Favorite Routines

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This is one of my all time favorite SYTYCD routine. It's the reason why I try so hard to tolerate Tasty Oreo despite his terrible Broadway routines and his smarmy/holier than thou attitude when he's a judge. This is beautiful choreography and he used the music so well. Even though Ivan is the one who got the major tongue bath from the judges for this routine, you can see Allison's lovely technique (her turning split leap into an attitude turn is just gorgeous).

The weird thing is that this dance contains so many things that I normally hate - abrupt music cuts, crab walking, flexed feet, hiding the weaker person's dancing (most notably when Allison does a tour en l'air and Ivan just jumps straight up behind her), walking down to the front of the stage for a final pose after the music ends - but I still love it after all these years.

http://youtu.be/uDecvqUb-tY

Edited because I know how to spell Broadway correctly

Edited April 7, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Carrie Ann]

I love this one a lot too. Tyce has had a few great routines over the years, but this past season's blatant ripoff of Wade Robson's S6 Triplets of Belleville routine was sort of the last straw for me with him. It also just made me wonder how many of his other routines have been lifted?

[Bella]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEsS8GyF00U This is one of my favorites. There's been better dancing on the show, but the energy and joy that Jason and Caitlin showed in this performance has stayed with me for several years now.

[eli]

Wow, I'd completely forgotten about that Bollywood piece. Thanks for the reminder!

I have a horrible time picking favorites. I'd have to pick one from each genre or something.

[Shannon L.]

I a few that I'll still watch from time to time:

Alex and Twitch hip hop (Outta Your Mind)

Aaron and Jasmine hip hop (Gold Rush)

Billy and Lauren jazz (?) (Boogie Shoes)

Danny and Lacy cha cha (Hip Hip, Chin Chin)

Jannette and Brandon jazz (Ruby Blue)

The Group Routine to Ramalama

Edited April 12, 2014 by Shannon L.

[ElleryAnne]

My all-time favorite routine on this show wasn't actually with any of the contestants - it was Eric Luna and Georgia Amberian's guest performance.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSH-A69R49s 

As far as contestant routines - There've been so many great performances that I don't know if I can name my very favorite, but definitely one that would be in my top 3 is Sasha and Twitch doing Misty Blue.

Edited April 12, 2014 by ElleryAnne

[LadyArcadia]

I'd say my top 3 (in no particular order)

- Ramalama

- Mad World

- Addiction (original crispy recipe)

Mad World and Addiction just bring me to tears every time. And I'm not an easy crier.

[COESpiral]

Pretty much anything that involved Alex Wong

Melanie and Marko's 'statues' routine

Melanie and Sasha's Sonya Tayeh routine where they were robots or warriors...they both looked like they could snap anybody that crossed them in two

[Mya Stone]

My two favorite dancers together, at last: Alex and Allison dancing to Hallelujah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8u8xPLar-E

 

Kupono and Kayla's Addiction dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_037Ti8hwPE

 

Great call on Misty Blue. I adore that one. 
 

[Rick Kitchen]

Bleeding Love.  It's just so wonderful.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0XxrzoJDYk

 

And Alex and Twitch's hip hop

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyWzC7df-0

[Bella]

The Alex/Twitch routine is one of my top 10 - thanks for the link, Rick Kitchen!

[thewhiteowl]

One of my Favorites was Evan and Randi's. Yes the Butt one. Randi was so good, Evan was the perfect Perv and for once I didn't hate Mia"s choreo. I wish I could link it. Can anyone do that for me?

 

Danny and Lacey's  Cha cha is another Fav.

 

[SnarkyTart]

One of my Favorites was Evan and Randi's. Yes the Butt one. Randi was so good, Evan was the perfect Perv and for once I didn't hate Mia"s choreo. I wish I could link it. Can anyone do that for me?

 

The Butt Dance was hilarious, creepy and so good all at the same time.  I loved it too.

 

 

I'll join so many others in selecting Ramalama as one of my favorites.  For me, the show really lost something special when Wade Robson went on to other things.   It's still one of my favorite shows, though. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g-kxL-OR74

[thewhiteowl]

Thanks, SnarkyTart!  It still makes me laugh.

