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AKICOLJ
Would anyone who watches a lot of Bollywood movies be willing to watch this and tell me how the dancing is? (possible spoilers for So You Think You Can Dance Top 12)
I am really really happy about more cultures being represented on the show (Chinese folk dancing pleeeaaaseeeee?), but I haven't watched enough Bollywood dancing myself to be able to tell about technique and etc., and I'm pretty sure the judges haven't either. Also, I think a lot of the praise from the judges is coming from just having a Bollywood dance on the show; I remember when a couple did lindy hop last year, the judges so did not pick up on a lot of the little technique problems that they would have for a more familiar genre like ballroom.
(Also, while I like Katee and cheer for her, my reaction was also, "What, how can you not know what Bollywood is?!")
Also also, while I am here, commentary on the African jazz piece very welcome!
I am really really happy about more cultures being represented on the show (Chinese folk dancing pleeeaaaseeeee?), but I haven't watched enough Bollywood dancing myself to be able to tell about technique and etc., and I'm pretty sure the judges haven't either. Also, I think a lot of the praise from the judges is coming from just having a Bollywood dance on the show; I remember when a couple did lindy hop last year, the judges so did not pick up on a lot of the little technique problems that they would have for a more familiar genre like ballroom.
(Also, while I like Katee and cheer for her, my reaction was also, "What, how can you not know what Bollywood is?!")
Also also, while I am here, commentary on the African jazz piece very welcome!
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Based on my limited experience, I'd say that they did a lot of adaptation to get a similar feel to a big Bollywood dance number, since they only had two people. It seemed like Katee was acting largely as a sub for 100 backup dancers with the abrupt, "masculine" moves that fit with the section of music they used. I'd usually expect more of the veil business and slinkier moves from a leading woman. I'm not sure they really expressed the story they were going for. Normally there's a sort of dueling boy/girl alternation, where they flirt for a long time before doing anything in sync, so I didn't get any sense here of playing hard-to-get. I think the feel of a larger cast came across, but at the expense of the story.
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Actually, I haven't really been overwhelmed by many of the women this year other than Katee. I'm not sure why none of the others have really stood out for me. Maybe it's because I've been so very overwhelmed by Will and Twitch...
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OMG Will is so awesome!!! I heart Twitch too, but I'm scared he won't make it long in the top ten if he gets a lot of ballroom routines. Though I think he is an audience favorite, so that will help. I love Mark too.
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I really like Comfort, but I'd been disappointed by a lot of her performances.
I watched season 3 of SYTYCD for the first time this year, and tried to keep track of the proportion of people of color at each stage of the competition, to see if they were eliminated at a higher rate than white contestants. What I found was that at every stage, about 30-35% of the dancers (plus or minus 5%) were people of color, suggesting that they weren't more likely to get cut. And then of course, there were two people of color in the final four, and (awesomely!) Sabra won with Danny as runner up.
This year, things seemed to follow a similar pattern for the first half of the season, though the percentage of people of color was a bit higher on average -- maybe 35-40%. I don't know if you've seen this week's episodes yet, so I won't say more now -- but things have gotten really interesting now that we're down to the top 8!
Of course, the show still has a fair amount of racial issues. Especially around stereotypes & fetishization of dance styles associated with blacks -- i.e. the recurring drama of whether white dancers can be sufficiently 'gangsta' when dancing hip hop, or the whole 'animalistic'/primitive stuff viz. African jazz routines -- and the pseudo-affirmative action narratives around 'street dancers' and b-boys/b-girls. Plus there's the preponderance of white judges and choreographers.
As a counterpoint, I've also been watching America's Best Dance Crew on MTV (the episodes are all online, though I don't know if they're accessible from outside the U.S.), where the majority of crew members and two out of the three judges are people of color (the crews come up with their own choreography). The first season, which aired earlier this year, was amazing; the crews in the current season don't seem as strong or memorable, but it's still enjoyable with some really impressive dancing.
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Word to the fetishization of dance styles associated with black people! I get so sick of all the commentary on how "aggressive" and "scary" hip hop is and all the "gangsta" commentary and the "animalistic/primitive" comments you mention re: the African jazz routines. And I HATE the "Oh, you clean up so nicely" comments so much!
I really wish they hadn't made Mary Murphy a permanent judge, because then that'd leave two guest spots open for more judges of color. Of course, if Nigel weren't a white man, this would be even less of an issue!
ZOMG America's Best Dance Crew! I only caught the tail end of last season, but it was awesome! It's why Shane Sparks hasn't been on SYTYCD as much, right? At least, that's my guess. And I love so much that white people on that show are the exception, not the norm! I need to catch up with the current season when I get back.
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