S12.E09: A Decade of Dance Special Edition

[Tara Ariano]

A 10th anniversary special features some of the series' most unforgettable dancers and choreographers; current stage and street routines; and memorable musical productions.

[Watt]

Anyone have any ideas what dancers will be there?

[Haleth]

15 minutes in and we've seen one dance. Not cool, show.

[upside down]

Why give Sex more airtime than they already wasted on him.

[Watt]

Not enough dancing but it was worth it to see my bae Mark.

Also: Robert.

I dont care about Ryan and his stupid show! Paula claps weird.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Watt

[upside down]

The finalists' routines were crap.

This was just a vehicle to introduce Knock Knock Live.

Paula Abdul claps like a 2year old.

Fix You with Robert and Alison was as good as I remember. Alex and tWitch, even better.

I wish they would have spent more than 4 seconds on the winners. Maybe a little where are they now or something.

What about group dances?

[Haleth]

Ok, all the chatter was worth it to see Alex and Twitch again. That is my absolute favorite too. (Followed by Jasmine and Comfort, so I'm happy.)

Edited July 22, 2015 by Haleth

[mojoween]

I really only wanted to see "The Garden" and "Rama Lama" so that was a giant disappointment. I did like seeing "Outta My Mind" though.

I did not have any interest in seeing Ryan Seacrest multiple times. I have no desire to watch that stupid show and as David Beckham is not likely to knock on my door that was a waste of my time.

The opening number would have been better served with lighting so I could see their faces.

I am beyond over Travis. Who originally danced in "The Bench?"

[helpmerhonda]

Too. Much. Seacrest.

[pally]

 

I am beyond over Travis. Who originally danced in "The Bench

 

Travis and Heidi were the original dancers.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am beyond over Travis. Who originally danced in "The Bench?"

Heidi (Benji's cousin and dancer partner).

[Quickbeam]

The clips were too fast for me to identify ...anyone see Danny? Melissa Sandvig (ballet)?

[s-k-s]

I found it weird which alumni they chose to highlight over others. .. this show really holds grudges.  (Alex Wong gets a Newsies mention, but not Evan?)  

 

Also, are they prohibited from mentioning DWTS?  Whitney winning that is, you know, maybe a little bigger than a minor guest appearances on a FOX procedural ... 

 

 

[TrudyC]

I love, love, love Outta Your Mind. That is all. 

[JTalia]

I thought Fix You was even better than when it was first performed. I think Robert has really grown as a dancer.

[Koffee Kup]

Too much wasted time on filler crap.  

 

So excited to see Outta Your Mind again.

 

Not only was Evan in Newsies, so was Jess LeProtto along with Alex.

 

If they couldn't recreate the numbers, Rama Lama, then they should have showed clips.

[Watt]

It was a wasted opportunity to have everyone together. All the winners...idk. more effort could have been made, make it two hours...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

My assumption for the lack of group numbers like Rama Lama is that the show didn't want to pay all those dancers.

[PattyorSelma]

I love "Outta Your Mind" but I wish the camera angles had been right on them instead of off to the side. I felt the same when it was first danced. I want to see Alex's moves up close!

[Lindsey]

I liked most of the picks for favorite dances, especially The Flower and the Hummingbird, since I'd only ever gotten to see it in slightly grainy YouTube clips before. But it cracks me up that Nigel made a big deal over his supposed concern that the show leans too much on the "reaching and emotion" style of contemporary and then chose the granddaddy of them all (for this show), The Bench as his favorite routine. Really, Nigel? Not even a tap routine?

 

I was hoping for Rama Lama too, but they probably would have had to use this season's dancers just to get enough people for the routine and built a staircase. Not that they couldn't have done that, though.

 

The montage of crappy/ridiculous auditions was disappointing.  One of this reasons this has been my favorite reality competition show for the seven years that I've been watching is that it hasn't relied on fake contestant drama or wasted a ton of time making fun of the crazies who audition. Between Asaf's bullshit and the sudden nostalgia for joke auditions I can't figure out what the producers are thinking this year.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Lindsey

[rollerblade]

Ahhh memory lane. The day when Stacey Tookey put Christina Perri on the map.