[ketchuplover]

Jason and Ellenore. Sonya Tayeh.  

[gik910]

I'll echo The Butt Dance, Outta Your Mind, Hip Hip Chin Chin, & Ramalama but I also love

 

Mark & Courtney- The Garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooC64uhrjYQ  (@ 40 sec)

 

Mark & Jenna- I Am the Best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--7dfIrlOpE (@ 1:59). So I mainly love Mark and wasn't a huge Jenna fan but this was such a fun dance.

 

and of course Too Much Booty in the Pants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y11gOybzpRE  (@2:55).  I really just loved this & they are still one of my favorite partnerships.

 

I could probably go on but I'll save it for when the seasons starts.

[crowceilidh]

I love a couple by Will and Jessica - in particular, their amazing, totally-undervalued hiphop:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3XG6qd5CDs

 

Also love HiphipChinChin and the group dance that Dmitry choreo'd to some Pitbull song (can't remember which one).  Mad World, 

 

I'm also very fond of "Let the Drummer Kick" despite the fact that I loathed Neil and Lauren:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-lZqIGMaFk

[bourbon]

In no particular order:
 

Legacy & Kathryn "Fear"  

Legacy & Kathryn Paso.  Basically, anything they danced.  Lub.

Lauren & Kent"Collide" 

Christopher Scott's Top 10 guys "Velocity"

Evan & Randi Butt Dance

Chelsie & Mark "Bleeding Love"

[susannot]

Also love "Misty Blue" for Sasha and Twitch. Didn't that dance win an Emmy?  Sasha was my favorite that season.  She was saddled with a partner with whom she had no chemistry (she's gay) . When she got Twitch for a partner, the judges commented that she had never shown so much chemistry with a partner.

 

That said, my favorite dancer ever is Danny Tidwell and if anyone can post a video of him dancing anything, thank you!

[Rick Kitchen]

@susannot here is Danny doing a contemporary routine with Lauren.

 

[susannot]

Love it!  And adore Chehon and Danny.  Beautiful Ballet boys.

[Princess Sparkle]

I love many of the ones already mentioned, so I'll throw in some new ones. Comanche (top 20, S6) and Aha! (Top 16, S6) are two of my all-time favorites. Both Wade Robson routines and both danced so well.

Anything Brandon and Janette did together was perfection for me, but Ruby Blue and Lovin is Really My Game never get old.

I also have a special place for My Chick Bad. That's when I really thought Lauren could win the whole thing.

[RachelKM]

I love all of those listed above.  I think I watch Ruby Blue (Brandon & Jeanette), Hip Hip, Chin Chin (Lacy & Danny), The Wall Dance (Sasha & Kent), How it Ends (Kent & Neil) and Bang Bang (Eliana & Alex) the most.

 

I think Bang Bang is presently my favorite (but I'm fickle):

[ElectricBoogaloo]

the group dance that Dmitry choreo'd to some Pitbull song (can't remember which one).

This one from S5! It was really good, especially for a group dance with so many people (I feel like in the early weeks, the group dances look messy because there are just way too many people on the stage). I loved when they re-used this dance for people who got sent to choreography the following season and they brought Dmitry to teach it to them. According to wikipedia, this dance was choreographed by Dmitry, Tabitha, and Napoleon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z_sCBGdN2k

[SistaLadybug]

My two favorite dancers together, at last: Alex and Allison dancing to Hallelujah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8u8xPLar-E

 

Kupono and Kayla's Addiction dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_037Ti8hwPE

 

Great call on Misty Blue. I adore that one. 

 

"Addiction" tore me apart the first time I saw it and it still does.  I could feel her desperation and he was so insistent, so creepy.  It was glorious.  Sends chills up my spine.

[Hana Chan]

I'm always amused that my favorite dances of any given season are never performed by the winners (and I absolutely refuse to watch anything performed by Melanie). For me, what ususally sets up dances as one of my favorites (and gets me watching on repeat on YouTube) is when there is a deep viseral response or when a dancer does something really unexpected that totally blows away every impression that I had of them.
 
