S11.E06: First Live Performance Show; Meet the Top 20 Performances

[ElleTwoThree]

Finally saw it...

 

I did not remember 17 of those people, honestly I have the memory of a garden gnome, the only ones I remembered were the muggy Florida boys and that blond girl. I mean after a few seconds I kinda placed most of them (though not Emily, Jacque, Teddy... possibly more) but if I walked into one of them in the streets I would never know them.

 

Anyhow to the dancing, the routine I liked the best was muggy boy number 2 and Tanisha (sp?) right at the end. I thought that was energetic and enjoyable and enjoyed (they enjoyed dancing it). I know very little about ballroom, but it looked right to me. I was ready to hate them, but I liked them which is probably the best compliment one could ever give when watching this show. Also the mormons on this show have come a ways since Benji felt awkward touching Donyelle's bum, huh? This girl did not feel awkward touching (and kissing) away!

 

The contempos... none of them touched my soul. "Addiction" touched my soul, these were ok. I particularly did not love the Ricky one as I found it kinda snoozy. Extension extension extension sloooooooow cartwheel, HMV, HMS HMV extension extension. I will say their pirouettes were perfect and not lopsided or fally outy. I think out of all of them I liked the one with Casey the best though as said none of them really moved me.

 

The tap was fun, the other ballroom was fun-ish though I thought she was a bit cold, her body rolls were far away from his torso (isn't that the whole point? To roll into his chest?) and she just didn't look in it as much. The "hiphop" was fun too. None of them gave me goosebumps though (none of the choreos).

 

The ballet... I had obviously read on here all the hate and expected it to be godawful. But it was ok. Not great, but I had such low expectations that I was almost pleased with it (unlike the choreographer who looked like he'd rather be sticking chillis in his eyes than watching that). What I hated most was one of the girls' voice. And the fact that they look very similar, and therefore I couldn't tell who was who almost ever (even during the 8 seconds). Dancing one was clearly stronger than the other (they both fell out of their pirouettes but they were en pointe, so I am cutting them some slack).

 

Stacey Tookey is my dream woman. 

Edited July 3, 2014 by ElleTwoThree

[luvthepros]

Tap is mind numbing.  

Have you ever seen The Nicholas Brothers tap? Their routines are anything but mind numbing.

Were you thinking of this scene?

I could watch The Nicholas Brothers all day. This "Stormy Weather" number is a classic and one of my favorites.

[feverfew]

As a fellow Dane, I was on pins and needles before Malene's routine - there's no fun in rooting for someone who's bad. But I loved it! As Nigel said (blergh, agreeing with Nigel) I'm really sorry they are splitting up the pairs next week - would have loved to see Malene and Marquet dance together again. Crossing my fingers she won't get Bollywood next week. 

 

As a longtime ballet fan (though not a dancer) I thought the ballet girls did adequately with what they were given. And I really pity them for the costuming. 

 

Am I the only one who thinks Bridget looks uncannily like Jill Hennessy? That was all I could think about during her routine...

Edited July 4, 2014 by feverfew

[COESpiral]

I liked Ricky, Serge, Marquet, Nick, Malene, and Stanley. Everyone else was forgettable. I was really hoping for an outstanding routine from the ballet girls and was a little disappointed. Classical ballet is just so, so difficult and the good dancers aren't going to bother with this show unless they have no desire to be in a major company.

And sorry to Travis Wall, but after watching this past season of DWTS, when I hear John Legend's "All Of Me", all I can think of is Meryl and Maks's foxtrot. That was just such a gorgeous dance.

[shortpplfedup]

Well that was soul-destroyingly boring. AND all the music sucked. Also, dance teachers out here are doing these kids all kinds of disservice by throwing them into 'contemporary' without a solid grounding in ballet. You can SEE the difference between dancers with solid ballet training and those who went straight into 'contemporary' with little to no ballet training. You have to know the rules to break them.

 

Brooklyn/Serge ("Hell Yeah" - Dmitry Chaplin, Cha Cha)

Oy...not good. Brooklyn isn't very good, she has awkward leg movement, like she finds bending her knees difficult. And Serge just looked flaily and sweaty, although he is a much better dancer than she is.

 

Emily/Casey ("All of Me" - Travis Wall, Contemporary)

I hate when Travis goes pedestrian on us. Choreographically and emotionally there was nothing to latch onto here.

 

Valerie/Zack ("Sing" - Anthony Morigerato, Tap)

Morigerato is SO BORING, where is Chris Scott or Nick Young or Ryan Kasprzak or ANYBODY ELSE? Zack is better than Valerie, he has real style in his upper body. She made those stairs look like work and he made them look easy. Wardrobe didn't help. They couldn't just put her in the reverse colours of what he was wearing? That dress just accentuated everything that was wrong with the dancing.

