Catching Up With Friends

Maria at A Time To Dance attended the Baltimore show and files an excellent report:

The most interesting thing about seeing the routines from a TV show translated to the stage (pretty literally, it seemed) was seeing what worked better on stage than on TV, and also what was really better suited to TV. The individual solos were better on TV. Routines whose strength lay in a great deal of facial expression, such as the Midnight Cabaret were better on TV.

Hands down, the group performances were all better live. There was so much cutting between shots and angles on the show that I was never able to get a good idea for each piece as a coherent work. The Shane Sparks Matrix routine was fantastic live. The choreography is really designed for the piece to be seen as a whole. I liked it on TV but appreciated it even more in the round.

MORE at her blog.




Is it possible for a video to be meditative? Our friend Leee at T!YBE (Now Dumber!) found one of the most beautiful videos I've seen on the web. It's not SYTYCD-related, but I highly recommend.

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_{Courtesy of Toasty}

We have posted some of Corrismatic's videos on the blog. She also goes by the name Toasty and has attended 7 tour dates taking great photos. Check 'em out.

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Report From Baltimore

LJ blogger carencey77 misplaced her camera, but shares a detailed review of the Baltimore show.

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DWTS Pros

Professionals Eddie Stutts and Valentina perform to Seal's Kiss From The Rose.

_{Thanks to lionheart33026}

Jesus And Lacey Save The Day

Big thanks to our friend and reader Katie for this entertaining report and pictures from the Long Island show.

A friend and I attended the SYTYCD show in Long Island. It was, of course, excellent. As my friend noted, Danny was "killing it." Even more so than the Hartford show, where he did not shine as bright as we know he can. Overall, I thought all the performances were stronger, despite the fact that they must be getting more and more worn out with each performance (Sara was starting to lose her voice). Let it also be noted that the performance included a gratuitous torso exposure by Neil staged as a joke. However, this was no joke. I believe it is usually referred to as "worth the price of admission." The most surprising part of the show may have been the crowd's love for Kameron. He was a clear favorite and at times danced like someone who should have ended up in the top four. The least surprising part of the show was an outcry of, "Danny, you should have won buddy!" There was bound to be one of those.

The main reason my friend and I made the trip to Long Island was to see the dancers after the show. We had opted not to at the Hartford show, as we were trying to avoid being obsessive. We then spent the next weeks obsessing over what a mistake we had made. When we got out of the show in Long Island it was pouring rain, cold, cold rain. We had to circle the Coliseum twice before spotting an out of the way
underground ramp where it was most likely the dancers would be exiting from. There were about fifteen loyal fans when we arrived, and maybe a grand total of thirty as time passed. Despite knowing that we would have to wait for the meet and greet to get out, the faithful few stood their ground. An hour later we were told the dancers would not be coming out because of the rain. No one bugged. The general consensus was that if we waited, they would come. And with so few of us, we were all but guaranteed pictures, if not a full on dance, with our favorite SYTYCD member.

We waited in vain, but for one brief shining moment. Up the ramp, holding hands and running, came Lacey and Jesus. They raced up to us exclaiming, "we have to be quick, we are not supposed to be here!" They left in under a minute, just enough time for a handful of autographs and frantic pictures. It was a far cry from what we had all
been hoping for. However, with the inclement weather, it made sense that the dancers would have to stay inside. The upside is that I won't soon forget the sight of Lacey and Jesus, hand in hand, stealing away to greet their fans like prisoners in a jail break. Their consideration was quite touching.

_{Photos courtesy of Katie}

In a nutshell, the best performances of the night go to Lacey and Jesus. They showed as much commitment to their fans as we do to them.

Breaking Routine Returns

Last night's show in Baltimore included the Sara/Dominic/Hok breaking routine which had been absent for several shows presumably due to a back injury suffered by Hok.

_{Uploaded by reese777}

Also included in the program was the Two Princes routine featuring Neil and Danny. The tour takes tonight off before stopping in State College, Pa. tomorrow night.

ReesetheLawGirl posted her report, more videos, and some stills at her blog.

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Photos From Philly

_{Courtesy of HeatherW}


HeatherW has an album of photos from the show in Philadelphia on the 7th here. She also has an album from the season 2 tour here. Thanks to Heather for sharing her work with us.

SYTYCD Tour Hits Long Island

Our friend Tonya has a preliminary report, with pictures, from last night's tour date on Long Island.

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TV blogger Rickey also went and has some pics. He says Danny wasn't at the meet-n-greet due to his back.