The original Addiction performance (Kupono and Kayla) is a perfect example because Kupono came across so much as a lovable sweet fey boy who was light as a feather. Who would have expected Mia to be able to pull out of him this dark, seductive, sinister character? Or that Kayla could absorb the ugliness and lack of control that addicts struggle with. The choreography was fantastic, but what made this dance work (and why the remix was such a failure) was how Kupono and Kayla went so beyond anything that I would have expected from them.
 
The Alex/Twitch hip hop routine is another case. We already knew that Alex was a glorious dancer who would excel at contemporary (the week before doing Hallelujah so beautifully and made me cry). But a ballet dancer doing hip hop was a train wreak looking for a place to go off the rails. The fact that he did it as well as he did, with the amount of abandon that ballet dancers normally have trained out of them made it absolutely glorious. I still consider it to be the best hip hop performance done by a non hip hop dancer on the show.
 
 
 
 

[dusang]

Sasha & Melanie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljf4yIJukXU

[Turkish]

 

The original Addiction performance (Kupono and Kayla) is a perfect example because Kupono came across so much as a lovable sweet fey boy who was light as a feather. Who would have expected Mia to be able to pull out of him this dark, seductive, sinister character? Or that Kayla could absorb the ugliness and lack of control that addicts struggle with. The choreography was fantastic, but what made this dance work (and why the remix was such a failure) was how Kupono and Kayla went so beyond anything that I would have expected from them.

The addiction dance is still one of my favorites. Top 5 for sure. It sucks that Kupono isn't one of Nigel's favorites so he will probably never be an All-Star. Still, he gets to tour with Madonna so he's winning at life in my book. I'm surprised though they haven't asked Kayla back though because she was definitely a favorite during that season. 

 

Bang Bang is also another one of my favorite dances. I find that I tend to like the group performances more than anything else though. I really miss Wade Robson on this because his were always my favorites. 

[Cuatro1234]

I loved the Mia group routine to "Higher Ground" Season 5.  (don't know how to link, haven't spent much time on this site yet!)

Edited May 31, 2014 by Cuatro1234

[Anothermi]

I loved the Mia group routine to "Higher Ground" Season 5.  (don't know how to link, haven't spent much time on this site yet!)

Ahhh, yesssss.   I spent an inordinate amount of time freeze-framing this dance to try to figure out who/where each dancer was.  I was rewarded by finding out that the dancer I had summarily dismissed as "meh" in the Top 20 was an impressive lead (female) dancer in this piece- Ashley Valerio.  However, most viewers didn't know this and I think she was voted off (or as Unca Nigel would say "not voted to continue") the next episode.  This had been her third audition, but she did get to work with Mia  and as a lead to boot (which she confirmed in one of her exit interviews).  :D

Higher Ground link.

 

I was pre-disposed to love anything by Mia since season 1 and anything by Wade once he started choreographing on the show.  

I think  my top 2 Mia routines are group routines and they are The Dance (with Mark Kanemura lead) and The Moment I Said It (with Danny Tidwell lead).  

 

I have to spend some time deciding on my top Wade routines.  They are hard to rank - for me at least. 

[Babalu]

It sucks that Kupono isn't one of Nigel's favorites so he will probably never be an All-Star. Still, he gets to tour with Madonna so he's winning at life in my book.

I agree - he's living the dream. I don't think Madonna is on tour now, so he's been dancing with Ricky Martin lately.

[morgankobi]

My poor DVR is holding onto 4 hours of SYTYCD from 2010 because I cannot delete Alex Freakin' Wong/tWitch and Mad World.  

Ruby Blue is also on heavy youtube rotation in our house.

 

Not a routine, but Billy Bell's Vegas solo is still a favorite (just ignore all the shots of Adam...)

[Alison]

Many of my favorites are ones you all have listed, but I also really love:
-Sabra and Neil's jazz to "Sweet Dreams"

-Jason and Jeanine's contemporary to "Even If It Kills Me"

-Jasmine and Comfort's NappyTabs hip hop
http://youtu.be/KoZ8bogYVw8

-Season 7's top 6 group routine by Mia

I think there have been some fantastic group routines throughout the years but many of them fall through the cracks.

