Katee & Twitch's Contemporary (Video)

Katee Shean & Twitch Boss - Contemporary - Mia Michaels

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SYTYCD News Update

Mia Michaels did an interview with SheKnows and says that she knows (I'm less than clever) why the winners of So You Think You Can Dance haven't made it "big" like the winners of American Idol:

"Nobody's taken what they've done on the show and made it blow up. I try to talk to them and we have agents come in to talk to them. I say, 'Don't teach,' because they're offered tons of money for it. But they're children! They're wasting years of being great dancers and performers to teach other children. They need to be dancing while they can!"

Our very own Ted had a hand in hooking up Robert Muraine with the BuskerFest people, so we're more than happy to see them announce Robert's involvement with the event!

The Behind-the-Scenes video with Napoleon and Tabitha we posted about previously is finally up on YouTube.


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The Behind-the-Scenes video with Nakul's Top 10 routine is "posted" on the big, slow website, but if you click on it, nothing loads. We'll post it as soon as it becomes available.

SYTYCD Update

After making some controversial comments about dancers from Utah, Mia Michaels has issued a statement apologizing for any kind of misunderstanding:

"So I totally apologize if what I said came out wrong, because putting down their way of life is not what I meant, at all. I think it's so admirable, what they do. I respect their way of life. I should take their advice."

More...

This comes about a year after Mia had to apologize for the upside down Marine emblems on her jacket.

The big, slow website has a video of a behind-the-scenes look at Napoleon and Tabitha's Top 12 group routine. They're the cutest couple ever. We'll post the actual video once it's available on YouTube.

Adam at EW.com recaps the results show. He speculates why Gev was eliminated. Was it because his "internal artistry never quite met his physical expression — i.e., he wasn't buck"?

Fox News briefly recaps the performance and results shows. They equate the audience dealing with the partner switches to a "kid in a messy divorce".

Top 5 Girls Group Routine

Here's the Top 5 Girls group routine choreographed by Mia Michaels.

Uploaded by kelxk3l

News Update

Students of Twitch and Katee obviously love their teachers. MyFox LA has video.




LA Times talks to Tony Wigens, head of touring for 19 Entertainment, about the SYTYCD season 4 tour:

According to Wigens, the idea of an "American Idol" tour was intuitive from the get-go, but planning a "Dance" tour took more consideration. "It was very much a leap in the dark as well as a leap of faith," recalled Wigens, who is far more accustomed to planning musical concerts than dance shows. The "leap of faith" paid off in the tour's first year, 2006. "I think the thing sold out in a matter of hours," he said.

After seeing the tickets snatched up, Wigens assumed that the stadiums would be full of teenagers. Instead, the tour drew fans of all ages. "We were expecting it to be a really young audience, but it really is not," he said. "There's not one specific demographic that we're playing to." First and foremost, Wigens hopes the tour will inspire attendance from people who never would have come to a dance performance otherwise.

As for what fans can expect from the tour, Wigens says the live show includes memorable performances from the TV show, interspersed with video footage, among other things. "It's very different," he said. "It's a very, very exciting show."

More...





Lisa Halpern at Film.com recruits new viewers to our favorite dance show.





I didn't know that Mia Michaels is 5'11", or that she had broken up with her boyfriend in April. I'm not gonna say it, but given her ornery disposition lately, you know what we're all thinking. Find out more, at The Hub.





Project Runway begins it's 5th season tonight at 10pm 9 and 11PM ET. Along with So You Think You Can Dance, it makes for a great night of TV. If you watch PR, you'll want to follow along with our friends at Blogging Project Runway. And don't forget about the brand spanking new Blogging America's Best Dance Crew.





Our friend and Australian correspondent Reality Raver is home with her new baby boy, her second child. Stop by Reality Ravings and wish her and the baby well.

SYTYCD Update

JigTV interviews Brian Friedman. He has TV projects in the works and gives some music recommendations.



