SYTYCD News Roundup

Watch for Anya Garnis during tomorrow
night's Oscar show. Finally, a reason to watch.







Sara Von Gillern will be touring across North America and Europe with Avril Lavigne beginning March 5th. It's a huge number of dates and goes everywhere from Kamloops, B.C to Riga, Latvia.

SCHEDULE


Missed this the first time through, but in this interview, Mary Murphy mentions that Wade Robson will be one of the choreographers on season 4. Maybe it's not a sure thing that he won't be returning, but I'm still hearing it's doubtful.


The Heartbeat Of Dance workshops feature 9 of our SYTYCD favorites and appears in the following cities:

April 26,27 Washington DC
May 17,18 York PA
May 31 and June 1 Allentown PA
June 14,15 Baltimore MD
June 21,22 Pittsburg PA

MORE INFO


Here's more on choreographer Doriana Sanchez and her long association with Cher. As we mentioned earlier, Doriana is choreographing Cher's new Las Vegas show beginning May 6th.

LINK



Australian finalist Rhys Bobridge previously starred on a children's show called, um, The Fairies.



SIDE NOTE: This is BSYTYCD's 1000th post. Appropriately, our unofficial correspondent Loralyn contributed heavily to this report. Thanks to her and all the tipsters, fellow bloggers, article writers, recappers, photographers, videographers, video uploaders, and montage makers who give us so much great material to cover. Thanks especially to our readers and commenters from all over the world.

Pasha & Anya At Entyce

SYTYCD News Roundup

Pasha and Anya perform: Stamford, Ct. is the location for 2 performances this weekend of Rhythm Of Love, billed as "The Best of Ballroom" meets "The Best of Broadway". This preview in The Stamford Times includes a quote from Anya Garnis:

The show offers dynamic competitors Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis ["So You Think You Can Dance" finalists just back from the national tour], Benito Garcia and Emilee Peterson, Felipe Telona, Jr. and Carolina Orlovsky-Telona, Garry and Rita Gekhman, JT Thomas and Tomasz Mielnicki [smooth champions from "Dancing with the Stars"], and Jose DeCamps and Joanna Zacharewicz [also featured on "Dancing with the Stars"]. Garcia, a well-known dancer who began his career as a Fred Astaire Dance Studio teacher, is cast as in the role of dramatic lead in "Rhythm of Love," the timeless tale of boy meets girl, boy misses getting the girl because he's so focused on learning how to dance, boy finally dances with the girl of his dreams. He plays opposite Peterson as the dramatic female lead.

Garnis, who appeared in last year's production of "Rhythm of Love," is excited that her sport is receiving so much attention in this country.

"The ballroom world is a little bit isolated, compared to every other type of sport, so I feel that it's the right time and great for us as ballroom dancers," she said, adding that they train as hard as any athlete to succeed. "It takes so much stamina and physical and emotional preparation for the competitions and the shows. It's definitely an artistic sport."

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Shauna teaches tonight in Santa Cruz. Her Myspace bulletin:

HEY EVERYONE!!!
just wanted to let you all no that...
*** i will be teaching class tomorrow.. Thursday, Dec. 20th
at 'No Limits' in Santa Cruz, CA!


2600 south rodeo gulch, suite c
Soquel, CA. 95073


-5:30pm-6:30pm juniors class($15)
-6:30pm-8:00pm advanced class ($25)
COME DANCE WITH US!!!! :)

HaPpY HoLiDaYs!
-Shauna :)

Audition cities prepare: Salt Lake City's Fox 13 featured a video report on the upcoming season 4 auditions. Charleston, S.C.'s CityPaper posted the video of Travis Wall's audition there for season 2.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Our friend Jayne, aka Wintermute, may be writing Project Runway reviews these days, but she didn't let that keep her from the So You Think You Can Dance tour date in Oakland. She reports at her blog, Thrown Under The Bus:

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, OHMYGAAWD! YEEEAAYY!!!!" Every time Pasha, Neil or Danny took the stage, the group of three *very* sharply dressed middle aged men sitting next to my mother at last night's So You Think You Can Dance show would scream with giddy glee. I even witnessed fist pumping. Several times. OK OK, so some of those giddy screams may have come from me, but who's keeping track, right? They were awesome. Behind us sat the unofficial Pasha fan club, headed by what I thought was the cutest 14-year old girl EVAR. Then I heard her scream. My eardrums are still ringing! Holy cow. They sure did love them some Pasha!

