Leee's San Jose Review

I was looking forward to this. Our friend Leee at T!YBE tore himself away from writing outstanding Project Runway reviews long enough to share his unique perspective on the show in San Jose. He got into the meet-n-greet and met his fave, Sara!

LINK

Reno Report

Over at our tour coverage partner Ducky Does TV, reader James files a report from the finale in Reno last night:

The dancers goofed off through the entire show, it was a riot. During the solo routines, some of the other dancers would come running out on the stage and dance or take pictures with their own cameras. During Pasha’s solo, Dominic came out shirtless and danced with Pasha, but instead of the giant cape that Pasha used, Dominic had something like a red napkin that he was waving around. It was cute. Shortly after the Angel/Devil routine (my all-time favorite), Neil & Lauren were introducing another song. They did their bit about Dimitri, Neil unzipped his shirt (sigh…), but so did Lauren! She was wearing a t-shirt underneath that said “I’m with stupid!” Neil gave her a hard time about it, but as they were leaving the stage, we all saw that on the back of her t-shirt it said “Who’s the devil now?”

In addition, James ran into Neil and Sabra at the airport.

LINK

Final Show in Reno

It must have been like the last day of school. The girls at SYTYCDA had a correspondent at the final show in Reno last night. They're reporting that there were several changes to the performance, most notably, the inclusion of Let The Drummer Kick, aka the Neil & Lauren goggle dance. It had not appeared at any previous point of the tour.

Several solos were interrupted by other dancers. During Shauna's solo, several others came onstage and tried to do her signature spinning leg lift. Hok was on stage during Dominic and Sabra's romantic Make It Work routine. Sharp-eyed reader Kendall found this photo via a TWOP thread.

We'll post more as we find it.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Eve at Seattle Mom Blogs attended the show in Everett and posted a great review:

As we neared the Events Center we could here the music starting. It seemed to trigger a very emotional reaction in both of us because we began to scream. We screamed at the security check point. We screamed at the ticket takers. We screamed as we ran through the almost empty halls, our voices echoing off the walls. And we screamed more loudly as we ran up the stairs and caught the first glimpse of the dancers. We couldn’t help it. We were frozen, we could move no further than the top of the stairs. I couldn’t look at my sister, not that I could see straight, tears were pouring from my eyes. I didn’t care. The arena was full of other screaming devout fans and my sobs blended in with the masses.

It was a beautiful, emotional moment that I will treasure.

MORE



Becca at Details To Follow reports on the show in Portland, Or.:

It was amazing! One of the best shows I have ever seen. The skill level of the dancers, despite their young age was incredible. I feel like I have seen some amazing dancers before, but these ones were ridiculously good, especially the guys. It was interesting because my favorites changed a little while watching the concert. During the show I was definitely a fan of Sabra (who won the competition), but at the concert I was more a fan of Danny and Neil.

MORE



Chloe at What If Cows Can Fly compares some dance videos from different seasons and sees some similarities.

LINK


Not to brag, but this little blog that started in May received its 500,000th hit earlier today. It's just a coincidence that it happened on the final day of the tour, but it is a real testament to the growing popularity of quality dance around the world. Thanks to all our readers.

Show Review From Everett, Wa.

Our friend Melissa in Seattle attended the show in Everett on Wednesday night. Being a former dancer and a dance teacher adds to her perspective in this excellent show review. Thanks Melissa!

I attended the Everett stop of the 2007 So You Think You Can Dance tour. I was impressed with the quality of the dancers’ performances especially since this was the second to last stop on their cross country extravaganza. Lacey was replaced by Shauna in most of the group numbers which I enjoyed since Shauna was my favorite girl in the Top 20. Lacey and Danny were spot on during their “Hip Hip Chin Chin” duet but “Dancing” with Kameron had to be watered down to accommodate Lacey’s knee injury. She had her knee taped up which only those close to the stage could see.

_{Photos courtesy of Melissa}

As a retired dancer myself it was a joy to see the true love and appreciation the audience showered upon the performers. Neil was the teen girl crowd favorite with his every appearance onstage greeted with shrieks and cries. Danny Tidwell was as amazing as I’d hoped in person and watching the ridiculous center and precision of his turns and the gravity-defying height of his leaps were a privilege to see live.

Like fine wine that improves with age, a few of the dances were even better and more impressive than on the show like the Shane Sparks’ “Transformer” hip-hop with Pasha and Lauren and Danny and Neil’s “Two Princes” number choreographed by Mia Michaels. Pasha and Anya’s cha-cha/samba was white hot and a special treat for the audience. My personal favorites were the “Lioness hunt” and “The Moment I said it” group routines which were so powerful to watch live without all the camera angles.

Noteworthy solo performances of the evening were Danny Tidwell, Kameron Bink and Shauna Noland who I was pleased to see given a solo despite not being a Top Ten dancer. Overall it was an incredible evening of dance and entertainment; I got more than my money’s worth and will most definitely be attending the 2008 tour!

Two Princes, from Everett, Wa.

Tour Reviews

MellieMel, a reader of our tour coverage partner, Duckie Does TV, has written a review of the tour date in LA.

LINK


LJ Blogger caroleanfruge has a lengthy post of her experiences delivering hand turkeys and flonkerton to the dancers after the show in Houston. There are a few interesting read-between-the-lines moments in her meet-n-greet report. Flonkerton? You'll have to read her blog...