Besides Will Wingfield, does Mia Michaels have anything nice to say about anybody lately? The Star-Telegram asked her about Joshua Allen:

"I'm going to say, because I got to work
with him a couple weeks ago, he's not that trained," Michaels said in response to a question about whether Allen has hidden his talent from other genres. "He's not that trained. He's a good faker. He's had some training, but not extensive. No. He's pretty raw."

More... Alert! The article contains one dance spoiler for this week.


Here, she's asked about why there are so many Utahns on dance TV:

"Because they have no social life," says So You Think You Can Dance judge and choreographer Mia Michaels. It's the Mormon thing: No sex, drugs, drinking. So dancing becomes a great outlet."

More...




Michael Jensen at AfterElton cornered Nigel on his issues with gay men and effeminate male dancers:

AE: Why don’t you like the effeminate [dancers]?

NL: Because they need to be very strong. Dancing is role-playing most of the time. And you need to be strong and lift girls. You need to look stronger than the girl you’re dancing with. You control the dance, especially in ballroom. So if you mince about the stage, you’re not doing what the choreographer is asking you to do. He’s asking you to be strong. If your choreographer then wants to do an effeminate routine, then that’s fine, but most of the time we don’t do effeminate routines so straight or gay doesn’t come into it for me.

More...

SYTYCD News Update

Mia Michaels Has been heavily criticized lately for comments many deem harsh. Brill Bundy at From Inside The Box gives her a chance to tell her side of the story:

"What America doesn't know is the relationship," she explains at the TCA Summer Press Tour, saying that what she brings to the judging table is a choreographer's perspective. "There's a beautiful, beautiful collaboration and very nurturing [atmosphere]. For me especially, I nurture them. I'm Mamma Mia and they look to me for that tough love actually.

"So, when I say it, American might go, 'Oh my God, that's so harsh.'

"[The dancers] are cool with it. They know. They know I only want them to be brilliant."

More...



EW.com gets the lowdown on those IV REAL t-shirts. Turns out it's just an inside joke.



So You Think You Can Dance's Mark Kanemura went to the same Honolulu high school as Fanny Pack's (America's Best Dance Crew) Cara Horibe.



Thayne Jasperson is wasting no time self pity. He has a teaching gig this week.



ALERT! Comment thread contains a choreographer/dance spoiler for this week.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Mia Michaels examines reality in her new column at movmnt magazine.



SF Chronicle dance critic Rachel Howard knows her world dance:

Bollywood style, however, suits Joshua’s hip-hop skills surprisingly well. Those jumps into deep knee-splayed bends, by the way, derive mostly from the South Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam (as does the custom of wearing bells on the ankles). Neither Katee nor Joshua pull off the knee-turns (not fast enough), and Nigel tosses in facile “It’s a Small World” political statements, but the style is a terrific addition to the show, and Katee and Joshua do an admirable job in it.

More at Voice of Dance...



Smug Doug noticed something I had missed:

Notice that they are no longer calling the solos "Dancing for Your Life?" The term has apparently been dropped with no anouncement or fanfare. The judges just refer to them as "solos" and note that they need to impress.

More...



Wisebread.com is giving away tickets to this season's tour.





So You Think You Can Dance Australia's Henry Byalikov is taking his ballroom moves to Dancing With The Stars Australia after the current Aussie tour. Here's his African Samba, with Vanessa Sew Hoy, from the Gold Coast Convention Center.

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Will Sings?

Sara found this one. There's some sort of French-Canadian folk activity that I don't really understand going on for the first few minutes, then Will Wingfield shows up at the 5:00 mark. He's pretty good, too. For the Grassy Knollers out there, the show was choreographed by Mia Michaels.

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Mia Michaels Behind The Scenes

Mia Michaels on her top 16 group routine. Imagine if she had paid attention in math class! Thanks to Blanky for the tip.

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SYTYCD News Roundup UPDATED

Episode 2 of iVan, Ivan Koumaev's season 4 video blog, is up at movmnt magazine.



I apologize for a mistake in the sidebar poll. It should read Kourtni L & Matt - Foxtrot. Polls can't be changed once the voting has started, so it can't be corrected.



