It’s time once again for my critiques of the Live Shows on my Review of So You Think You Can Dance.
Last week, the Top 20 Dancers made their Live Shows debut, and the judges gave up their power of choosing the dancers to move on to the viewers. It’s now in their hands to control the motion of the competition, and choose which dancers will begin a long life in the world of Dance.
“...With these hands, I hold the fate of millions.”
I hope you have chosen wisely.
The Group Dance this week is like a dark Mexican celebration, like Dia de Los Muertos (that’s “Day of the Dead” in Spanish), and the the dancers are dressed appropriately.
Then the routine begins...
I mean...Ay, dios mios! Eso era fuego! Muy Caliente! Bueno, bueno, muy bueno!
And the ending where the dancers rise and fall like skeletons on Dia de los Muertos was a nice touch. Everyone did a great job, the choreography was fantastic and could be the best group dance so far this season.
Before we get started with the dance critiques, I would like to send a big congrats to everyone at So You Think You Can Dance for earning 8 Primetime Emmy nominations this year.
This includes a nom for
Outstanding Choreography for Stage Captain Travis Wall, Sonya Tayeh and Spencer Liff (congratulations Spencer),
Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series
(congrats lighting crew),
Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special (Non-Prosthetic)
(congrats makeup crew),
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program for host Cat Deeley
(congrats Cat), and
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program (congrats to Nigel Lythgoe and the producers)
Congratulations to everyone involved with the show for yet another year of nabbing the noms! Good luck for another win!
And now, it's time for the dances, and my reviews of them.
I shall note that the dancers have now switched in teams and will now perform different styles of dance, regardless of:
Starting off this week’s show is the team of Hailee, Yorelis and Darion.
They're paired up with choreographers Oksana Dmytrenko and Jonathan Platero, who lay down a the blueprint for a Salsa number. Seems sexy, but the rehearsals were nothing but. With everyone not named Oksana and Jonathan messing up, sliding around and falling...a lot, it’s safe to say that this could've be a disaster.
But, I’m also safe to say that it was actually a little better than that.
In the dance, played to “Blucutu” by Saamara, everyone (especially the girls) did their thing! And it was hot. The ladies blew me away with their moves and rocked the extra moves amazingly.
I’ll be honest in saying that it clearly wasn’t the best dance of the show, and Darion (as great as he tried) just wasn’t at his best; he was better when he was dancing with the ladies and not close to breaking their appendages with the extra stuff (like that jump into Hailee and holding her neck), but still. That’s because the ladies upstaged him through, despite tWitch’s hopes that they wouldn’t.
All of the judges weren’t as pleased with this bit as I was.
It was a nice effort by everyone, but like Jason said, it was less than okay.
Huh. This was the second week in a row where the competition begins with a bad dance.
-After that, the three were given the results from last week’s show. The ladies were safe for next week, while Darion was at the Bottom 6. Find out at the bottom of the review if he gets eliminated.
--
Next up, Stage-r Derek and Street-er Ariana meet up to perform a Jazzy jive by Ray Leeper.
During rehearsals, I’ve seen an impressive use of talent from Derek, by way of his legs. Dude can split, jump and other things like nobody’s business! And Ariana is amazing from the bits and pieces I’ve seen of her.
I felt the movements between them were wooden. Other than that, everything else was great. I enjoyed the emotion between the two, the chemistry they shared, and the movements they made on stage, whether individually or together. This was just beautiful.
--
Later, Street's Megz & Virgil and Stage's Alexia recreate a Dee Caspary-created Contemporary dance.
At first, it seems like the three are just flopping and swaying around like clumsy oafs, but there’s more to that. I loved the little flips and swings Virgil did with Alexia, and the team synchronicity during the middle, plus the body dive Virg did above Alexia, but at the end of the night, it wasn’t very impressive to me. I’d say that Alexia was the best member of this team dance, and the praise she gets is well deserved. Virgil was a very close second, and is still one of my faves for this reason. I really like the effort in bits, but it wasn’t my fave.
Fortunately, I’ve another week to beg forgiveness for this critique,
as all three are on their way to the Top 18. Congrats, guys!
