As with my reviews of Rising Star, the opinions are less professional than those of the TV-show websites.
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my weekly reviews of Dance. This season has already shaped up to be an amazing one. This week, there was a big switch up between dancers as they gained new partners to spice up the competition. While it enhanced some dancers, this new twist in the live shows left some others falling flat. Nigel and Mary were joined this week by guest Misty Copeland, famed ballet dancer and the first African American female soloist for the American Ballet Theatre.
(For those of you that missed this weeks show, or watched it on DVR, I will reveal which dancers were in the bottom 6 and which of the 6 got eliminated at the bottom of the review.)
(I didn't use the dancers' last names on the critiques in last week's review, so I'll put them here, and on the "Eliminations" section during the reviews from here on out.)
This week's show begins with a wonderful group dance/Broadway salute to the City That Never Sleeps, to the tune of "New York, New York" by the 2014 cast of the White Way hit On The Town. I love this one from beginning to end. The dancers brought their all, especially the guys. The sailors were astounding and when the ladies came in, everyone shined like it was West Side Story all over again. This one has to be my favorite by far.
After that Bottom 6 reveal, Tanisha getting a new partner in Ricky and pulling off something that came out of a chapter of "Fifty Shades of Grey" You know, after the one where Grey rapes the girl, but she finds it as love? Anyway, they give us an ultra-sexy Jazz routine to "You Need" by Bengsons. It was steamy, sensual and close to white-hot, it almost got me sweating bullets; that or I forgot to turn on the AC. Either way, I'm gonna feel the heat the next day.
Next up, Valerie Rockey switches up with Ricky Ubeda, and together, they do a Contemp to Gossling's "Oh Darling". I really felt the emotion and power in this one. Plus the soft lighting really helped make it more emotional. The amazing part was Val falling while Rick holds her legs. To do that and not crap up is seriously impressive. Well done, you two.
Bridget Whitman took a turn with Emilio Dosal and gave us a Hip-Hop rappin' rendition of "Work" by Iggy Azalea. I don't like the song, but this dance is perfect. Emilio brought the awesome and Bridget brought the sexy. Together they brought us this amazing dance. I've said last week that I love "Let's-do-the-Same-Thing" dances, and this week, I'm in love again. Also, that backflip. I don't know about the picture about the pretty girl fitting in with the story, though.
Jessica Richens gets to dance with Nick Garcia and swing the West Coast Swing to a 1971 Live performance of Aretha Franklin's iconic "Respect". I thought it was very good, especially 2 seconds in when the spinning commences. Both of them are really great at WCS (especially Nick) and I wish to see the two doing it again later this season (if either doesn't get eliminated first.) Their spinning and twirling make me close to puking...and I mean it in a good way. I really enjoyed that.
Up next, Carly Blaney gets Serge Onik and performs a Contemporary to the Acoustic version of Sam Smith's "Latch". Boy did I feel the emotion from this one. The two touching each other, throwing the other around, rolling on the floor and spinning. And, while any Sam Smith song is perfect for this show, this particular song was perfect for this routine. It just fits here like a glove.
Plus, big cheers to Serge for his amazing lifts with Carly, along with her; seems like she was light on her feet her whole life.
Emily James gets paired up this week (and probably not beyond) with Teddy Coffey, performing this week's second Hip-Hop rappin' groove to Ed Sheeran's "Don't". I thought it was pretty good, but felt a little boring in a couple places. It gets much better during the middle part, but the boring-ness does take precedent throughout the dance.
Marlene Ostergaard just keeps turning up the heat. This time around she is chosen with Stanley Glover, who himself impressed me with his "Let's-Do-the-Same-Thing" Contemporary last week, and straight to business (or should I say "a bus-uh-ne-usss" with this Broadway number to "I've Got Your Number" by Nancy Wilson. Damn, that was impressive. Their footwork, leg-lifts and the way they held those phones throughout the whole routine without dropping them was amazing. His jump-splits-thingies (or whatever you call them) are just astounding. Coupled with Marlene leg-work (who by the way, has some fine-ass legs; I mean, Damn. Sorry, I lapsed into being a dog for a bit) Anyway, that was so very good, and I applaud them both. I name this dance my Favorite Dance of the Week.
Jourdan Epstein got a new partner (this time a man!!) in Marquet Hill. They perform a Pop Jazz number to Britney Spears' "Work Bit--", I mean "Work Work". It was a really good dance, but somehow, I wasn't really impressed. I did enjoy the part where Marc picks up Jordan and she does a mid-air split and keeps that pose when she reaches the ground!! That's gotta hurt, but that was really cool. And then kick that made him flip? Super cool. Other than that, it was a very so-so dance.
Next, Brooklyn Fullmer shook things up Casey Askew, performing an Argentine Tango to "Gallo Ciego" by Luis Bravo's Forever Tango. I find this one really good, and these two brought some fire to the dance; mind you, not "the" fire, some. But it felt a little dull to me. There was a nice amount of passion there, but still felt dull.
And finally, Jacque LeWarne also gets a man partner with Zack Everhart, Jr., giving us a kick-ass African Jazz groove to the same name Mix of "Dibiza" by Danny Tenagila. This dance had everything, the two covered in colorful spandex, loud electronic-like music, "Let's-Do-the-Same-Thing" moves, and nice chemistry between the two. And quickness, power and ferociousness were on display, and I loved that. Everything just works here, so I'm also naming this my Favorite Dance of the Week.
FAVORITE DANCE: Marlene & Stanley--Broadway & Jacque & Zack--African Jazz
(Honorable Mention: Bridget & Emilio--Hip-Hip)
Least Favorite Dance: Emily & Teddy--(the other) Hip-Hop
And now, a special performance by a wonderful dance group called Syncopated Ladies. Totally sassy, those girls.
And now, the eliminations. This week, 20 dancers stand, 6 will face elimination, and 2 will leave the studio. First, the bottom six dancers.
And now the reveal of the two dancers (one guy, one girl) leaving the competition.
Eliminated: Marlene Ostergaard & Nick Garcia
I thought that was a very terrible elimination. Marlene and Nick shouldn't have left; they really improved this week. I know these eliminations are results from last week's dances, but still. I think it should be Jourdan that should be the girl to leave and some guy to leave; the guys were great so far, I can't choose. Oh, well. Two rising dancers leaving us this week. I did not like it but it had to happen. This season is going to be painful. I love it.
Oh well, we'll have to see what happens from there next week. See you next Friday at 8 for Review #3. But for now, I'm Andrew Pollard saying "Plié, Pas de Deux, echappe and other Ballet crap". Sorry, Misty Copeland.
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