 

Bridget/Stanley ("Doesn't Mean Goodbye" - Bonnie Story, Contemporary)

Stanley is probably my favourite dancer and Bridget the Bad Dancer is definitely my least favourite dancer. Her dancing is just so...lazy! She has lazy feet, lazy legs, lazy arms...it's so frustrating to watch. Add this nothing choreography...oy. THERE ARE DIFFERENT EMOTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY DANCE PEOPLE!

 

Jacque/Jourdan ("Pas de Deux - Black Swan" - Marat Daukayev, Ballet)

Technically, Jourdan is better. She has better control, neater feet, greater turnout, better port de bras, better posture. Look closely at that fouette en tournant sequence and you will see Jourdan doing the full fouettes (toe whips from behind the knee to the front of the knee) while Jacque cheats them slightly by letting her toe touch the side of her knee instead. Also, Jacque flings her leg out between fouettes while Jourdan's leg is much more controlled. Jourdan clearly slipped on the floor (even before the obvious one, you could see her slipping on the floor) and had her confidence rattled though, because she never quite recovered. All that said, they could have given them a more contemporary choreographer/piece.

 

Malene/Marcquet ("Morning Drums" - Louis van Amstel, Samba)

Look, idk. I really hate DanceSport Latin. The original, social forms of these dances are all infinitely better than this heavily codified, stylised bs that has about as much in common with real samba as tofu does with beef. I think I'll just bow out from having any opinion on samba, salsa, cha cha and mambo in particular. Jive I can at least judge on entertainment factor and paso and rumba on style, but none of these others look like the dances they purport to be to me, so I just can't.

 

Carly/Rudy ("Take It Easy" - Stacey Tookey, Contemporary)

Were Rudy's hands choreographed that way? Because they looked hella awkward. Rudy is not a very graceful dancer, he looks like every movement is a struggle for him and his turns are super-sloppy. He's got power but very little finesse. Neither Carly nor the piece was in any way special or interesting.

 

Emilio/Teddy ("Nightshift" - Christopher Scott, "Hip Hop")

The most interested I was in Teddy was when his tap training came to the fore in that bit of footwork. You can tell this is Emilio's wheelhouse and Teddy is just dabbling to make the cast, and neither of them could make my SYTYCD hip hop top 5.

 

Jessica/Ricky ("Vow" - Sonya Tayeh, Contemporary)

This was the only piece to interest me all night. I love how Sonya's work is immediately identifiable, no matter what the style, by her affinity for pretty pictures. Lady loves to hold a pose, and it works well for her dancers most of the time. And the dancing itself was just gorgeous. The whole thing was slightly otherworldly and I really dug it.

 

Tanisha/Nick ("I'm a Freak" - Louis van Amstel, Cha Cha)

What an execrable song. Nick is good I guess? Tanisha...not so much. Is this her secondary genre too, like Teddy?

 

Top 20 ("Stalker Ha" - Sonya Tayeh, Jazz)

I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn't. Loved the tip of the hat to 90s Madonna and Smooth Criminal, but this just felt like a big ol' nothing to me.

 

Rankings

 

Ballroom (have I mentioned how much I hate it?)

Nick

Serge

Malene

Marcquet

Tanisha

Brooklyn

 

Hip Hop

Emilio

Teddy

 

Tap

Zack

Valerie

 

Contemporary/Jazz

Ricky

Jessica

Stanley

Emily

Rudy

the rest

 

Ballet

Jourdan

Jacque

 

If I had to guess who's going home next week, based on the dancing, I'd say Casey or Serge, and Brooklyn, Bridget or Valerie. I will be totally wrong.

[msburg]

I am such a non-dancer, my opinion should hold no weight.  However, this is what I though about last night:

 

The girl tapper struggled mightily with posture because the steps were WAY too tall for her.  I thought she did great keeping up with the male tapper in that he the stpes were more tailored to his height.

 

All of the contemporary dances are one big blur in my mind.  When even the choreographer's descriptions all sound the same?  Makes me think they all mailed it in  (with the possible exception of the new Storey lady), knowing this did not need to be the Emmy submission episode.  I was sick of hearing every contmepo dancer describe the choreo as a push-pull effect.  Umm, really?  Way to phone it in, choreographers.

 

Ballet was sadly talent -show-y, not dance competition.  Hip hop was cute, but so watered down.  In fact, I felt it quite noticeable that they had none of the Dragon House/ Fik-Shun type dancers in this year's Top 20.  The others wouldn't stand a chance if they had another one of these dancers onboard.

 

Liked the ballroom, and think with casting they are angling for this to be a ballroom year.  Marquet is talented, but seems almost too limb-y (it's a word!) to look good in this.

 

No early favorites, to be sure...

[90PercentGravity]

Marquet is talented, but seems almost too limb-y (it's a word!) to look good in this.