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Canada To Get Its Own SYTYCD

Good news for our many Canadian readers. It was announced today that CTV has reached agreement with 19 Entertainment, Ltd and Dick Clark Productions to produce a homegrown version of So You Think You Can Dance.

"Canada now joins the United States, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Turkey and Israel as markets with an original So You Think You Can Dance production. Original versions of the series are also currently being produced in Australia, Poland and Malaysia and soon in Scandinavia as well."

SOURCE

Thanks to Selly at Dance Outlook for the tip.

Bravo's Step It Up Names Mentor

Tony award winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell has been named to mentor contestants on Bravo's upcoming dance reality show, Step It Up. He has a long line of Broadway choreography credits including Hairspray and Legally Blonde: The Musical, which he also directed. Here's a clip of Jerry working with the Legally Blonde cast during rehearsals:


Jerry Mitchell's Wikipedia entry.

Incidentally, Legally Blonde: The Musical will be shown this Saturday at 1pm ET/PT on MTV. Preview clips here.

Complexions

Complexions Contemporary Ballet has been discussed recently in comments. Here's their demo video.


A beautifully produced commercial for an appearance in Tel-Aviv.


Co-founder Desmond Richardson.


More info at the company's site and Wikipedia entry.

Movmnt Magazine

The movmnt magazine Got Fame? issue hit newsstands today. Of interest to SYTYCD fans:

- The Calling, a new column by Mia Michaels on fame
- American Impotence, Mario Spinetti's first column in movmnt on the music industry
- A Brian Friedman portrait

and a few surprises related to Danny... and announcements.

For anyone who doesn't know, Danny Tidwell is co-founder of movmnt magazine. Our friends at movmnt have been kind enough to make a very special offer exclusively to readers of Blogging So You Think You Can Dance. Buy this single issue for $5 with free shipping, OR subscribe for a year (4 issues) for $17 and receive Mario Spinnetti's album free.

I have seen the previous issues and the standard of writing and photography is quite high. This really is an amazing offer, available only at this link.

UPDATE:

A special offer for Canadian readers has been added. Scroll to the bottom of the link.

Around The Web

Season Two finalist Ryan Rankine is favorably reviewed by the New York Times' Alastair MacAuley for a recent performance:

Entering the stage alone as the words “They took away our drums” are spoken, the young dancer Ryan Rankine has only to walk, stretch an arm forward, then twist his torso one way and another, to fill the space with rich, pliant, physical texture. As his solo builds, the impulse behind the gestures grows into jumps and bends, and that texture, both sculptural and juicy, keeps growing. Sensuously, it works densely against the supporting rhythm like the act of protest implicit in the words.

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Here's Ryan soloing at the FIERCE! Dance Convention.

_{Thanks to cait♥.}



Singer and actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte has been chosen as the host for Australia's So You Think You Can Dance.

"Traditionally dancers don't get a chance to shine, they are not in the spotlight. With this show they will get the recognition they deserve," she said.

Here's her Wikipedia entry, her official site, and a fan site.

SOURCE

Hundreds waited in line in Adelaide for the show's first auditions.

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Tango Champs On DWTS

Tango Champions Nick & Lena Kosovich and Tomasz Mielnicki & J. T. Thomas, a.k.a. J. T. Damalas (thanks Tonya!) on Dancing With The Stars. Note the outstanding camera work.

_{Thanks to copagedesigns for uploading.}

Tour Coverage

_{Courtesy of Alicia} (vanilla_coke91)

LJ blogger Alicia has some teen & tween reactions to the show in Manchester.

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Press of Atlantic City calls the show "hokey but entertaining".

If you've ever been to a dance recital before, then you already know this - they're mildly interesting at best, amusing at times, painfully boring at others.

Unless it's your child you're watching. Then it's the best show ever.

The same could be said for the national tour of the Fox hit "So You Think You Can Dance?" If you're a faithful viewer and you know the players, then watching former nobodies rehash their best TV routines from Season 3 is a great way to spend your Saturday night (and $54.50).

If not, you certainly were entertained at times - but glancing at your watch at others.

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Here's Loralyn's video of Danny and Neil performing the Two Princes routine in East Rutherford. This is the one that has been removed from the program after Danny tweaked his back.

More of Loralyn's videos here.

UPDATE: Good news! I've received several messages saying the Two Princes routine was performed in Atlantic City last night. Thanks to all who took the time to update us.