[Adez]

This show made me grumpy.

I enjoyed Comfort and Jasmine, Hok and Jaimie, and Twitch & Alex. Outta Your Mind and Hummingbird/Flower were easily as good, if not better than originally performed.

I have grown to near aversion status for Travis as a feature of the show and, sadly, for much of his choreography.

Mark is a sweetie, but he still can't straighten his back. And "K-pop" is now a new dance genre? Okay, Cat.

Too much wasted time on filler crap.  

 

So excited to see Outta Your Mind again.

 

Not only was Evan in Newsies, so was Jess LeProtto along with Alex.

 

If they couldn't recreate the numbers, Rama Lama, then they should have showed clips.

Yes, Evan, Jess, Thayne, and Ariana Dubose have all been in more successful Broadway productions than either Alex (who was awesome in Newsies)  or Melanie. Even Neil has been in a few that had short runs on Broadway or off-Broadway. There could be more that I don't even know about. Nigel sure won't tell us. It does my heart good that some of them are succeeding in that venue despite the stigma of having been on this show.

 

Also, there have been numerous alums working on tour with some major stars besides Mark. Ivan dancing with and helping choreograph for Justin Timberlake is pretty big time. The several sytycd ladies who recently toured with Taylor Swift. She's kinda big, too. I'm not sure why they mentioned some, but not others. I know they worded it as "all stars who have gone on to...", but that doesn't excuse the oversight.
 

It was a wasted opportunity to have everyone together. All the winners...idk. more effort could have been made, make it two hours...

This show seems to have an aversion to most of the winners except Melanie and perhaps Fik-shun & Amy. I really wanted to see a Katee and Joshua routine. And with Danny back in the U.S., it's mind-boggling he's treated as if he never existed. Maybe he doesn't want to come back. I can't tell from his Twitter.

 

The time spent pimping Seacrest and patting themselves on the back for first featuring Gaga, Perry, et. al., could've been spent celebrating some of the dancers who are outside of Nigel's golden circle.

 

I am happy that Paula acknowledged Wade and his work. Wade was a big part of the original magic of this series.

[sara416]

This would have been better with less Seacrest and 2 hours to showcase more dances. The Ryan/Allison routine was just as good as I remembered it being, if not better. I still think the cut of that song in that dance is a bit distracting though. The edits just don't flow right. And I love Outta Your Mind, always have. But I really, really wish they would have found a way to showcase Kayla and Kupono's Gravity. They didn't even show it in the clips of the memorable dances! I distinctly remember watching that the first time and not moving a muscle the entire dance because I just knew I was watching something amazing. 

[mojoween]

Oh I just realized Courtney probably wouldn't have been able to dance because of her condition and I wouldn't have wanted to see anyone but her do "The Garden" with Mark.

I actually would have rather seen "Bleeding Love" for a Mark piece but that's really because I'm not fond of Jenna.

[rollerblade]

Filler episode, all in all worse than a regular Results show episode of yester-years.

[allypenguin]

I found it weird which alumni they chose to highlight over others. .. this show really holds grudges.  (Alex Wong gets a Newsies mention, but not Evan?)  

 

Also, are they prohibited from mentioning DWTS?  Whitney winning that is, you know, maybe a little bigger than a minor guest appearances on a FOX procedural ... 

 

And Thayne Jasperson from Season 4 was in it too right? Though he probably doesn't count as an all star. Jess is also plastered on posters all over Toronto right now because Newsies is here. :( But I don't think he's actually here because he's doing On the Town? But I agree, very weird about which alums they chose to feature. Maybe they could have made a slightly longer montage with less time devoted to each dancer. They had Hok on the show, and they didn't mention that he, D-Trix and Ryanimay won ABDC, and Philip Chbeeb and Jaja too for that matter, AND Philip's danced an entire music video Ed Sheeran too. And my fave, that SYTYCD/Nigel seems to hate, Blake Mcgrath, has done tons since being on the show.

 

I miss Wade Robson.

Edited July 22, 2015 by allypenguin

[mojoween]

The more I think about it the more annoyed I get at what a travesty that was.

First, Seacrest. Just, no. There were commercials all over FOX, they didn't need to break into another show.