Interesting, as I find his limb-y-ness to be his greatest appeal. I loved watching his legs and I'm usually a waist up focused person. In fact, the reason I hate tap is because it is all waist down and that just doesn't appeal to me. I like watching people faces and shoulders and arms and backs. When I watch tappers all I see is flailing arms and mugging.

[Giggly]

So, after taking a year off to purge myself of the excess Nigel and Mary Induced Rage Episodes, I decided I was ready to start watching the show again.  While there are some changes, it almost seems like I never left.  Mary still makes me embarrassed to have a uterus.  Nigel still makes me feel like I just got slimed and need a shower.  Deep cleansing breath and a growing reliance on the ff button will take care of that.

 

Many moons ago (maybe season 3 or 4), there was a young girl who auditioned and was cut because she was too good and made things look too easy.  If I remember correctly, her name was Kelly Story.  Is Bonnie Story her mother?  Am I smoking rope again?

 

Took a while to find you all again, but I'm glad to be back.

 

Bring on the dance, the critiques, and the snark!!

[kechara]

Bonnie Story is her mom.  I don't think she tried out again.

[LadyMustang65]

Just putting in my 2 cents' worth to be sociable because I have nothing ground-breaking to say.  <lol>  Was bored by the opening number.  Can't remember the last time I thought one was that lackluster.  I love ballroom dancing usually but I thought the girls seemed much weaker than the guys.  I liked Serge, loved Marquet and thought Malena (whatever her name is) was the best of the ballroom girls.  Loved Ricky and Zach and the hip hop guys.  At this point I'm not terribly impressed with most of the girls.  I will admit that I had disliked Jessica (? - hat girl) up til now but was pleasantly surprised by her last night.  Over all, I didn't really dislike anyone, but my pick to go home first for the girls would be either Brooklyn (? - first ballroom girl) or Valerie.  They seemed to have the least to offer.  And probably Rudy or Ricky for the guys.

[kechara]

I wasn't all that surprised about Jessica because I think Kent was really enthusiastic about her on Afterbuzz. 

[Mertseger]

 

And must Nigel say EVERY season that this is the best top 20 ever?

 

Yes, yes, he must.

 

 

Once Mary was allowed to speak, she picked up right where Nigel left off. EVERY SINGLE PERSON was touched by that routine because she speaks for the collective human race. And anyone who didn't feel connected to that routine, there's something wrong with them. Thanks for being so judgmental!

 

To be fair, being jidgmental is kinda in the job description.

 

I will say, however, that, as far as I noticed, Mary seemed to confine herself to a single shriek near the end. She reached a bit far for that samba roll pun, but no mentioning of any conflagrated railed conveyance of Mexican food products +  only 1 banshee wail = one of her best jidging nights ever in my book. 

 

I agree that the opener did not nearly come up to last year's wowser, But while the Ricky/Jessica/Sonya joint was certainly not the best routine ever in the history of the show, I cannot remember another one to match it on a first performance episode of a season (of the US version which is, sadly, all I've seen.). Great choice of difficult music matched by a surprisingly gender-balanced demonstration of strength and control. I got chills. The only bad thing is that I usually don't start saving the episodes on the DVR for repeated viewings until much later in the season, and that routine made the episode a keeper. My poor disk-space.

 

And I must say to my shock the only other routine that gave me chills was ... Night Shift. I had no emotional associations with song, and, perhaps, that helped. Maybe I was just starved for some HH, but it landed for me.

[Monty]

I just assume that Russian ballet masters look grumpy no matter what's going on.

[meatball77]

I think the Ballet Choreographer did them a disservice with that piece (not to mention that floor).  They didn't have time to be as perfect as you expect ballet dancers to be with their rehearsal time and I'd bet that the two dancers are trained in slightly different styles (french vs ABT for example) which would mean that they'd have slight differences in how they do things like hold their hands and I wouldn't be surprised if both of them are more modern dancers rather than ballet (and if they really were fantastic ballet dancers they'd have contracts).   If the choreographer had had them doing different moves and partnering each other it wouldn't have been as obvious when there were mistakes.

 

I will say that for a Russian ballet teacher saying that wasn't bad generally means it's good.

 

I liked the performance in the middle of the show.  I hope we get one from Misty Copeland if she comes back to judge.

[NextIteration]

Many moons ago (maybe season 3 or 4), there was a young girl who auditioned and was cut because she was too good and made things look too easy.  If I remember correctly, her name was Kelly Story.  Is Bonnie Story her mother?  Am I smoking rope again?

 

I think it was season 4 that her daughter auditioned, or 4 and then 5 possibly making it to callbacks both times and maybe even green mile once. before being cut.

 

@Monty

I just assume that Russian ballet masters look grumpy no matter what's going on.

 

I went back and watched the pas de deux that he choreographed for Eliana and Cheon and he looked much happier after their performance.