--
Street-ers Lily & Burim and Stage-rs Gaby & Edson took the stage for this Bollywood-inspired routine by Nakul Dev Mahajan, and from watching the rehearsals, it's like we’re in for a treat, watching the group doing the routine amazingly.
And certainly, we were.
I’ve never had so much fun just watching a 90 second dance, and I don’t think I will for a while. Everyone did so great here; so much energy, so much intensity, and so much fun. There were some amazing parts. Like the guys banging on drum and then jumping over them, landing perfectly; everyone doing the technique so fantastically; and making this hard genre of dance seem so easy.
And the song, “Dhol Baaje” from the soundtrack of Ek Paheli Leela, is also fun. The energy and excitement of this song just seeps through and makes you want to dance, even while sitting down. Bollywood has always been a fun celebration of life and happiness, and this dance is a great example.
-Burim, Gaby and Edson were safe, while Lily was in danger. Which is a shame, as she was getting much better than before.
--
Street’s Asaf & Neptune and Stage’s Kate suited up for this Broadway bit by Emmy Award-nominated choreographer Spencer Liff. I love Broadway dances on this show and this one here was certainly no exception.
Kate was fantastic; seeing her act sultry and sensible at the same time while doing her parts was too hot to watch, but I braved, and it was awesome. And it was near-mindblowing to see two Street dancers perform something completely out of their league, but they pull it off great and seamlessly as if they actually done it before (And from watching his audition, it seemed like Asaf had done it before). At first, the song of choice made my eyes rolled as it was not only not perfect for Broadway, but it was also one of the most overplayed songs this decade yet. But as it continued, it really grew on me because of the cover’s composition and the vocals of the singer, , were really good to here because of the old ragtime sound. I like that. Both the song and the performance of the dancers contributed to an amazing White Way dance, and is one of the best this week.
-Asaf and Kate were safe, while Neptune was in danger.
--
Two of my faves Jaja and Jim teaming up for a dance? Instant Favorite Dance of the Week, right?
The two worked with Christopher Scott for this Hip-Hop routine.
During rehearsals, the dancers and their mentors watch last week’s package, and in it includes a bit of Jaja talking with subtitles under her. This baffles everyone, as she isn’t that garbled in English. I just love her being aware of the fact that the producers throw in subtitles every. time. she. speaks. It’s not necessary! Everyone can understand her clearly. Her accent isn’t that thick. Plus, they didn't do this during her audition, so what’s the freaking point??
Anyway, on to the dance, and My God, was it amazing. While Jaja was awesome as usual, I’m putting the spotlight on Jim. Jeez, he did that shit great. Watching him, a Ballet dancer, match Jaja in the performance department and speed blew me the hell away. While he has the strength and endurance as a Stage dancer, I never knew he had the timing to animate at all, let alone perform this dance. Plus the quickness to match the guitar solo beat during the part where the two locked arm just shocked me. Jim and Jaja together with this routine impressed me for sure, as it did the judges (STANDING OVATION and all), and and I’m sure these two will stay for (hopefully) the entire competition.
-I don’t even have to tell you; it’s pretty obvious. These two are staying. NEXT!
--
Stage’s Marissa & Moises and Street’s JJ were joined by Ray Leeper for this next Jazz-fueled jive, the final dance of this week, based on a guy with a wondering eye being confronted by two angry women. Sounds hot, huh?
Watching rehearsals, I was quite looking forward to checking out Moises more than the ladies because his Stage moves there great to watch.
I was right when we get to the actual dance, and there were so much to love (again). The ladies channel their roles like real women scorned, Moises was committed to his role like a real wimp getting his beating well-due and all three were delightfully great together. The lighting added to the tension and fright.
During their critiques to Marissa and JJ, Jason and Nigel said they both smiled a few times, with the notion taking away from the dance’s story. I’d like to think that the smiling was genius, adding a touch of sadism to both characters, as they took great enjoyment in giving the guy pain for giving his lover pain from his philandering.
All-in-all, this was yet another great dance, and another example of me giving a hard time choosing a favorite.
