Thursday, August 11, 2005

What I'm Watching

So You Think You Can Dance is kicking into gear. I like the show, but it's been a little uneven. I'm glad they narrowed it down to 16 because, so far, it's been hard to get a good look at the dancers. The separate groups and rooms has meant that some dancers are on a lot. Others don't get much airtime at all.

I like hearing from the teacher/judges more than I like watching candid shots and interpersonal drama from the dancers. However, I have not overlooked the fact that both the hip hop teachers are white. The ballroom teacher, Mary Murphy, is a trip -- kind of fussy and judgmental but forgiving and gracious too. The modern (or is it lyrical?) teacher doesn't mince words. She is so kind and supportive of the dancers she likes and so cold and dismissive of others -- really dismissive.

I can't really tell yet who I think will win. Allen (Big Daddy) won't, I'm sure. Neither will Ryan, the b-boy with the spiky hair or Sandra, the tapdancer who reminds me of my roommate. I hope it's not Blake even though he is really good. I'm really curious about Jonathan. Because of the groups and rooms focus, Jonathan hasn't had a lot of air play, not a fraction of what we've seen from Allen and Blake. Here's a current play list so you can keep up.

10 Added Something:

Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

no way on jonathan. he has a lot of personality, but he's way too flaily - not enough control. they have to keep ryan in as long as possible because he's the only bboy. nick and craig are both really good. blake is a little bitch - though of course he's good. for the girls, melody is really good. and i like sandra too.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 8:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

since for some reason nobody's commenting on today's excellent blog, i'll just keep going. the best moment last night was when ryan did a lyrical, modern-dancy, bboy solo in mia's class. that was beautiful. but other dance styles don't mix quite so well, and that poses certain problems for the show. they want to get the best overall dancer, who is strong is classical, hip-hop, and couples styles, but, as you may have noticed from the movie 'breakin',' when the ballerina tried to the learn to breakdance, those styles don't mix so well. when you've been so conditioned to be all about straight lines and pointy toes, your breaking style is horrible, and vice versa. and by the way, i have no problem with the 'hip-hop' choreographers' being white, but in general i refuse to refer to the type of dance seen in brittney spears and 'n sync videos as 'hip-hop.' that's just not what it is.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 12:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

I love this show, my favorite of the summer. I've written two glowing reviews of it on my blog. I WAS BUMMED that I missed last night's show. I actually like the different dance styles converging, you get to really see just how diverse what we call 'dance' is.

I don't have a problem with the white hip hop instructors per se, but it is interesting. There are two positions, they couldn't find one hip hop instructor of color?

I love Melody, she's amazing. I also like Snejana. On the boys side, Craig is beautiful (on many levels), Nick and Ryan are cool too. BiG Poppa is great too?

What is also interesting is the insight into the professional avenues for dancers. A big one is dancing for pop stars, which seems to be a lot of what this show is about.

I love watching the show. I am betting on Melody as the final winner - she's just amazing.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 5:07:00 PM  
Blogger Kathy quipped...

Melody is very good, but she's so immature. Michelle, Melissa, and even Snejana (Snow) are as good as Melody technically. And they have more personal depth, weird as they may be (uhm Snow).

Thursday, August 11, 2005 7:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

melody is young and immature, but i like her dancing better than those others that you mention, kathy - i think she has better taste. xui: i guess my point about the white guys is that it's not really surpirising at all when you consider what it is that they're calling 'hip-hop' dance. i mean look at those guys' resumes! but still, i guess you might expect them to at least make some attempt to pretend that it actually has something to do with hip-hop by getting some more colorful judges. nonetheless, i love the show too.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 8:53:00 PM  
Blogger RV3 quipped...

I finally saw this show two days ago, and look forward to continue watching it. I will be very disappointed if like AMERICAN IDOL, viewers at home will choose the winners and not the actual judges.
You know, as always, America will vote all wrong!
P.S. I find the Russian or Ukranian ballroom dancer, Arten, H-O-T!!!

Friday, August 12, 2005 10:10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

some of my favorite dancers: dyzee, k-mel, do-knock, lilou, remind, roxrite, ruen, benji, jessefecks, twix, orb, free, juse, ken swift, hong 10, ronnie, mario, moy, lil rock...

Friday, August 12, 2005 9:41:00 PM  
Blogger RV3 quipped...

Puuleez!!! Don't forget Martha Graham, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Savion Glover, Merce Cunningham...
The list (of dancers with real names) is endless!

Monday, August 15, 2005 4:12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous quipped...

those are good dancers, rv3, but most of them are dead.

Monday, August 15, 2005 10:54:00 PM  
Blogger RV3 quipped...

You guys are right. One of my favorite living dancers is Kathryn Sheffield, but she gave it up to become an advocate for the poor and disenfranchised.
Kathy come back to the arts!!!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 10:11:00 PM  

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