 

@meatball77

I think the Ballet Choreographer did them a disservice with that piece (not to mention that floor).  They didn't have time to be as perfect as you expect ballet dancers to be with their rehearsal time and I'd bet that the two dancers are trained in slightly different styles (french vs ABT for example) which would mean that they'd have slight differences in how they do things like hold their hands and I wouldn't be surprised if both of them are more modern dancers rather than ballet (and if they really were fantastic ballet dancers they'd have contracts).   If the choreographer had had them doing different moves and partnering each other it wouldn't have been as obvious when there were mistakes.

I will say that for a Russian ballet teacher saying that wasn't bad generally means it's good.

 

So much, all of this.  Even in the case of Eliana and Cheon which Marat also choreographed, they were dancing different things and not expected to be in sync so much of the time.  This is a piece that you would work weeks if not months to rehearse in order to perform it perfectly - and that would be on a perfect for ballet floor, which I am sure, that stage is not.

[Rrrhumba]

I remember Tanisha being on Dwts as a 16yr old in the Mark vs Val "Toxic" battle. I'm not sure she's improved all that much in her Latin, but she was also in Nigel Lythgoe's other dance show with the Ballet Boys, which was a contemporary competition. All of the kids from the Vibe studio in Utah seem to be extensively cross-trained.

[Electruck]

I'm bummed that this was a voting episode. I always feel sad for the first ones off the show, but to get the fewest votes in your own styles?? Ten times worse, especially when we're getting a good look at some of them for the first time.

I loved the hip-hop piece, particularly the section after Emilio came off the desk the first time and they were dancing with the mop & bucket. It was so smooth and in sync right there.

I am so impressed with Ricky and Jessica to have danced to a virtually wordless piece with no audible beat. I can't imagine staying in time and being perfectly in place to catch/push a partner to such music.

[luvthepros]

And sorry to Travis Wall, but after watching this past season of DWTS, when I hear John Legend's "All Of Me", all I can think of is Meryl and Maks's foxtrot. That was just such a gorgeous dance.

This!

[realdancemom]

And sorry to Travis Wall, but after watching this past season of DWTS, when I hear John Legend's "All Of Me", all I can think of is Meryl and Maks's foxtrot. That was just such a gorgeous dance.

Me three.  Travis mentioned having to stand out among the four contemporaries and I thought his choreography was the worst out of the four.  Also, if any of these kids want a lesson on dance chemistry, they just have to watch Meryl and Maks.  Out of the contemporaries, I think Casey has better technique than Rudy.  But his personality is bland and so is his performance skills.  So he might be the one to go next week.  Stanley was so much better technically than Bridget that I only watched him.  I didn't like Rudy during his audition and already noticed that he wasn't as good technically.  But he did look good in the little bit that they showed in the ballroom round so I'll wait until he does ballroom.  Ricky and Jessica were the stand outs but Nigel and Mary need to tone down the tongue baths before it backfires.  Ricky is my favorite guy hands down and he didn't disappoint.  I can tell Jessica is trained in jazz more than contemporary.  She won me over in her DFYL last week.  It's nice to see her do a different style.  She looked like an angel when she was on top of Ricky's shoulders and the light just shined perfectly on her.

 

In the ballroom round, I think the dresses got uglier as the night went on.  Mahlene is so beautiful and they put her in a gaudy shiny green dress.  Then Tanisha came along and her dress was the ugliest dress that I've ever seen.  It distracted me from their dancing.  Serge and Alla were my favorite ballroom couples during the auditions.  Brooklyn is no Alla.  Serge's sweatiness was kind of gross.  Mahlene and Marcquet looked fierce on the floor.  He might not have the best technique but he knows how to sell a dance.

 

I already commented on ballet earlier because I felt the need to defend them.  I felt bad for them because I'm reading a lot of negative comments.  I agree with those that say that their routine was so difficult to learn in one week.  Jourdan is in Complexions and I believe they mostly do contemporary ballet not classical.  I would have loved to see Dwight and Desmond choreograph their routine but I can see the conflict of interest.  If Jacque is proficient at other styles, she probably didn't go to a ballet studio.  I did notice that she didn't do the toe beat from back to front in her fouettes.  Her foot landed on the side during the retires.  

 

During tap, Zach and Valerie are like the boy and girl next door in looks and personalities.  They are really cute together.  Zach is a better tapper.  He did make everything look effortless while she kept looking down especially when they were climbing up and down the stairs.  But that would also be difficult to learn in one week.  Besides the upper body, Zach's legs and feet also look cleaner.  I read somewhere that Valerie used to belong to a pre-professional ballet company.  I'm not sure if it was here or idolforums (I lurk over there).  If that's the case, I expect both of them to be versatile.  Zach looked good during the Not Vegas rounds.