Jason Hughes at TVSquad on Mia Michaels as a judge:

I think I prefer Michaels choreographing than judging. She focuses almost too much on her own interpretations of the emotions in the pieces rather than what the dancers had to bring. I think she's insane and brilliant in choreography, but maybe a bit too "out there" for really constructive criticism.

More...



LA Times Entertainment blog goes backstage:

Dan Karaty warned me that things would be different this week. We spoke backstage after last Thursday’s elimination, and Dan expressed concern that he’d been too soft on the top 20 performers. From here on out, he warned, the judges were going to give it to them straight.

More...

This is my opinion, but I disagree. They're not giving it to us straight. They clearly have in mind who they want left at the end, and who they want off as soon as possible. I think it's unconscionable to go find all these talented, hardworking people, bring them to LA, and then not give them a level playing field. While we're at it, they might as well bring Debbie Allen back. What, she could hype Will Wingfield any harder than Nigel, Mary, and Mia did last night? Not with her clothes on, she couldn't (I don't know what that means either, but you get the point).



ChileKat at TVFan doesn't like the emotional manipulation:

Last year, we had the Dead Daddy Dance. This year we get Dances with Disabled Daughters. (Please save your outrage. I already know I'm going to hell. Luckily, I like the heat) Stop the madness, Show. Stop with the sob stories that make critique of the actual dancing almost irrelevant.

More...

SYTYCD News Roundup

The Buffalo News previews So You Think You Can Dance season 4, adding value by talking to Mia Michaels and Cat Deeley.


The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review compares Cat's and Nigel Lythgoe's journey to SYTYCD.



Beckylooo recalls one of her favorite routines from past seasons.

More Plagiarism? (Video)

From a Russian show which, I believe, translates as Dance With Me. Fans of the US So You Think You Can Dance will instantly recognize both pieces.



If Mia and Shane didn't each get a check from the Russian producers, they've been ripped off.

Thanks to Loralyn for spotting these.

CORRECTION: It's Bulgarian, not Russian. My apologies, and thanks to a reader for spurring me to dig a little deeper.

Report From Pulse

Our friend Angelica attended the PULSE Dance tour in Minneapolis this weekend and had some face time with a few of our favorite choreographers.

Hey everyone! I went to the Pulse convention today and the faculty that attended was, Laurie Ann Gibson, Dave Scott, Brian Friedman, Chris Judd and Mia Michaels! (Sadly Shane Sparks and Wade Robson were not at my stop) Anyways I went to watch the faculty Q and A and also the awards ceremony! The faculty Q and A was awesome! I got some good pictures of it and the faculty was so open and warm to everyone there. Dave and Brian were goofing off the whole time dancing and cracking jokes. They asked the faculty their most embarrassing moments and Mia said...

CLICK TO CONTINUE READING
hers was when she was teaching once and she was wearing shorts. She went down to a plie and her shorts went to her ankles. She said she was wearing a cheetah g string! LOL Brian said his most embarrassing moment was when he was doing a battement and he farted on stage LOL Dave and Chris were so funny because as Brian would lift his leg they would make the noises to go along with it. The only question that was asked about SYTYCD was when they asked Brian what his favorite routines were for season 3. Right when they question was asked he said “old news” (You could tell he did not want to talk about the show.) But he did answer and said Lauren and Danny’s contemporary, Mia’s flower piece and Mandy’s Sweet Dream piece. The faculty Q and A lasted about 20 minutes!

When they had the scholarship ceremony the faculty was so warm and inviting with the kids. They would always have them sit on their laps and give them big hugs. One of the cutest parts was when a teacher brought a baby on stage and Mia and Brian were holding it and talking to it forever! The faculty was awesome and seemed so happy to be there!

