Wednesday, May 30, 2007

SYTYCD Season 3, Episode 2

Stupid FOX messed up again and I'm pretty sure most of the region missed the 1st minute and a half of SYTYCD this episode. It was a two hour episode tonight featuring auditions in L.A. and Chicago.

L.A. Day 1

Lauren Gottiled- Probably another one of those 18 year olds that end up on the show and never go to college. She is/was a choreographer's assistant for Tyce Dirorio last year. Was the girl who helped him teach Heidi and Donyelle their Broadway duet to "Hey, Big Spender". According to Mary she "Commanded attention". I think she meant to say that she DEmanded attention but I'm not sure. Went straight to Vegas.

Jessica Peralta- Don't really remember this one, just reading my notes. She danced lyrical/contemporary to "Like A Star" by Corinne Bailey Rae. She seemed to be the only one who actually wanted to get an honest critique, not an "Oh, you were soooooo great" even of she wasn't that good. Went straight to Vegas.

EJ Ciara- Very fat hairstylist. Has amazing leaps and is OK for a such a large person but compared to other great dancers, he pretty much sucked. Nigel hates him and says he dances like a girl who can't dance. He also keeps rolling on the ground and rubbing himself.

Collin- KUH-RAZEE!! He said "I went farther intp the blood cell and unlocked the key to life, maybe death, immortality." He seems to be on his own planet. Supposed Anna Nicole Smith came to his birthday party one year and he held her and she held him and told him "Happy Birthday". He then started crying over her death. When he danced he seemed even crazier than in his interview.

Olivia Usey- She's 18 and hasn't danced in 3 years because of some medication she was out on that gave her liver problems. Her mother hfound out she had breast cancer and when was asked by Olivia what she could do to help, said to audition for SYTYCD. Her technique isn't up to par but, heck: SHE HASN'T DANCED IN 3 YEARS! They sent her to choreography and she kept crying about how this is what her mom wants her to do.

Bryce Cleverly- a.k.a. The Golden Inferno. Wears a gold mask and tie that he refuses to take off. He is the self declared national champion at jump dancing (below) which supposedly originated in Romania, Belgium, or Holland. He can't remember. He pretty much sucks but they send him to choreography.




Amanda Vivora- "Hip-Hop with a little bit of ballet". OK, then. This was very odd. She was ok-ish at the hip-hop at irst but then did this thing where she stood then got on her knees one at a time, stood back up, sat down in pike, and bounced on her butt. Weird.

Kurt Myers and Dia Beck- He hasn't stopped hiccuping for 7 years and she has a weird winking tick thing. What a perfect couple. Dia has a balance problem and Kurt is a good partner. All the judges laugh themselves to tears at the guy's hiccups.



Choreography, Day 1

They have 30 minutes to learn a hip-hop routine choreographed by Mandy Moore. Olivia, Kurt, and Dia all make it to Vegas.


L.A. Day 2

Jesus Soliro- A Latin/Contemo dancer from Paso Robles. He also makes his own wine along with dancing. His father doesn't approve of him dancing and he wants to show him how he's improved. not amazing but not bad either. Went to Vegas.

Hok Konishi- The guy that got to the Top 20 last year but had to back out because he didn't have a work Visa. Yes, this is the guy Benji replaced, and frankly, I'm glad he couldn't compete. He was even better at his character style breaking/hip-hop than last year. I hope he gets to the top 20. Went to Vegas.

Dominic Sandoval- B-boy type dancer. He's good at that style, but that's probably all he can do. He got sent to Vegas.

Benji and Lacey Schwimmer- America's Favorite Dancer is BACK!!!! He ran around screaming and yelling and signing autographs and throwing himself on the ground before they even showed that Lacey (his little sister) was there to audition. Lacey looks exactly like Heidi except not as tiny. I was disappointed in their choreography. It looked like they mushed together every dance Benji and Heidi or Lacey and Benji or Lacey and that Parker person had ever done. It was still pretty awesome, though. I just hope she doesn't get farther than equally talented people because of her family ties. THROUGH TO VEGAS!! :)'

Chicago Day 1

By now I was too tired of writing to take notes. Shane Sparks was the guest judge with Mary and Nigel. There was an Allison fan, a fat hip-hopper, an Allison look-alike, a guy without a leg, and a girl without an arm. None of them stood out as absolutely horrible or amazingly awesome. I can't wait till next week. Go Vegas! Go top 20! Boo Cat Deeley!

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

SexyBack Dance

This is supposedly an instructional video on how to dance the routine to SexyBack by Justin Timberlake from the finale of SYTYCD Season 2. The guy annoys me and I don't think he teaches all that well but I absolutely love the choreography.



Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance Music

I went to the library to look for CD's and found "The World's Very Best Opera for Kids in English". I figured what the heck, let's get it and if it's bad I'll just return it before the rest of my CD's. So, I started listening to it and it is ALL stuff I've heard in ballet class, just with singing. But because it is in that weird "Children's Music" sub-genre, it has very well, odd lyrics. Example: I am the barber of Seville! I am the barber of Seville! I am the barber of Seville! I am the barber of Seville! I am the barber of Seville! Yes, of Seville! Yes, of Seville! Yes, of Seville! Yes, of Seville! Yes, of Seville!

I also really like Lisa Harris'
Apres le Plie for doing ballet barres in my room/head. No, I'm not crazy. There have actually been scientific studies proving that dancers that watch other dancers perform and/or picture themselves doing steps perfectly in their mind actually improve more and more quickly.

OK, this opera CD is getting even weirder. I am listening to it as I type so you guys get my running commentary.

The current soundtrack to the rare times I get to spend making up my lyrical routines in an empty studio is mostly made up of Imogen Heap and Evanescence. Right now I really like Candlelight, Hide and Seek, Lithium, and My Immortal for that.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Monday, May 28, 2007

SYTYCD, Season 3, Episode 1


The Official SYTYCD Website

The new season just started and already I don't like it as much as Season 2. Now, maybe it's just because I ALWAYS hate the audition portions of reality shows, but I can't tell yet. I mean really: What's the point of having a show called "So You Think You Can Dance" when all they show for the first two weeks of every season are people who think they can dance but simply cannot?

  • Cat Deeley- First off, I must say that although she may be a good show in some people's eyes, I really believe that she couldn't be more annoying if she tried! She can't even say half the people's names correctly. I know it's all because of her accent but does anyone remember any contestants named "Hi-day", "Ben-jay", or "Marthur" ever appearing on the show last year? NO! My theory is that they are her multiple personalities that she talks to throughout the shows and they just happen to have similar names to contestants. I guess she did OK the 1st episode but she still annoys the heck out of me.
  • Judges- Nigel, Mary, and Dan were the audition judges in New York this time around. Mary seems to add good opinions to the critiques that are given to the auditionees but that laugh and scream. Weird. I don't dislike her; in fact I really respect her views and enjoy her choreography but she reminds me a little too much af the Paula Abdul of SYTYCD. I've always thought that Nigel is the best judge. some people say his critiques are too harsh and/or mean but they really are the truth. If you suck, he'll tell you and some people definitely need to be told. I don't have much to say about Dan. He's always been kind of a wallflower to me. He isn't as important as Nigel, as loud as Mary, or as opinionated as Mia. I can't even think of one thing he choreographed last year.
My beloved show has lost sooooo many judges/choreographers this season, though. I'm glad to see the "Ghetto Twins" (wow, the site doesn't tell me and I don't remember their names), "Disco Queen" (Doriana Sanchez), and "That Guy Who Did Waltzes and Quick Step" (Ron Montez) go, I will REALLY miss Brian and Tyce, my 2nd and 3rd favorite favorite choreographers next to Mia.

  • Dancers- Well, David Kenneth "SEX" Soller was back. And this time he brought his mommy. She said something along the lines of "You can't take my son's dream away from him!" to Nigel. He can dream to be a dancer. That doesn't mean he will be. I could sit around all day dreaming that if I jumped in front of a moving bus, I could walk away uninjured but that does not at all mean that I could! Stanislav brought in his sister to audition, and I'm pretty sure she's the talented one in the family. I'll have to wait and see if she's in the Top 20. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the performance that Nigel basically told the girl he didn't see how anyone would ever consider what she did anything close to dancing because apparently monkeys run our local FOX network. The student and teacher pair was OK. A little too slutty for my taste. They both had good technique, bad choreography but the student was definitely the better one. I'd like to see her in the top 20.
Good news: at the end of this episode when Cat read the teasers for next week and they showed clips from the upcoming episodes, I swear I saw Benji Schwimmer (last year's winner) walking down a street in LA when she mentioned something about "a few familiar faces". So, that gets me excited for next week.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Causes

Charities/causes/whatever that I support:

Bloggers Unite
Bloggers Unite

D.E.M.A.N.D. (Dancers Everywhere Making A Needed Difference)


To Write Love on Her Arms


Pick Up the Phone:

Sunday, May 27, 2007

About Dance Outlook

Dance Outlook is a daily dance blog focusing on happenings in the dance world and reviews of dance shows, companies, performances, and more. I started Dance Outlook in May 2007 as an outlet for my opinions on everything dance and the site has grown from there.

I'm a dancer. I've been trained in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and tumbling/pom. I focus on ballet and modern now, but take everything I can squeeze in to my schedule.

I write mostly about things I do and see related to the dance world. The layout changes from time to time, but for the most part the style and mood of the content stays the same.

You can contact me via email here.

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