 

For hip-hop, I suspect Chris Scott did a more lyrical style for Teddy and then just added tricks for Emilio.  I've seen Emilio previously doing harder hip-hop styles.

 

I'm guessing Brooklyn and Casey to go home.  However, I'm not a tween and both of these kids are cute.  So I can't say whether they will get votes for just that.

[luvthepros]

 

Many moons ago (maybe season 3 or 4), there was a young girl who auditioned and was cut because she was too good and made things look too easy.  If I remember correctly, her name was Kelly Story.  Is Bonnie Story her mother?  Am I smoking rope again?

 

It was Kelly Baker who auditioned for the show and she is Bonnie Story's daugter.

Edited July 4, 2014 by luvthepros

[luvthepros]

...... my pick to go home first for the girls would be either Brooklyn (? - first ballroom girl) or Valerie.  They seemed to have the least to offer.  And probably Rudy or Ricky for the guys.

Is this a typo because Ricky isn't going anywhere

[rereader2]

This talk about the two styles of tap makes me think of Fred Astaire (who danced high and elegant) and Gene Kelly (who danced low and athletic)--but on the one occasion they filmed a number together (unless you count That's Entertainment 2) they made it work:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DZ3i7m-hMI

 

Not that it's a fair comparison, since they were two seasoned professionals with adequate rehearsal time. Interestingly, it's Gene Kelly that had the ballet training, but Fred Astaire who is most often cited by ballet dancers and choreographers as an important influence.

Edited July 4, 2014 by rereader2

[Nonlinear]

The opening number was dull.

 

I wonder if Jaja was not included in the top 20 because she would be the lone dancer since everyone else is paired up in their style?

 

Felt sorry for the ballet dancers as they had to dance in unison and that might not be forgiven.

 

Oh, Ricky has grown back his beard after Nigel's comment.

 

I really hate it when they say "This is the strongest top 20 ever!". I find that insulting to fantastic dancers of the past seasons. Don't know why they need to put others down. Why bring the All Stars if these are the best dancers the show has ever had?

 

I m sad there won't be a season 12. If it gets good ratings why is it cancelled? I hope towards the end of the season Nigel makes an announcement saying there will be a season 12. I love this show despite the sometimes frustrating judges. I will also miss Cat.

Edited July 4, 2014 by Nonlinear

[luvthepros]

....I did notice that she didn't do the toe beat from back to front in her fouettes.  Her foot landed on the side during the retires......

I'm not trained in ballet or any dance for that matter and even I spotted Jourdan doing "something extra" with her toe as she performed her fouettes. I didn't notice until the third watching of the pas de deux, but I did notice. Then, I read your post about this and realized my untrained eye picked up on a ballet technique that wasn't quite right. WOW to me!

I think Brooklyn's wardrobe malfunction was double sided/body tape. She seemed far "cheekier" than I expect on this show. I kinda want to believe that's what was showing through the slits on Cat's dress too, if only to explain why the dress kept bunching up strangely.

Speaking of "cheekie"...that reminds me of Serge and Alla's audition. Towards the end of their Cha Cha, Alla did a move which made her costume ride up on her butt. I've never seen so much cheeks on any female dancer on this show, ever. That was a bit of a wardrobe malfunction but nothing was ever said about it.

[luvthepros]

This talk about the two styles of tap makes me think of Fred Astaire (who danced high and elegant) and Gene Kelly (who danced low and athletic)--but on the one occasion they filmed a number together (unless you count That's Entertainment 2) they made it work:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DZ3i7m-hMI

 

Not that it's a fair comparison, since they were two seasoned professionals with adequate rehearsal time. Interestingly, it's Gene Kelly that had the ballet training, but Fred Astaire who is most often cited by ballet dancers and choreographers as an important influence.

Two masters at their craft. I just watched this twice and have seen it many times before. I lean towards Astaire!

I m sad there won't be a season 12. If it gets good ratings why is it cancelled? I hope towards the end of the season Nigel makes an announcement saying there will be a season 12. I love this show despite the sometimes frustrating judges. I will also miss Cat.

I haven't heard anything official that the show is cancelled after this season. Did I miss something???

[LadyMustang65]

Is this a typo because Ricky isn't going anywhere

 

Yes. that would most certainly be a typo.  <lol>  I meant Nick - at least I think that's his name - the last ballroom guy.

Is this a typo because Ricky isn't going anywhere

 

[SyracuseMug]

Yes. that would most certainly be a typo.  <lol>  I meant Nick - at least I think that's his name - the last ballroom guy.

 

But I doubt that Nick is going anywhere either, at least not this early. Even if he B3ed, I can't see Nigel booting him. That would only decrease the odds of a ballroom winner, which seems to be the desired narrative. Besides, it doesn't seem likely to me that Nick will bottom in the first place.