Now on to my favorite part……After everything Brian, Mia, Dave and Chris stayed on the stage to sign autographs and take pictures! I got a picture and got to talk with all of them! The first one I got to meet and talk to was Brian. He was such a sweetheart and talk about a cutie! After our picture I told him that my mother and I loved the Danny and Lauren contemporary piece as well. He smiled and said it was amazing. Then I moved on to Mia which by the way she is an INSPIRATION. In the faculty Q and A she was describing her goals in life and just gave an amazing speech... she is wonderful! After our picture I just told her how much I look up to her and how beautiful her movement is. Next I met Dave Scott! (A little background about my love for Dave…I love Stomp the Yard which he choreographed, as well as You Got Served and the soon to be Step Up 2!!!) After our picture I told him how I could not wait to see Step Up 2 and I wanted to see it the day it comes out. He told me to go to the matinee showing LOL I told him I did not have a date so no obligations on Valentines Day. I told him how I am obsessed with Stomp the Yard and he said thank you about 5 times and looked truly happy. He is just adorable! The last person I met (again) was Chris Judd. After our picture I told him I met him when he was touring with Company Dance about 8 years ago. He was laughing at how long ago that was and I told him we met then too!

So that was my experience guys! If you would like to see any of the pictures feel free to add me either on Facebook or Myspace...my full name is Angelica Agents

Great report. Thanks Angelica!

SYTYCD News Roundup

Cat Deeley will host Lifetime's The Big Match, some sort of dating/reality/game show.

SOURCE



Shimmy Online interviews Benji Schwimmer.

LINK



Here's an early review of Step Up 2 The Streets, which includes the choreography of Dave Scott. The good news is: there's plenty of dancing.

LINK





This sounds like overkill to me, but what do I know? A year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller includes:

"Thrillercast," a groundbreaking 40-episode podcast event, launches on February 12th and will be updated weekly throughout 2008. The series features icons of music, screen and culture including hip-hop legend Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, superstars Nick Cannon and Chris Brown, choreographers Shane Sparks and Mia Michaels from the hit show "So You Think You Can Dance," and dozens of other special guests. Each episode takes us behind the scenes into their lives to explore their own personal experiences with Thriller and its influence on them, both personally and professionally. "Thrillercast" will be available for free through iTunes, Zune, and all major podcast providers, as well as directly through www.michaeljackson.com.

SOURCE



Blogger Daneolicious danced as an extra in the filming of American Mall, the MTV film featuring our own Neil Haskell.

LINK



Our friend Yessy Gomez is sponsoring the "Just Showin' Off" Showcase, an event in Grand Rapids, Mi. to benefit "dancers in attending the auditions for "So you think you can dance" because they are not coming to Chicago this year!" It's Sunday at 6:30 at the Spectrum Theater.

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The Canadian Press interviews Randy Jackson about America's Best Dance Crew, which premieres tomorrow night on MTV. He talks a bit about dance from a musician's perspective:

"Listen, I've been doing music my whole life and every up-tempo song I've ever made, you often wonder how people are going to dance to it," the 46-year-old musician told The Associated Press.

"You go to clubs, you try and find out how they're moving to it. Is the beat fast enough? Dance is like the right hand of music. There couldn't be any dance without music, right? And vice versa," he said at a studio off Sunset Boulevard where the show was taping recent auditions.

MORE

SYTYCD News Roundup

Does Nigel Lythgoe have a dance skeleton in his closet? It would seem so.

LINK


Blogger Evie took a master class from Mia Michaels at Broadway Dance Center and writes about it:

Mia brought up some really great concepts during the master class. During the warm-up, she had us move in two different ways: "Bony," which seemed to be like moving from your joints and very rapid and free, and "Muscle-y," which seemed to be like using resistance in your muscles. She also talked about how taking dance class is an opportunity to get inside of the person teaching or choreographing. Mia said that the class was an opportunity for us to explore her and to experiment with moving in new ways. Mia also talked about how dancing is about making smart choices with your body and the movements you make - she said that making smart choices is especially important with improv and matching your improv movement style to the tone of the piece.

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Shimmy had pretty much the same reaction to the misnamed Dance War as I did:

The vocals, aside from maybe 3 people, are horrendous. The dancing... wow. It's not even that the contestants were weak but the choreography is weak too.