MORE Link fixed!

Speaking of Pasha, here he is dancing with Anya in LA. From what I'm hearing, they have both grown in stature through the course of the tour.




LJ Blogger fixyoux has posted 3 lists of rankings. You are free to disagree.

LINK to top 10 contemporary dance routines from all 3 seasons.
LINK to top 10 11 dancers from all 3 seasons.
LINK to top 10 group routines from all 3 seasons.


I enjoyed this little story about what a certain song on "Mommy's Dancing Show" did for LJ blogger turtle_head's family.

Now the kids love that song, because they associate it with me, and a show that made me happy and always put me in a good mood. For them, this song is a joyful memory that reminds them of a happy time.

And I didn't think it was at all possible, but now I have completely changed my opinion of the song. I can hear it now and I feel...okay. I think of my own kids and how awesome they are. I think about great dancing and how my kids love stuff that I love just because I love it and they love me and it's one big lovefest.

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Blogger Shana at Head-on Relief compares SYTYCD to Dancing With The Stars:

I love Mary Murphy. I might sometimes say I don’t like her, but really, SYTYCD would be nothing without her. Nigel is boring, and when Mia Michaels is a judge, I want to run through a foggy forest while wearing a long, flowing white gown, and once I reach the end, burst out into a sun-lit meadow where I can sing and frolic in yoga pants and a tanktop. And then I awake in a cold sweat, hoping to never see the MiaMullet ever again. When does the new season of SYTYCD start???

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More Interviews From Toronto

_{Courtesy of} Down The Road Webzine
Marine, aka LightGrenade, is posting a series of interviews with the tour cast at Down The Road Webzine. The first 2 are with Pasha & Anya, and Hok & Lacey. Marine promises more tomorrow. There is a gallery of photos here.

An excerpt from Pasha & Anya:

What was your favorite style of dance to learn on the show?
Pasha: You know, every style of dance was interesting to try, I think hip-hop was the most challenging and surprising because it’s completely different game play because in ballroom you’re here, and up there and dance with your partner and presenting your partner. In hip-hop, you’re down and slouching and “whassup girl!” and I’m like “oh, how does that work?” I learned a little bit. [laughs]

Anya: I would say contemporary and hip-hop as well. You’re taking your heels off, and you’re a different person, basically. [laughs] It was very challenging, different connection with your partner and there are different movements so I definitely felt that my body was very sore the next day after hard training and long hours of practicing.

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Hok & Lacey are finally asked about something other than their relationship:

So I heard you guys got injured, tell me about that…

[Hok and Lacey laugh]

Hok: We’ve never had that question! That’s true.

Lacey: Well, why don’t you talk first.

Hok: Okay, I’ve had a herniated disk before the show and I think it’s ‘cause of that I strained my oblique muscle on the other side so basically I had an injury on my left side and I injured my right side too, so I was off the show for a little bit but now the right side’s completely better and you know, the left side is still not completely better, but I have to cope with it. And Lacey is doing…

Lacey: I just got back, it’s actually my third show back, it’s kind of weird actually because I’m not all the way better yet, and I won’t be until after surgery, but I’m clear to dance for now, you know, it can’t get injured any worse, they said, I just have to bite through the pain a little bit. I have a torn meniscus on my left knee so I’ll be getting surgery very shortly unfortunately.

Ouch. So you’re not performing all the dances yet.

Lacey: No, there’s certain dances that I can’t do, I’m just warming my knee up to it so by the end of the tour I should be able to do most of my routines.

Well I hope you guys feel better soon!

Lacey: Aw, thank you!

MORE

Pasha And Anya Interview

Murtz Jaffer at Reality Dish continues his excellent series of interviews with the tour dancers. Today we hear from the team of Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis:

Murtz Jaffer: I wanted to start with Anya. I think I read something really funny on your bio where it asked you what your favorite hobbies were and you said 'none.' It actually says that. I guess you are so busy with dancing that you don't have time for anything else. I wanted to see if there is anything else that you like (besides dancing)?