[Haleth]

I was having a dueling dance shows conversation with a friend last night who has never seen SYTYCD but ~~loves~~ DWTS.  I sent her a link to the Alex/Twitch hip hop since that is my all time favorite routine.  Her response?  Hip hop gives her a headache.  And she's younger than me.  Sigh.

[Turkish]

 

Not a routine, but Billy Bell's Vegas solo is still a favorite (just ignore all the shots of Adam...)

I have always loved Billy's solos on and off the show. They are very quirky compared a lot of the standard contemporary and/or ballet routines you see. 

[Bella]

I was having a dueling dance shows conversation with a friend last night who has never seen SYTYCD but ~~loves~~ DWTS.  I sent her a link to the Alex/Twitch hip hop since that is my all time favorite routine.  Her response?  Hip hop gives her a headache.  And she's younger than me.  Sigh.

 

I'm "not old yet, dammit, and why is my mom looking back at me from the mirror?" and this show gave me a wild appreciation of hip-hop. I love it! Not so much the music that goes with it, but some of that and all of the dancing.

[Kat From Jersey]

I tend to love the opening group dances best.  Last season had a few really good ones, but my absolute favorite is the 'volcano' one, S10, top 18.  Just gorgeous.  The only thing I didn't like is that Jenna was the first to jump, and being very tall, her jump wasn't that high, and thus didn't have as much impact.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0pJgtTLK30

[crowceilidh]

I don't know how I could forget this one, I've watched it so many times and shown it to so many people (Cyrus and Comfort):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIw2vUhbcPk

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIw2vUhbcPk

Edited June 7, 2014 by crowceilidh

[cali1981]

Anything that Katee did.
Any of Melanie and Marko's routines
Rama lama bang bang (love Wade Robson)
Neil and Lacy's Time
Melissa and Ade doing Tice's tribute to his friend with breast cancer
Lacy and Danny's Samba (some of the best side by side hip actions ever)
Benji and Heidi's black mambo
Kayla (IMHO that season's best dancer) and Kupono's Addiction
and a hundred more that I could list. The quality of the dancers and choreography on SYTYCD has always been first rate.

 

In regard to Kayla, I can still vividly recall Kupono and her reprising Addiction on the season finale (after she had been eliminated) and when it was over, them standing there and getting a thunderous, prolonged standing ovation from the audience and the judges. There was a great camera shot from behind them out to the theater that showed the reaction. It was a striking testament to the the two of them, to MIa and the piece itself but I always felt that it was also an appreciation for Kayla's body of work that season. 

Edited June 7, 2014 by cali1981

[NextIteration]

The addiction dance is still one of my favorites. Top 5 for sure. It sucks that Kupono isn't one of Nigel's favorites so he will probably never be an All-Star. Still, he gets to tour with Madonna so he's winning at life in my book. I'm surprised though they haven't asked Kayla back though because she was definitely a favorite during that season. 

 

Kupono was MADE to dance for Madonna, imho.  I think perhaps Kayla has not been back as she's so tall?  Does anyone know if they set the all-stars before or after the Green Mile?  Has Janine been back?  I'd give the All-Star award to Kathryn though.

 

I'm not sure why but my favorites tend to be from the first few seasons and are for the most part often Mia-centric.  Technoloigic is still one of my favorite group dances of all time - because it featured dancers doing their own thing for the most part - but now I can't remember if that was Brian or Dan's choreography, which is ironic from a S1 perspective, giggles.

 

Hide and Seek is right up there as is Message in a Bottle and Ethna.  I'm old school like that.  And for sure as far as hip hop goes, S1 can't really be beat.

 

I miss Mary, Brian and Wade's choreography.  (Shane and toolAlex as well but I think they are both still in jail perhaps.)  And Wade, such a stellar fall from grace has never been witnessed, but that's for another thread I suppose.

[Anothermi]

Nextiteration, Thanks for the reminder of the 1st Imogene Heap routine.  I really liked that one too.  The Moment I Said It surpassed that one IMHO, but it is still up there.  And the mention of Message In a Bottle reminded me of another Mia - King of Pain with Kamilah and Nick. 

