic performer, which may partly be why Nigel swung his way in the end. I would have sworn up and down to the second of the announcement that Cedric was going to get voted off, but maybe they are seeing him pick things up. Also, I think it was very difficult to be paired with Faina, who dances ballroom gorgeously. Lacey and Kameron's Chicago routine was fun, but I think it lacked a little spark. It's hard to say what, because they're both very good and very good together, but Chicago man... that's a high bar to meet. Especially because the choreography in my mind is still Catherine-Zeta Jones with Fosse-style dancers or the minimalist Broadway revival. The sexy is fun, but, well, it's not Fosse.
I loved Jessi and Pasha's jazz; I loved the funkiness and the movements. I just loved watching the two of them move, and I am so amazed at Pasha in particular. I keep thinking of ballroom as somewhat stiff; it's not actually, but that type of contemporary styling just seems so very removed from the world of Latin! I also loved Sabra and Dominic together; I have a hard time believing that Dominic is a b-boy! And Sabra! Oh man, she was breathtaking. Just... her legs! The pointed toes! The lines! (These aren't technical things, by the way, I have absolutely no idea about contemporary at all. But... oh, so gorgeous.) That throw! And I loved how fluid Dominic was, and also, wow. Partnering skills like mad! My favorite thing about their routine was how her movements would flow into his, or vice versa, how they were always connected and pushing off and pulling in one another. It's hard enough getting your own body to work right, much less getting it to work right with someone else.
I also loved the waltz routine. I did think that Danny's footwork was a little off sometimes, but I can't quite say why. Legs too far apart or something? But I agree with whichever judge made that comment about his hands, because oh... I think his arms just float. And it's so perfect for the waltz. (I am biased here as well, because I desperately want to learn waltz now. Also, I asked one of my ballroom friends last week what the difference between standard waltz and Viennese waltz was. Her answer: "Viennese waltz is like standard waltz, only on crack.") And the spin! The way Anya just held it right there, perfectly centered!
And I was of two minds about doing the paso doble to Queen, but in the end, Jesus convinced me. Sara was a little iffier; you could tell she wasn't as confident, though as everyone say, it's still damn good for the first time dancing ballroom. But Jesus killed me... his hips and his posture, his stance throughout the entire thing was perfect. It was just a little exaggerated and stylized, even more than normal paso doble, but it ended up working for me with the music. Also, now I want to watch Strictly Ballroom again.
For the cuts at the end: Faina! You ripped off Dirty Dancing! Totally! The skirt swishing, the song, dancing with the bannister, all of that! I mean, I suppose that is fine with the rules, but you ripped off Dirty Dancing and didn't have fun with it! That just feels criminal. I wonder if that played in with the judges' decision or not? I suspect a lot of it was also last week's hip-hop performance, when she was awkward, and possibly made them think she wouldn't pick up non-ballroom styles very well. Like everyone else, Shauna completely changed my mind with her solo; I had thought of her as mildly forgettable at first, but she really threw herself into that. Jessi danced like she had already lost hope.
And for the men... huh. I knew they weren't going to kick Pasha off, though I wonder how he'll do with a non-ballroom routine. And I am still surprised at picking Cedric over Jimmy. We'll see how that goes next week, I suppose.
I am rooting for a lindy routine in there somewhere. C'mon! Please?
ETA: added links for the routines I remember best. Yay for YouTube!
ETA2: fixed links
Tags:
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 12:16 pm (UTC)We need more dancing on TV in the UK (looking forward to Strictly Come Dancing coming back).
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 07:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 02:24 pm (UTC)Yeah, pretty much. And long.
Mind you, I'd have liked to have seen a bit more partnering out of their waltz routine. i.e., fast flowing between positions, maybe some windows. But then again, that's what I like when doing it. However, that's the coreographer's problem. That forever spin was pretty amazing.
And re: the paso dobles, I agree Jesus did a great time. Also, it may well be time for Strictly Ballroom again.
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 07:50 pm (UTC)I so want to learn how to waltz now.
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 03:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 07:57 pm (UTC)I know the eensy bit I know about pairs dancing makes me watch that part more, because I keep trying to look for technical stuff, even though I don't know all that much. I think I tend to like the hip hop solos better than the pairs work, though it really, really depends on the choreography (I loved the Benji-Donyelle booty-shaking one and the Tranji one and the Allison-Ivan one!).
I also tend to like Latin more than standard ballroom, but, haha, that is my personal dance preference too. The music! The fast! The insane footwork! The hips!
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 04:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 07:58 pm (UTC)I found you can search for the dancers' names, too, just in case these links go bad too.
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 05:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 22nd, 2007 07:58 pm (UTC)Also, I think I accidentally spammed you via email because my GMail shortcuts are misbehaving. Sorry!