Anya Garnis: Oh no. They must have changed it because my answer was like 'I was studying speech and acting' so yeah, I am doing some different things on the side. Dancing is how we work and how we support ourselves, but besides that I have been taking acting classes as well as... (turns to Pasha). What's that face?

Pasha Kovalev: I was messing with Neil while you were answering your question!

AG: Yeah, I have been taking speech classes, working, you know, being from a different country and all. That's my hobby, I guess! (Laughs).

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Danny And Anya's Contemporary

Let's get back to some dancing. Danny and Anya's Apologize routine was recently added to the show. Here it is from last night in Grand Prairie.

Indulge Me This One, Please

Danny and Anya's Viennese Waltz again, this time from Greenville S.C. Choreography by Hunter Johnson.

Anya Doing The Samba

Anya steps in to the Samba with Danny.


Thanks to Ms. Anonymous for the tip.

Subbing For Lacey

We certainly hope for Lacey's quick return from her knee injury, but in the mean time it's interesting to see some of the substitutions. Here's Danny and Anya's Viennese Waltz to Lifehouse's You And Me, possibly my favorite routine of the season.


Jaimie Goodwin fills in for Lacey in Mia Michaels' reunion piece.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Reports from the tour indicate that Lacey Schwimmer's knee injury has gotten worse and caused her to stop dancing for at least the next 3 shows. Shauna Noland is filling in for Lacey in the Dancing routine with Kameron Bink, Jaimie Goodwin is subbing for her in the Time piece with Neil Haskell, and Anya Garnis takes her place in the Samba with Danny Tidwell. Lacey and Danny's Viennese Waltz has been replaced with Anya & Danny's Viennese Waltz from early in the season. The Mein Herr routine has been dropped entirely as it was designed for the top 4 dancers. Lacey still appears at the beginning and end of the shows. The tour takes tonight off before appearing in Hampton, Va. tomorrow night.


Wade Robson will appear on tomorrow night's Dancing With The Stars results show. Reliable sources have confirmed that Travis Wall will be amongst the 8 dancers appearing with Wade. Thanks to Loralyn for the original tip.



Swan Lake Samba Girl has a review of the latest movmnt magazine.

LINK



The November issue of DanceSpirit Magazine features Sara Von Gillern's diary of her journey on the show.

SOURCE

Tour Video

Lacey and Danny's Samba from the Boston show, courtesy of stuntedcat.


Pasha & Anya from opening night in Albany. Thanks to ChigzSYTYCD. They ARE a hot couple.

Tour Coverage

Sabra & Neil's Paso Doble in Albany, uploaded by iarechigz.


DanceNYY has several videos up from the Albany show. Here's Dominic, Sara, and Hok breaking.


Lauren Beckham Falcone of the Boston Herald attended the show and talked to the cast:

“Opening night (in Albany, N.Y., Friday) was so cool,” said Neil Haskell, who made it to the top four this season. “There’s such a difference performing in front of a small audience then going to an arena filled with fans.”

Haskell admitted that being the object of thousands of people’s affections is a little bizarre.

“It’s weird, but I wouldn’t want to take it away,” he said. “It’s just strange when people are snapping your picture and you’re like, that’s not going to look good.”

MORE


LJ Blogger lostinadream04 has photos from Albany.

LINK


Kim at GirlsTalkinSmack has pics and a list of routines. Those hoping for Pasha & Anya and Danny & Jaimie pairings will be happy.

LINK


Previewing the tour for Pennsylvania's Times-Leader, Lisa Sokolowski talked to Sabra Johnson about what winning means for her:

“Dancers are never put on a pedestal,” Johnson said. “I’m going to use this as best I can to do shows and teach and travel and do basically whatever I can. People know me and like me. When that time is over, and I’m not as cool anymore, I can start training again. For now, I’ll put that on hold for one or two years.”

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MySpace Finds

Anya Garnis finally has a Myspace page.

Behind the scenes slideshows on Pasha's page and on Jimmy's page.

Another Danny Fanvid

This one showed up in the mailbox a couple of times. Youtuber lindork created it.

UPDATED

After posting the above video, I stumbled upon this video montage of Danny AND Anya. Anyone who's been reading the blog for a while knows I couldn't pass up an Anya video. I'll add it to this post rather than create a new one, since I know we've been a bit Danny-heavy lately.