MORE

A New Day Reminder

We told you on the 6th about Celine Dion's A New Day...One Night Only, being broadcast to 200 theaters around the US tonight. It's a rare opportunity to see Mia Michaels' choreography on a large scale.

Mia attended the final performance of A New Day, Saturday evening in Las Vegas. We found 2 stories about the show.

LINK to Yahoo review and videos.

LINK to New York Times story.

It looks like I won't be able to make it. If anyone goes, please let us know how it was. Here again is the list of theaters.

A New Day...One Night Only

Here's a rare opportunity to see Mia Michaels' choreography without traveling to Las Vegas. Celine Dion's record breaking Caesar's Palace show A New Day... will be broadcast to 200 movie theaters around the U.S. One Night Only™ on December 17th at 7:30 p.m.

LINK to more info.
LINK to list of theaters.

This is a TV capture from A New Day... and not from One Night Only™. I'm sure the quality will be much higher.

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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SYTYCD News Roundup

The Cincinnati Enquirer previews the tour date tonight by talking to Danny and Sabra. I noticed at least 3 errors in the article. I hope we can at least trust the direct quotes, this one from Danny about Travis:

"We've been rivals since we were kids. We used to dance around the house and score each other all the time. But we help each other out. I'm the technical one, he's the creative one, so we make a really good team that can fill in each others blanks. That's good for both of us."

LINK



Jaimie Goodwin is sick and apologizes for not participating in meeting the fans lately. She posted the following to her Myspace blog:

I'm sickkk...BBOOOO

Hey everyone, im really sorry i havent been able to come out after the show and meet everyone. Ive been really sick and now im on antibiotics. I wanna come out so bad and say hi, its honestly my favorite part. I'm fighting to get back up and out there. soooo hopefully ill see you soon!

Sending hugs,
Jaimie

The rest of the Mia Michaels interview we mentioned here has been published in Curve Magazine, which hits newsstands today. Here's a portion, as reprinted in a blog post at this Mia Michaels fan page:

The dance you choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance about meeting your father in heaven was very powerful and incredibly personal.

It was personal. When we were in rehearsal, I couldn't ... to this day I can't even get into it about my dad because it's such a touchy thing for me and so emotional. We had an amazing relationship, so when I was in rehearsal I couldn't even talk about it. I would write notes to the dancers about what I wanted them to do because I didn't want to be that vulnerable on camera.

Was it hard to put so much of yourself out there?

I wasn't really thinking about it. I was just thinking about the idea of meeting my dad in heaven and how cool it would be. My dad was a smoker and died of lung cancer. I had been a smoker since I was 14. The day of rehearsal I had just come in from having a smoke and it hit me ... why am I creating a dance about meeting my dad in heaven? It freaked me out because I was thinking, I don't want to meet him right now. I want to live my life. I quit smoking that day.

LJ Blogger theseekwill reports from the Toronto show:

Kam was just totally cool and a nice guy. Shauna was so grateful when I told her how much I loved "Dancing" this time around. She seemed really insecure about doing Dancing well and when I told her she met the bar and raised it, she looked as if she was going to cry. SHE IS ONLY 18! That is so crazy. She is so elegant and graceful and poised.

Then, oh Lordy, Jesus. He is SO, SO warm. Like, an amazing person. At first I just shook his hand and said something along the lines of "I just wanted to tell you that you are such an amazing performer and it's so encouraging to see that on television now a days. It's so rare." And he just pulled me into this big hug and was all "Thank you so, so much! That means so much to hear!"

LINK



Our own Bryan Gaynor, aka Chibi, will teach a popping workshop at the Swing And Soul Weekend in Atlanta, Dec 7, 8, and 9.

LINK



By a margin of 160 to 4, readers of BSYTYCD rejected Nigel Lythgoe's recent suggestion of combining the So You Think You Can Dance tour with that of American Idol. I hope if anyone out there has Nigel's ear, they would please pass along the results.