 

[TVSallyS]

I really hate it when they say "This is the strongest top 20 ever!". I find that insulting to fantastic dancers of the past seasons. Don't know why they need to put others down. Why bring the All Stars if these are the best dancers the show has ever had?

While I agree that it is silly to insist that every season is stronger than the last, making such an assertion does not necessarily negate the advantage of bringing on all stars or diminish the skill of any particular individual dancer he invites back onto the show. Nigel's assertion every year is that collectively, the current top 20 is stronger than any prior group of 20 kids has been, collectively. That does not mean that every single individual dancer in the current group of 20 (even the weakest one) is better than every single individual dancer on any of the prior 11 seasons (even the strongest ones). I mean, you could in theory currently be coaching the strongest "all around" team of Yankees you'd ever had gathered on the field at the same time thus far, but that wouldn't mean that if you collected the single best individual Yankee players from the prior 11 teams you still wouldn't be forming something even more dynamic. The very best player on (the all around weaker) team from five years ago is probably better than many of the weaker players on the current (all around strongest) team. Given that dancers competing against each other on a particular season are not even on a "team" in the same way ball players are (and thus probably feel even less "team pride" and/or concern about the collective score of the 20 people they competed against), that is how he gets away with saying it without actually specifically insulting the ability of any particular dancer or allstar he wants to invite back.

Anyway. Obviously it isn't possible that every single group is better than the prior year, collectively. At some point that can't always be true. So yeah, it is still irritating. But it is TV. Why are we bothering to watch if it's just getting worse overall than what we already saw? People want to see something better than what they saw before. He is a producer and he needs to sell the current season.

Edited July 4, 2014 by TVSallyS

[crowceilidh]

I thought Bridget held up to her partner (Stanley?) and was pretty lovely.  I was all weirded out by that because I hadn't liked one solitary thing I'd seen from her before that and expected to dislike her quite a bit going on.

[OnceSane]

Stanley was my favorite dancer of the night.  I really hope he doesn't go home next week.  Second was Marcquet.

 

I was not as impressed with Ricky & Jessica's dance as the judges, though it was performed well.

 

Poor ballerinas.  That did not go as it should have.

[NextIteration]

Poor ballerinas.  That did not go as it should have.

 

Indeed, it didn't.  And when untrained folks start in about things that are ballet method specific (yes, there are many, and with big differences as to what is proper technique) related critiques and making presumptions about them being errors, it's completely gone off the rails.

[Koffee Kup]

But if they are dancing together, shouldn't they be doing the same style? The one the choreographer uses?

 

(For instance, in ballet there are different styles. Because of the choreographer, I would expect the girl to use a Russian style of ballet in the pas de deux they performed, not an Italian or American style.)

 

I rewatched the dances last night and the choreographer appeared to me to be bent over as well.

Edited July 4, 2014 by Koffee Kup

[OnceSane]

 

And when untrained folks start in about things that are ballet method specific (yes, there are many, and with big differences as to what is proper technique) related critiques and making presumptions about them being errors, it's completely gone off the rails.

 

I don't know what you mean by this.

[GinevradiBenci]

I kind of vaguely like everybody at the moment, with a stronger affection for Marquet and both of the tappers and the hiphoppers. I hadn't realized that the first routines would be in the dancers styles, and was thinking that Brooklyn was doing a good job for a non-ballroom person, which, uh...yeah. She looked clunky in a way I couldn't figure out.

 

Travis's choreography was dull, dull, dull, but then I've never been a big fan of his. I find him pretty insipid.

[Nonlinear]

Two masters at their craft. I just watched this twice and have seen it many times before. I lean towards Astaire!

I haven't heard anything official that the show is cancelled after this season. Did I miss something???

Nigel said it on the show in an earlier episode.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Nonlinear

[90PercentGravity]

Did he say it was cancelled? I thought he said they weren't sure there would be a season 12, not that it was definitely not happening.

[realdancemom]

I'm not trained in ballet or any dance for that matter and even I spotted Jourdan doing "something extra" with her toe as she performed her fouettes. I didn't notice until the third watching of the pas de deux, but I did notice. Then, I read your post about this and realized my untrained eye picked up on a ballet technique that wasn't quite right. WOW to me!

That's just means that Jacque learned to do fouettes that way and Jourdan learned it another way.  Even if the choreographer wanted it a certain way, it wasn't going to get fixed in a week especially since he wanted them to do 15 on pointe!!  I agree with those that said that the ballerinas were at a disadvantage because they were dressed alike, looked almost alike, and were the same gender.  So people are going to expect them to do the moves exactly the same.  That wasn't going to happen in a week with that piece since both of them went to different schools and were taught differently.  It's like when Nigel said that Jacque's feet and knee should be on the same level in an attitude.  Previously, I wrote that Jacque did them correctly if she was doing it Russian style where the knee is lower than the foot.  Neither one is wrong, they are just different styles.  