Second, we didn't need the solos from the top 18. We just saw them YESTERDAY.

Third, too much time on garbage like Sex and reactions from this year's judging panel. It's hard to feel nostalgia for something that happened in 2015. I mean, I did like the prior year's judging panels, like when Mary and Jesse lost their shit.

They flashed through the winners pictures so fast I couldn't even see half of them. And I thought it would have been cute if they showed more of Cat through the years, especially from the first season to see how she's changed.

I just feel like there are more viewers on average who have only watched a few seasons than there are those who have been here since season 1. Hell, I didn't even start watching until season four so it would have been nice to see clips from the first few seasons, even if they couldn't get them live. I've seen Pasha and Anya as all-stars but I would be curious to see what they looked like on their season.

And stop it with saying Dmitry was a star on Bones. He was on for about five minutes and had about one line. Ryan and his wife were on the same episode, but they only danced, they didn't speak, so that's probably why it wasn't mentioned. Also, Nigel hates Ryan.

So all in all it was a big letdown. FOX ruins everything.

[allypenguin]

Ahhh memory lane. The day when Stacey Tookey put Christina Perri on the map.

 

LOL don't forget putting Lady Gaga on the map. Oh show...

 

Shame that there were no ballroom routines showcased instead of Ryan Seacrest mugging for his stupid show. Hip Hip Chin Chin, or Black Mamba, something with Anya and Pasha, or Jeanette and Brandon's Cha Cha/Disco? Sigh.

 

Alex freaking Wong. That's all.

 

Marissa's solo was legit 95% hairography.

Edited July 22, 2015 by allypenguin

[Rick Kitchen]

1-Why was Jamie and Hok's the only routine that the judges didn't stand for?

 

2-Where was Heidi?

 

3-If Mark was there, I would have much preferred to have seen Bleeding Love. 

 

4-Too much Seacrest.

 

5-At least they acknowledged that Wade Robson exists.

[Mertseger]

5-At least they acknowledged that Wade Robson exists.

 

Exactly what I came on line to say. I do wish we'd gotten Rama Lama as well. And I wanted to see Katee again. But other than that, very good picks. 

[lavenderblue]

They had Hok on the show, and they didn't mention that he, D-Trix and Ryanimay won ABDC, and Philip Chbeeb and Jaja too for that matter, AND Philip's danced an entire music video Ed Sheeran too. And my fave, that SYTYCD/Nigel seems to hate, Blake Mcgrath, has done tons since being on the show.

 

 

 

Heh, not to mention Brittany Cherry and her star turn in a video that's gotten over 600 million YouTube views (also having danced in Sheeran's tour), but the show probably wouldn't want to put too much spotlight on someone they cut in a first elimination. Philip for sure was missed, and the Evan and Jess omissions feel particularly glaring when they bothered to make Broadway success a category; Jess was my S8 favorite and I enjoyed Evan, and the treatment of both still rankles so...

 

I would have paid good money for a ballroom reprise. Not a huge fan of the bench dance, but I hate that they failed to even acknowledge Heidi's role in the original -- but if they had brought her in, I would then have wanted "Black Mamba." They couldn't bother with anything in an entire genre?

[DHDancer]

Absolutely delighted I didn't watch it (on purpose).  I just knew, after last night's Knock Knock intro TPTB would use this as a lame run up to the premier.   I'm so sick of these network tropes.

 

Thank you everyone for giving me all I needed to know, here, on Prev TV!

[pivot]

So annoyed that Heidi wasn't asked back for The Bench. She was better than the chick who danced it tonight. It always irritated me that she didn't get the credit she deserved for that performance. Plus, Mia just tore her apart after the performance.

Heidi is my favorite dancer on this show.

Routines I would have picked:

1. Bench

2. Cuba Rumba - Originally from Season 2 with Heidi and someone. I think they've only done this style once and it was awesome.

3. Door Routine - Katee/Twitch

4. Bleeding Heart

5. The Garden

Natalie from Season 2 to come back and do one of her solos. I always thought she had the best solos of the contemporary girls on this show.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

She was better than the chick who danced it tonight

 

Kathryn was third place in her season, Heidi was fourth place in her season.

