serene’s posterous

I am so tempted to sign up for this.  But I am not really sure I can take a whole week off in June since I should be focusing on finishing up my graduate work.  I did a Stanford Waltz Week back when I first started graduate school, and it was a lot of fun, but really tiring to have 5 full days of dance classes plus evening dance activities.  I think this may be even more interesting because I particularly love learning the 19th century dances - the waltzes, redowas, mazurkas, quadrilles etc.  One of my favorite dance classes I did at Stanford was the the History of Social Dance in Western Culture, where we had a mix of lectures and practical classes.

It is funny how I stumble into listening to certain songs.  Admittedly I am a bit of a music snob in the sense that I usually don't listen to the stuff on the radio, preferring the more obscure bands or singer-songwriter types.  But then, I saw this cute hip hop by Ivan and Allison on SYTYCD season 2 (dancing begins at about 0:30).

I didn't really watch this season and I can't claim to be an expert, but I think Allison is probably one of the best female dancers ever in the show, with her fluidity and versatility.  Some may quibble with her hip hop, but that's not her dance style!  It is too bad she didn't get further in the show.  And this just means that I have just seeded a new Pandora station with Sexy Love by Ne-Yo.

The performance night of the Top 4 finale was only ok.  The standouts were probably Jeanine's tango-flavored solo, and the Louis van Amstel-choreographed Paso Doble danced by Brandon and Jeanine.  I loved Jeanine's control of her pirourettes in her solo and it seems like out of the top 4, she was the only one who really went for it in the solo, to have a difficult and yet musical solo.  The Paso Doble was eye-catching, but I am not a big fan of its techno-music from the Matrix.

On the results show where the judges' favorite routines were revisited, I thought the two Mia Michaels couple dances were the highlights.  The "butt dance" was danced better this time by Evan and Randi.  And the "addiction dance" by Kupono and Kayla was probably one of the best dances, if not the best, this season.  I was a little disappointed by the Jason and Jeanine piece because they kept dropping the darn necklace, and the smooch at the end was too long and awkward.  I also wished they had revisited some of Wade Robson's pieces, such as the quirky "Crash Test Dummies".

I am less interested in this year's SYTYCD.  There are just less memorable routines this year compared to last year, so I am generally indifferent about the results.  This week, my favorite was the top 3 guys' routine choreographed by Sonya Tayeh.  I liked the mechanical walking and the synchronized back flips.

Dancing starts at 1:36

I think the contemporary by Melissa and Ade, choreographed by Tyce Diorio, was the best of the night.  Unfortunately, I absolutely felt manipulated by the back story of the dance.  Can you say that you hated the "Breast Cancer Dance"?  I wished they just let the audience make their own interpretation of the dance.

The main problem with this season is the ballroom and latin dances have been almost uniformly subpar.  I am not all that familiar with ballroom, but even to my inexperienced eyes, Ade had no hip action in his cha cha, and Brandon was flatfooted throughout his waltz.

The results show was the 100th episode and featured Katie Holmes in a broadway tribute, and a bunch of past season dances.  I wasn't particularly impressed by Katie Holmes's dancing or singing.  But I enjoyed the Ramalama (Bang Bang) group piece featuring dancers from season 2.  Wade Robson, the choreographer, danced in this piece too!

My favorite dance this week is the contemporary danced by Jason and Jeanine, choreographed by Travis Wall.  The tearing of clothes was a bit much, but I loved how they perfectly tossed the necklace back and forth.  The only dud this week was the paso doble by Kupono and Randi.

The group dance by Wade Robinson was cool.  But I wished he had picked a different piece of music.

   

My two favorite dances this week were the Mia Michaels contemporary danced by Kupono and Kayla, and the Wade Robson jazz danced by Brandon and Janette.  Kupono was scarily creepy in the first dance (that smirk!), and Kayla, for the first time this season I think, made an emotional connection.  The Wade Robson piece is just so stylised and fun, and fit so well with the music.  Love it!

Kupono and Kayla:


Brandon and Janette:


I liked this weeks' NappyTabs choregraphed group dance too:

Photo credit: Kelsey McNeal/FOX

I liked all of the couple dances this week, so I can't really pick out a favorite.  Maybe it was because none of the songs really jumped out at me.  I was a little surprised that the quickstep by Karla and Vitolio was fun and clever.  The quick change of Karla's dress was incorporated perfectly.  I liked Evan and Randi's delightful broadway better than the judges did...it is all about those little movements!  The vampire dance of Kupono and Kayla was enjoyable too.

The quickstep!

Photo credit: Mathieu Young/FOX

My favorite dance this week is by Randi and Evan.  It is choreographed by Mia Michaels, and it is just such a silly dance.  It is all about Randi's booty!  And I noticed a distinct trend here where a big part of liking the dance is the music.  This week it is Koop Island Blues by Koop.  The dancing starts at 2:25 in this video.



I also liked this week's group dance - mixing the elements of ballroom and hip hop.  But I have to say it is somewhat raunchy.

Photo credit: Mathieu Young/FOX

I didn't find this week's SYTYCD as compelling as last week's performance show.  Perhaps more dancers were out of their comfort zone?  My favorite this week was the contemporary piece performed by Jonathan and Karla, and choreographed by Stacey Tookey.  But I am not sure if it was because I love the song Falling Slowly by The Frames, and that colored my impression.



On the results show, I liked the group dance choreographed by Mia Michaels.  Although, I wished the camera work wasn't so frentic.  The music - Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder - was great.