-I don’t know if this is coincidence, but the cheater is in danger, while the cheated get vindication in the form of clearance to next week.
--
Now that our dancers have made it 2 weeks in, it’s time once again for the Teams to come together for the Group Dances.
We start off with Team Street as they meet with Christopher Scott and Season 5 finalist Christopher Chbeeb for this...unique Hip-Hop bit, involving See-Saws. You can tell that from watching the Rehearsals that if you’d try to do this, you’d bust your ass or bust your head open.
But they did it. They impressed me with the skills on the see-saw, and the popping and locking some did in groups was also awesome. I didn’t like the one part where
--
For a moment, I want to mention some things that have been to task this season so far.There are a few that I agree with, and one of them quite frustrates me.
Here’s the frustrating thing first: After the dancers have performed their routines, Cat then signals the viewers to go vote for their favorites to be saved. During this, the dancers make fake notions of holding a phone or making a call.
In the comments section of the video page on Hulu, one person said of this notion, and I quote “
”
(Yes, they spelled “weird” like that) I understand the complaint, but here’s the thing: this has happened for years; the dancers do this as a plea for their fans to keep them on longer, and I find it funny and endearing, and it’s something I don’t mind it that much.
-
Another thing is--many are complaining about the costuming done this season. Some are saying that the threads are “terrible”, “ill fitting”, and “vile”. I agree to an extent; I’m not a person who gives the clothing a close look, even during the judges’ critiques. But I will agree in that when I do look at the costumes, they are a strange waste of thread and sequins to look at.
But I won’t look much anymore. ‘Cause I don’t care.
-
Lastly, many of us have a thing or two with with the camera crew.
The angles and cinematography is a bit messy and uninspired during the dance segments.
I agree wholeheartedly. In some routines, I can clearly see the camera crew maneuvering around the stage with a handheld. Only everyone in the studio is supposed to see them; not us!
I think it’s also the fault of the director. If he/she is helming the show, they’re supposed to not mess a good shot or segue into another shot, which has happened in more than a few segments this and last week. I don’t want to be brutally verbal with the off-camera crew, but this is kinda embarrassing on their part. I hope they fix this soon.
Now that the complains are out the way...
It was hard for me to choose which dance this week was my favorite, as there were four of them IN A ROW that :
Lily & Burim and Gaby & Edson’s Bollywood bit,
Asaf & Neptune and Kate’s Broadway ditty,
Jim and Jaja’s cartoony and
Marissa & Moises and JJ’s tempting Jazz
But, even with giving up a little and deciding on a tie, I still had a hard time choosing.
But in the end I’ve decided that the two dances to give the Favorite Dance of the Week prize is:
Jim & Jaja’s cartoony Hip-Hop Dance and Asaf & Neptune and Kate’s Broadway ditty.
Both dances gave a huge splash of surprise to me, as Street-ers Asaf & Neptune shocked me with their natural genre skill and make the dancing seem easy for them, and Jim blew me away with his skills in Hip Hop, somehow matching JAJA on every turn. His moves were just as brilliant to watch as it was Jaja’s.
All three men gave it their all, and I’m proud of them for showing their new skills in such an awesome way. Keeping up with the ladies can be easy after all.
And now, the moment we weren’t waiting for, but had come anyway: the first eliminations of the Season 11 Live Shows.
It had to come, but in this case it was deserved to removed the dancers whom haven’t shown their true potential at the start of the competition.
After Moises’s dance, he joins the other five lowly dancers to be the first Bottom 6 of Season 12.
Darion, Ariana, Neptune, Lily, Edson and Moises.
And those contestants leaving are:
Burim (Stage)
Moises (Street)
I can understand this decision. They haven't started to begin their rise in talent or haven’t given their full potential. Or that they wasn’t best as everyone else. Either way, it was still sad to see them go. I wish them luck in their future endeavors.
And that’s it for now. Next time, I review the Top 18! Who will impress even further, and who will fail to live to expectations? Find out what I think, along with the Team Dances and eliminations.
See you soon!!
No comments:
Post a Comment