 

 

Did he say it was cancelled? I thought he said they weren't sure there would be a season 12, not that it was definitely not happening.

I missed Nigel saying that it was cancelled if he did say that.  In the green mile, I thought the judges were telling dancers like Jaja to study the other styles and come back next year.  If Nigel knew ahead of time that the show was going to be cancelled, I would be more upset at him because then he should have let Jaja be in the top 20 because she offered something different.  Silky could have been the other hip-hop person.

Edited July 5, 2014 by realdancemom

[luvthepros]

Did he say it was cancelled? I thought he said they weren't sure there would be a season 12, not that it was definitely not happening.

Nigel said the show may be cancelled and did acknowlege the show is in trouble. He pleaded with fans to keep watching to keep the ratings up. That what I recall but I may be wrong.

That's just means that Jacque learned to do fouettes that way and Jourdan learned it another way. .

Thanks you for clearing that up. I did like the style Jourdan used, however....more intricate and looks more difficult to do. The way Jacque learned just seems to be a f a lazier style. Again...I'm not a trained dancer in any way shape or form. I just know what looks more pleasing and exciting to me.

[Skittl1321]

 

especially since he wanted them to do 15 on pointe!!

 

It's a big thing in ballet to finally be able to do 32 fouettes.  I'd expect any ballet dancer at a high level, even if they are more of a jumper than a turner, to be able to do 15.

The girl on the left's knees bothered me in the fouettes. But I was impressed that neither seemed to travel a lot.

 

Personally, I thought their synchronization on the Italian fouettes was much more impressive that the fouette-pirouettes.

[auntlada]

I'm reading a lot of dance terms and don't really know what they mean. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a thread about the technicalities of dance? I'd start one, but I don't know enough about dance to make a clever title.

[Bella]

I'm reading a lot of dance terms and don't really know what they mean. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a thread about the technicalities of dance? I'd start one, but I don't know enough about dance to make a clever title.

 

Great idea! I can start one now and change the title later.

[realdancemom]

t's a big thing in ballet to finally be able to do 32 fouettes.  I'd expect any ballet dancer at a high level, even if they are MORE of a jumper than a turner, to be able to do 15.

The girl on the left's knees bothered me in the fouettes. But I was impressed that neither seemed to travel a lot.

Yes, 32 is the number that girls strive for.  I don't know anything about Jacque and her background.  I just know that Jourdan is in Complexions because of this forum.  I just meant that neither girl was going to change their style in one week so that they could match each other.  Zach and Valerie weren't going to change their styles either.  I was also impressed that they were synchronized during at least the first part of the routine and that they didn't travel a lot in their fouettes.  That floor looked slippery to me so I'm just glad neither one twisted an ankle.    

Edited July 5, 2014 by realdancemom

[dcalley]

Speaking of "cheekie"...that reminds me of Serge and Alla's audition. Towards the end of their Cha Cha, Alla did a move which made her costume ride up on her butt. I've never seen so much cheeks on any female dancer on this show, ever. That was a bit of a wardrobe malfunction but nothing was ever said about it.

I had to go and watch this and ugh, I didn't want to be reminded of all that twerking. Re the cheek, I would like to take this opportunity to post this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0wFTYcwCpM

Anya is so sexy and I love her and I will never tire of watching that audition.

 

Even Travis said there were "so many" contemporary numbers in this episode. I dreaded each one, but the Sonya one was a nice surprise! Thankfully Jessica's hair was no longer distracting.

 

 

the best thing about this new Fox app is that we will not have to watch the dancers hold up fingers for their corresponding phone number every week!

Good point.

I loved Courtney and Gev and thought this was funny, but yeah, I won't miss the phone number fingers (or feet).

 

I'm sad that my least favorite ballroom was Dmitry's, because--Dmitry! Malene in her bio says the former contestant she'd most like to dance with is Dmitry. Please, show, let that happen. The other two ballroom girls said Travis.

 

ETA: Is that video not working? It's youtube.com/watch?v=N0wFTYcwCpM

Edited July 5, 2014 by dcalley

[Cuatro1234]

I guess it's a good sign when I'm still thinking about the show 3 days later.....Yay, show, I'm glad you're back.

 

Random thoughts:  Our watching party here also thought the white thing sticking off Brooklyn's butt was double-sided tape to keep her costume in place.  For the first dance number, I expected something more exciting to watch.

 

A lot of the show seemed effortful to me.  Like they were all too nervous and working too hard to enjoy themselves.  I want to see them sell it (like someone commented upthread).  I don't want to see the work involved (unfortunately, Valerie, I'm looking at you).

 

RE: Malene.  I know she's Danish, but is her name really pronounced MaRlenuh, or is that just a Britishism?

 

I thought Jessica might go the Kayla route--technically proficient dancer who doesn't connect with the audience for some reason--but it seems like people like her more than people liked Kayla at this point.