[burntheflaws]

I was beyond ecstatic to see the hummingbird and flower dance. It's by far my favorite routine ever performed on the show, and I thought there was no way in hell anyone would pick it. THANK YOU PAULA. I almost fell off my couch in shock and joy when she announced it. It made me miss Wade Robson to the nth degree.

 

I also knew "Outta Your Mind" would be performed, because how could they not with both Alex and Twitch there? That was a pretty defining dance in that a ballet dancer could do hip-hop so, so well. Another favorite and definitely worthy of closing the show.

 

Other than those two silver linings, it is ridiculous to me that this was mostly filler crap about "memorable" (a.k.a. crappy and annoying) auditions and Ryan Seacrest's show that no one cares about. Oh, and the 18 dancers we're going to see every week anyway. They should've had many, many more old routines in there and talked more about the former contestants. Ugh that made me angry. As a viewer who's loved and followed this show since season one, I was so excited to see what amazing routines would be highlighted. I was ready to get flooded with nostalgia and happiness and warm fuzzies. Instead I'm just disappointed and resentful that this was what they passed off as a "special" 10th anniversary episode.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Once again they barely acknowledge that S1 existed. There was a shot of Nick's face when they showed all the past winners being told they made it to the top 20, footage of Blake's famous leg holding roll, a shot of Ryan doing his signature move (back flip landing on his head) during auditions, and a one second clip of Big Poppa during that military dance. But no dances from S1 and they didn't even mention a single dancer from S1 by name. They didn't mention Artem as one of the successful alumni who has appeared on Broadway (probably because he has been on DWTS which means he is on Nigel's shit list).

[ketchuplover]

More Brian Gaynor and  much less Sex please

[vibeology]

I found it weird which alumni they chose to highlight over others. .. this show really holds grudges.  (Alex Wong gets a Newsies mention, but not Evan?)  

 

Also, are they prohibited from mentioning DWTS?  Whitney winning that is, you know, maybe a little bigger than a minor guest appearances on a FOX procedural ... 

 

Its pretty clear that the "cool kids" got shout outs and the ones Nigel didn't like were left out. I get that DWTS is not something Nigel wants to talk about, but Witney got an Emmy nomination this week. According to this show, that's a big deal. Jess has been on a Broadway stage pretty much non-stop since he finished his season and Blake became a judge and choreographer on SYTYCD Canada for a few years.

 

I was hoping for Rama Lama too, but they probably would have had to use this season's dancers just to get enough people for the routine and built a staircase. Not that they couldn't have done that, though.

 

I was so hoping for Rama Lama as the opening number. Anyone can be a zombie if you slap them in the makeup and if you're a dancer on this show and you haven't taught yourself the choreography to Rama Lama, just leave now. Its by far the shows most iconic group number and they could have had every single alum there as a dancing zombie rather than another white outfit, wind machine Travis Wall contemporary number just featuring his clique of dancers. That was a horrible opening number considering this shows epic group number history. But of course, no stairs so....

 

I would have paid good money for a ballroom reprise. Not a huge fan of the bench dance, but I hate that they failed to even acknowledge Heidi's role in the original -- but if they had brought her in, I would then have wanted "Black Mamba." They couldn't bother with anything in an entire genre?

 

No, of course not. I was angry at Dennis for pulling out at the Green Mile, but its looking more and more like he made a smart call. no way would "team stage" care that his Ballroom/Latin technique was on point since Ballroom/Latin is not a genre this show cares about anymore. That was clear when Mary was fired and when Travis, who is still frosty about coming in second, was made captain of team stage. 

 

More Brian Gaynor and  much less Sex please

 

Yes! If you're going to spend time on showing auditions, why not show one of the most special auditions ever? I was really hoping it would be Cat's choice since she's the one who spent the most time with him but the show should have made the call to feature good auditions over bad.

 

That was a bad hour. For a show with such incredible riches, it really fell flat. The one thing I got out of it was that Cat has worn some truly ugly outfits over the years but does she ever deserve an Emmy. 