Edited June 7, 2014 by Anothermi

[NextIteration]

Grins happily, and nods with anothermi!

 

I forgot a lot of others like Will's pieces, and I adore a lot of the favorites of others' - after all these seasons though, some of the oldest are still my favorites.

 

And Nick, every time I see his clips I remember the very first time I ever saw him - in a hotel bar in greater Chicago, while grabbing a burger with my daughter the night before a jump convention acting all goofy and ending with a pratfall.  He can be a tool for certain, but he's pretty funny in person.  That's how we got hooked into the show really, Nick as a contestant, since he assisted Mandy that weekend at jump, and the intensives that she had done with Mia previously.

Edited June 7, 2014 by NextIteration

[ToxicUnicorn]

I loved almost everything from S1 except, for some reason, Snow and Ryan's hip hop.  Yes, even Big Poppa and Melody's contemporary.

 

I agree that Shane Sparks created the best hip hop on this show.  I miss his choreography a lot.

[Electruck]

I can watch Addiction over and over, and many of Allison and Ivan's.

I just love Evan and Randi's first performance, a jazz piece by Tyce to "Only Have Eyes for You." Their chemistry is amazing (first performance!), and I love his languid strength with her lightness and legs. Tyce can irritate the heck out of me, but sometimes I love his work.

[cali1981]

The nice thing is that no matter what your favorites are, a search of Youtube will almost always find them individually or as part of compilations that people have put together.  I still rewatch many of the numbers that I've enjoyed throughout the show's history.

[OnceSane]

Ellenore is one of my favorite dancers ever, so here's two of my faves:

 

Ellenore & Legacy "Machine Gun":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2h3kpG_TWc

 

Ellenore & Jakob: "Tore My Heart":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0QamW_LbOs

[LadyMustang65]

A lot of the ones listed are favorites of mine as well.  I'll add a few more (forgive me, but I'm terrible with names and half the time I don't know the music) - here's hoping you can figure out the ones I mean.  <lol>

 

Joshua and Katee's Bollywood number

Benji and Travis and the schoolboy routine

Hok and somebody with the hummingbird routine

Benji and Donyelle's Broadway

The one Jenna and Marko did

The tap routine by Nick, Jess LeProtto and someone else

 

Yeah, I suck at this. 

[Turkish]

Ellenore is one of my favorite dancers ever, so here's two of my faves:

 

Ellenore & Legacy "Machine Gun":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2h3kpG_TWc

 

Ellenore & Jakob: "Tore My Heart":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0QamW_LbOs

They really should ask Ellenore back as a choreographer. She teaches at BDC now and she posts videos of the classes practically everyday. I love her choreography. Besides I think it would be good for the show to have on more choreographers than just the 5 or 6 we constantly see who have to choreograph two pieces a week. 

 

There really needs to be more variety in the All-Stars. I think the politics behind it are one half Nigel picking his favorites and one half them listening to fans as to who should be an All-Star. All during the season premiere the official SYTYCD twitter was asking fans who should be All-Stars this season, which I can pretty much guarantee means we are going to see the same old All-Stars we have always seen. And don't get me wrong, I love all of those kids. I really do. But I want to see some of my other favorites who have never(or rarely) been back since their season. 

[gik910]

 

The tap routine by Nick, Jess LeProtto and someone else

 

Oh man- I loved Jesse (and Evan before him) with an almost unreasonable amount of affection.  Those short, broadway boys just get me!

I have to say the tap number that was Jesse, Nick, & Matt Flint (the UK winner that year) is high up there for me...

 

 

I am also not-so-secretly in love Ryan Di Liello (I don't think he got nearly enough credit during his time on the show- he was hands down one of the best partners anyone could ask for) and this Quickstep is one of my favorite from this show ever (I really enjoyed Eliana too...) The last big trick is jaw-dropping.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n75k2HDKhVY

Edited June 9, 2014 by gik910

[realdancemom]

Ryan not only didn't get any love while he was a contestant, they didn't even acknowledge him when he partnered with Eliana.