Youtube user EmbracingTheLight created this one and writes:

I miss my Danya.

There was something so "Old Hollywood" and ethereally beautiful about Danny and Anya.

They were really gorgeous on that stage together. They had a very "quiet" chemistry that I adored, and a mutual respect and admiration for one another.

I really liked this partnership, and it was one of my personal favorite couplings, right up there with my beloved "Benjelle" and "Dombra".

Around The Web

We have so much good stuff coming in, it may take the weekend to get through it all.

Kim Cosmopolitan at A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago strings together a random list of interesting thoughts. For example:

Was there any doubt in anyone's mind from the instant Nigel started talking about "choreographers using their dancers' strengths" that this was the lead-in to the hummingbird dance? You may recall that I was irate when Hok was cut prior to the top ten -- the main thrust of my pissed-off-edness being "you idiots, now you can't have the hummingbird dance on the tour!" But of course Nigel is an enterprising soul, and thus we now have the disclosure that hm, perhaps those alternates will do a little dancing on tour. So we'll get the hummingbird, and perhaps also that lovely Danny Astaire / Anya Rogers routine as well.

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John at Theory My Culture talks about Sabra, the foxes routine, and how Danny deals with the world of Nigel & Co.:

For me, the highlight of the final show (if not the season) was Danny’s aside, just as he and Neil were practicing the “macho” routine Mia Michaels had designed, that Nigel “loves masculine dancing.” It was a hilarious and appropriate crack. Danny and Neil are tall, fabulously, strong and acrobatic dancers, yet they’ve been told over and over - sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly - that they need to be more manly. I mean, seriously, how many times do we have to hear Neil being reminded his partner is sexy? They’ve been told this because their strength and athleticism have that softness and tenderness one expects from dance, but that isn’t quite digestible as a “proper” masculinity. Dance is a strange field in which to have anxiety about sexuality. Let’s be real here. I appreciated all my theorizing coming together in one joke facing the camera. Thanks, Danny!

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Daemon's TV has all the clips and iTunes links, and let's not forget Lauren's interview from Monday's results show.

Thanks Danny!

This one's for Loralyn.

My favorite.

THE Solo

Video Goodies

Youtube User SourSweetSoul has posted a montage of the Wade Robson choreographed solos from the top 10 show.


Youtuber rootkhy uploaded a series of same song, different dance compilations. For instance, this one shows 3 versions of You And Me, 2 Travis solos and Danny & Anya's Viennese Waltz.

More at rootkhy's youtube page. Thanks to Kelly for the tip.

Also there, our introductions to this season's top 20. It's interesting to look back to when we were all young and innocent.

From The Mailbox

Claudia sends us a link (thanks!) to photos of our Pasha and Anya from a professional ballroom event in 2005.

LINK

Interviews

InRich interviews Virginia Beachers Jaimie Goodwin and Danny Tidwell:

Jaimie:

Between you, Travis and Danny, Denise Wall's studio has had three finalists in the top 10 over two seasons. Those seem incredible odds. How did that happen?

She's an amazing technician. She knows a lot about the body. She knows how kids think. Most every kid I've seen come to the studio has been able to adapt to her way of teaching and learn from her because of her methods and the time she takes. She's that person who can really connect with someone, and if you have ambition, dedication and self-discipline, you can be as successful as you want to be.

Danny:

The judges love you, describing you as their best dancer. Yet you've been in the bottom three several times based on viewers' votes. Why do you think that is, and what must you do to overcome that?

I think in ballet, you're taught so much respect. So when I walk into a room, I try to be quiet and focus. When I'm in the dance room, it doesn't come across to the camera. This is definitely a different atmosphere and it takes a second to grow into it: pop culture vs. classical art.
It's been a major change. I've been told to respect the fourth wall. Here, the camera is the fourth wall. I've spent a lot of time figuring out a way to come across without looking fake.

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Anya Garnis gets the TVGuide interview treatment:

TVGuide.com: You've worn some pretty interesting costumes on the show for your solos. Do you make them?
Anya: I design them, but I have a dressmaker in NYC who makes them. I thought I would have more of a chance to show America my costumes — I had quite a suitcase with me. [Laughs]

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