 

I find nothing endearing at all about Rudy.  Nothing.  Tanisha also bugs me, for some reason.

 

The only routine I re-watched was the Night Shift.  Fun to see Teddy's footwork, knowing his tap background, and fun to see a non-traditional song used for hip hop. (I'm signing up for the tribute version, light-hearted use did not seem out of place to me.)

 

I really missed having the 3-second recaps at the end for each dance/dancer, especially since this was a voting episode. 

[chocolatine]

RE: Malene.  I know she's Danish, but is her name really pronounced MaRlenuh, or is that just a Britishism?

 

 

I'm not Danish, but the R is almost certainly a Britishism. British people put it into my name after a long A as well. If I were to guess, I'd say the correct pronunciation is Mahleneh, emphasis on the middle syllable. 

Edited July 6, 2014 by chocolatine

[PoorerThanDead]

Of course, I forgot all that once Nigel started blathering again. First he had to tell America how important this routine was. Then he had to talk about how glad he was that he created the show so that we could see this routine. Then the usual hyperbole because this is one of the best routines he has ever seen. I laughed when Cat tried to throw it to Mary and Nigel just kept on blathering.

 

Once Mary was allowed to speak, she picked up right where Nigel left off. EVERY SINGLE PERSON was touched by that routine because she speaks for the collective human race. And anyone who didn't feel connected to that routine, there's something wrong with them. Thanks for being so judgmental! It really annoys me that Nigel and Mary insist on projecting their feelings about dancers and routines onto everyone else who is watching. Why can't they just say "I felt this way"? That's what Jason Derulo did and it made me like him a lot more than Mary and Nigel. Although I liked this routine, I didn't think it deserved that tongue bath. One of the best routines EVER? Not in my opinion, but since I'm not Nigel or Mary I'm not allowed to say that's how MILLIONS OF PEOPLE feel.

 

 

 

Well put. 

 

Now, it's just a matter of time before Nigel will start lecturing us on how we are all just jealous for not voting for Jessica.

[gik910]

I enjoyed the episode on a basic level- Malena/Marquette were my favorite ballroom.  The samba rolls were beautiful and I just love him.  He has a striking presence.  She is sexy as hell.  May grow into an Anya 2.0.  I love the heavy ballroom emphasis if it means we see more of it during the season.

 

I think Nightshift worked for me mainly because it was so different from a majority of the other performances of this episode. Plus, it was fun and possibly an intro to a low-rent porno...in my book that is a win. I also liked them joking around with Cat.  

 

Ricky/Jessica- it was good, it was pretty.  I always liked him.  She still annoys me but she can dance.  It was not life altering Nigel- get it together.  Sonya's best piece is still The Garden (w/ Mark & Courtney) which was also her first one but it is nice to know she can still come up with something fresh.

 

I feel bad for the ballerinas- they got a raw deal.  The contemporary blended but Stanley was a standout for me.  

 

As for the renewal- Nigel did not announce this season until they were several episodes in last year so there is still hope.  

[Mason]

Kelli (with an i, not a y) went to Cirque de Soleil when she didn't move on from Vegas. I don't believe she auditioned SYTYCD a second time.

 

Around the same time, she was in a music video (wearing a yellow vest):

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kelli+baker

Edited July 6, 2014 by Mason

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Nigel and Mary about managed to decapitate themselves with the contortions they went through trying to rescue Valerie, the tapper.  I was sad to see her blow it as she was my personal favorite (I didn't think she would win.  I like her) coming in.  Those two did all they could to make my lying eyes unsee.  

 

The ballerinas received similar treatment.  They each were heavy.  Neither got any acceptable level of air.  Not for that routine.  The Russke choreographer gave the all-time SYTYCD golf clap to that one!

 

I did see why everyone lost it for Ricky and Jessica.  That was amazeballs.  It may end up being the best routine of the season.  Kudos to the lighting director.  The light added a ton to the dance.  

[Gella]

I actually made a point of watching both Jourdan's addition and whatever else I could find of her dancing on You Tube (in particular her Kitri variations) and the same issues remain. It was not solely the floor.  

She is a contemporary ballet dancer, yes. But she is a professional ballet dancer and as such I didn't expect to see what I did. For the record Eliana was also contemporary ballet and dealt with the same floor. There is no comparison. I have no doubt she would kill in contemporary routines and she will maybe be saved just for that, but I will be shocked if she is not in the bottom three. 

I'd be sad if Serge goes just on the basis of sweatiness. He is a good dancer. Although he has a lot of DWTS folks tweeting for him so maybe not. 

For all their faults both Mary and Nigel are trying to keep this show on the air, imperfect as it is. So I don't mind them over praising cart or fawning over routines. It's not like if this is cancelled we will get something superior in its place.