 

Were it up to me:

 

Rama Lama with like 30 Zombie dancers

Who Run the World

Hip Hip Chin Chin or Black Mamba (because I don't know who of Lacey, Danny, Heidi or Benji would be available)

The Garden

Fix You (because Robert danced it even better last night so it can stay)

Hummingbird/Flower

Outta Your Mind

[OakGoblinFly]

Well, that was disappointing.  Too much filler (really, did we need a whole montage of bad auditions and three (or was it four) breaks to "check in on Ryan"?).

 

Did we really need THREE Travis routines (opening number, The Bench, and Fix You)?

 

The lack of a single ballroom routine was glaring, as was the omission of several prominent alum, especially those from the early years. 

 

Last night was a sad reminder on how far the show has fallen.

 

I did enjoy seeing Alex and tWitch reprise "Outta Your Mind" - one my personal favorites.  And of course Cat was going to pick a Mark number.

 

Comfort, as always, was amazing.

 

I got a giggle of the clip of Kathryn - who was as lovely as ever (one of my favorite dancers ever to come up through the show).

 

Having the current crop of dancers perform a 30 second solo only shows how lacking they are.  Excepting JaJa and Gabby, I don't think a single dancer has charisma or star power.  Then again, I think most of the "all-stars" (at least the newer all-stars) are devoid of charisma or star power.

[Whimsy]

When they said “The Bench” I was super excited, but then I saw no Heidi and I was briefly disappointed but I do adore Kathryn.  I think she actually danced it better than Heidi did the first time, but not necessarily better when they reprised this the other times when they had their “special” shows.  I think I’ve seen that particular dance about 4 or 5 times now on this show.  The same with Ramalama, the hummingbird and flower (I think only 3 times total now) and a few others.  I think they should’ve picked some of the other great dances that are never seen again.  I totally agree with the above poster about Gravity.  That one was truly amazing.  There are others.  But, that would’ve meant bringing back dancers that are not their “all stars” or otherwise favorites.  I think that’s why we get the same dances over and over- those are the dancers that are asked/agree to come back.

I don't have a lot to add except I agree this should've been two hours, NO Ryan Seacrest, they should've brought back a LOT more of the dancers (since this is a big anniversary and all), and they should NOT have focused on the bad auditions.  I zipped right past those.  I don't care.  Those people should not even have tried out so I don't want to see them again. 

I also agree that they should've done a longer montage of the success of the dancers.  If the show can claim the successes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Christina Perri then they should be able to claim any and all success any dancer that has ever even stepped foot on their stage has is because of this show too.  You'd think having a LONG list of alumni and their accomplishments would've appealed to Nigel more so he could puff up and cluck around like a rooster and all he's done for dance in the world.

[Apocalypse Cow]

I'm a huge Mark fan, so I was thrilled he was on. The Garden would have been my #1 choice (if Mark is my sytycd boyfriend, Courtney G is definitely my sytycd girlfriend), but I loooooved the kpop routine and was surprised it was featured.  I was not a Jenna fan, but that dance makes me like her for a hot second.  Season 4 to me has the most iconic dances, so basically they could just do a season 4 redux for 2 hours and I'd be happy.

[ari333]

Wow. Do an hour long promo  of Sprinkles aka Ryan and Knock Knock and call it an anniversary show for SYTYCD. Knock Knock can bite bite me.

This show could have been spectacular and it was a big disappointing bowl of meh for me.

I did enjoy Jasmine and Comfort. Loved Mark and Jenna.

Maybe I should rewatch the Bench because I didnt' get the hoopla of why it was featured.. I miss Mary - not her scream. I missed seeing Sabra's table dance.

On a random note, I am sick of "Degree" and its motion sensors and micro capsules. Go away.

Edited July 22, 2015 by ari333

[Wootini]

A few years ago, I feel like this show would've been a two-hour special and showcased even more great performances, but because SYTYCD is on the decline, I feel like FOX only let them celebrate their 10th anniversary if they promised to devote a couple segments to promoting this awful-looking new Seacrest show. Blurgh.

 

It also irked that they spent more time on the "joke" auditions than they did on the winners. It's not right that effing Sex gets more individual screen time than the dancers who actually won their seasons. That winners montage was like, blink-and-you-miss-it fast! RUDE.

 

However, while I would have liked to see that Door routine with Twitch again or that table routine with Sabra, It was awesome to see Mark again (not sure about that beard, though… :) ) and especially Alex. I will always love Alex, and pretend he won in the imaginary season in my head. 

[kechara]

Wade...I would have loved to see a show of all Wade's numbers.  And several of Mia's as well. 

I miss Mary. Not so much the screaming, but the bubbliness and the ballroom knowledge, although there's precious little of that any more.

Is Heidi not dancing any more?  I like Katherine and I thought she did a great job but they didn't even mention that it was Heidi in the original dance.

I guess I'll just have to you tube my own anniversary special.

[Wouldofshouldof]

I actually would have rather seen "Bleeding Love" for a Mark piece but that's really because I'm not fond of Jenna.

I thought the same thing about Bleeding Love - it's on my iPod solely because of that dance number.

 

And re/ Asaf's bullshit, was he the only one who continued to dance when the spotlight was on the other dancer of the current pairs?  I've only watched the first half of the show so far, but I noticed and called him on his bs for that, too.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Having the current crop of dancers perform a 30 second solo only shows how lacking they are.

The solos for this season's dancers were only ten seconds long (two eight-counts). I felt like it was unnecessary filler. Considering that the actual reprise dances are 60-90 seconds long, I eould have gladly traded 18 mini solos for an additional old routine or two.

I also agree that we didn't need to see routines that had already been featured on previous SYTYCD specials (like the 100th episode and whatever other milestone anniversary specials they have done before).

Is Heidi not dancing any more?

The only recent info I was able to find about her is that she is now married to Donnie Burns (the Michael Jordan of ballroom, according to Wikipedia). He is Scottish, non-Mormon, and 22 years older than Heidi so I wonder how much her family freaked out about that. No mention of kids on either of their wikipedia pages so maybe they are still teaching (not competing). Edited July 22, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[BoogieBurns]

it would have been cute if they showed more of Cat through the years, especially from the first season to see how she's changed.

 

She sure has changed a lot since then! Pretty sure she was brunette and American, oh how the times have changed ;-)

[luvthepros]

I found it weird which alumni they chose to highlight over others. .. this show really holds grudges.  (Alex Wong gets a Newsies mention, but not Evan?)  

 

 

How about Jess LeProto? Jess was in the show longer than any of the alumni. Alex was in the show only a short time. Also...Thayne Jasperson was in Newsies too.

[luvthepros]

Kathryn was third place in her season, Heidi was fourth place in her season.

Kathryn is a better contemporary dancer than Heidi on a bad day with her hands tied behind her back. Heidi brought the vulnerability to Mia's work but not the movement.

Edited July 22, 2015 by luvthepros

[realdancemom]

Kathryn is a better contemporary dancer than Heidi on a bad day with her hands ties behind her back. Heidi brought the vulnerability to Mia's work but not the movement.

I agree with this.  Mia choreographed her pieces to the dancers.  That's why the special Mia day that they did on Season 9 did not work.  I would have loved to see Addiction again but only if they could get Kupono and Kayla.  What was special about The Bench is that Heidi never did contemporary before.  Her performance in the Bench was magical even if Travis did all the harder technique moves.  So part of the excitement of the earlier seasons was watching a dancer grow in other genres.  These days, a lot of dancers grew up watching SYTYCD so they've cross-trained in different styles.  However, then they are jack of all trades, master of nothing.  I'm talking about the typical cross-trained competition dancers and not somebody like the ballet dancers or street specialists. 

 

I enjoyed the reprises.  Loved the hummingbrid/flower dance.  It made me miss Wade even more.  That dance was made for Hok and Jaime and I'm glad nobody else did it.   I agree that Fix You was better than when it was first done. 

 

Also agree that I wanted more reprises including at least one ballroom.  Black Mambo and Hip Hip Chin Chin were my choices too.  Didn't need any of Ryan's show advertising or the bad audition montage.   Also, too much Travis!!  He already choreographed two weeks in a row for his Team Stage.  Why did he have to choreograph the opening number?  It was beautiful but I think it should have been another reprisal.

Edited July 22, 2015 by realdancemom