LINK

SF Chronicle Shows Love For SYTYCD

The San Francisco Chronicle's Dance Correspondent, Rachel Howard, attended Friday's show in Oakland. She has a few reservations and critiques, but overall, thinks So You Think You Can Dance is a positive influence:

If "SYTYCD" is becoming part of our default national arts education, frankly, we could do worse. It's often criticized for cliched, commercial choreography, and on Friday you could see why. However heartfelt Mia Michaels' flower dance in memory of her father may be, it's sentimental mush (her dueling-princes showdown for top two male finalists Danny and Neil, though, is brilliant), and the imagination behind something like Wade Robson's swamp-creatures group number hardly stands up to the simultaneous wit and emotional complexity of a master like Mark Morris.

But a lot of the dance-making here is fantastic by any standard, especially the ballroom (Danny and Lacey Schwimmer smoking through that samba) and the hip-hop (Sabra and Dominic building heat in Sparks' strangely touching chair duet). And a lot of what the audience loves best tilts toward artistic ambitions, like Hok Konishi and Jaimie Goodwin in Robson's hummingbird dance, resurrected Friday.

MORE

Tour Reviews

_{Courtesy of Kiches}
Reader Kiches posted a lengthy review of the Oakland show, and the meet-n-greet afterward, to IDF forums.

LINK to show review.
LINK to meet-n-greet review.


Blogger Gura talks about 2 of my favorite things: food and So You Think You Can Dance.

Friday we slept in. Made some duck noodle soup from the leftover duck. In the evening we went to the "So You Think You Can Dance?" tour in Oakland. It was a relatively small crowd, so parking was easy. Along with the top 10 they brought along 4 of the other top favorites: Shawna, Hok, Jesus, and Anya. Danny is just simply mesmerizing and Pasha is quite hot, especially when he did his cape solo. The girls screamed for Neil and he played to them by showing off his body. We finally got to see a hip hop routine by the three hip hop dancers: Hok, Sara, and Dominic. Dominic was from Sacramento so he was enjoying performing in front of his home crowd and had several comedic interludes as part of hosting the show.

MORE

Review From Indianapolis

Susanna Foxworthy at Butler University's Dawgnet reviews the show in Indianapolis:

For some reason, to be a top male dancer on this show, you must also be extremely good-looking and have an amazing body that you show off at every opportunity. I posed no arguments to this and thoroughly enjoyed a night of original dances ranging from hip-hop to tango to classical.

On the surface, this tour is designed to be a shock to the senses, an explosion of original movement and color. But underneath, it also has the genius of talented choreographers who have come together to design truly beautiful dances.

MORE

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.

Another Report From Chicago

Thanks to Lady B for this outstanding review from Chicago.

So here's my report on the Chicago show. This was my first time seeing SYTYCD live, and I had to admit to myself, I was super excited. Last year, I had thought the idea of the tour was silly. I had never been the type to go ga-ga over celebrities. And to go ga-ga over teenage celebrities from a reality TV show seemed unbecoming for a professional woman in her thirties... Well, then this year, I considered it, but I still wavered and didn't buy a ticket. And then the tour started and all the reports started coming. Sigh. I couldn't help myself. My desire to see the show overcame my better judgement, and so I spent an inordinate amount of money to get front center, tenth row. It was at that point that I resigned to the fact that I am truly obsessed and no different from the screaming teenagers.

Anyway, the show was great. Even my boyfriend, who is not at all obsessed with the show, thoroughly enjoyed it, which is saying a lot. My favorite dance was the "Swamp" routine, which is a group routine by Wade Robson, I think - the one with the netting on top of them. I was particularly struck by Kameron, who has an amazing speaking talent. Who knew? He was more comfortable and self-assured speaking on stage than any of the others. He even sat down on the front of the stage and talked to the audience as if we were in an intimate setting. So cool. Other than that, I agree with others that Lauren was great on the big stage, though she was not my favorite in the competition. Pasha was...

CLICK TO CONTINUE READING

...even more impressive to me live than on TV. Danny was just as amazing as on TV. And I was so happy to see Jesus again. They were all fantastic, really.

And now we come to the crux of my obsession. For weeks before the Chicago show, I had been checking daily to figure out what the heck was happening with Lacey's knee. She didn't tell us enough on her myspace page, and it was driving me crazy. Didn’t she know we needed more details??? ;) I don’t even use myspace, yet I was compulsively reading anything anyone said about her knee to her, in case someone seemed to have the inside scoop. Yes, Lacey has become my favorite, even though I didn’t even vote for her that often during the competition (figured she had enough votes anyway). I belong to the same religion as her family, and I'm also a swing dancer (Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing, not West Coast, but hey, close enough ;) ). So that combined with my already being impressed with Benji last season has made me pretty much fascinated with the whole family and anxiously awaiting the chance to see Lacey on stage and possibly even meet her. If I was really honest with myself, at least 75% of the reason I bought those tickets was for Lacey. Lame as it sounds, it’s true.

Well 6 days before the Chicago show, she announces that she’s back on tour, and I’m exuberant for like a day, only to later hear that she’s not actually dancing much and didn’t dance at all in Cleveland. Oh crap! And again, no mention from Lacey as to what’s happening. Well, thankfully, the night before the Chicago show, she began dancing the Samba with Danny again, which I was a lot more interested in seeing than the Time dance with Neil, so my spirits began to rise. She was as good as ever, and I couldn’t tell at all that she had an injury. She’s not even wearing a brace. Though I love Shauna, I did really miss Lacey in the Dancing number with Kameron - I thought Shauna lacked the emotion that Lacey had. I was also sad not to see Lacey in the group numbers, but then I was pleasantly surprised to see her in the last one at the end of the show to You Can’t Stop the Beat. I may have been imagining it, but it kinda looked to me like whenever Kameron lifted her and put her back down, he was extra careful to make sure she had her balance before letting go of her.

Well, the show ended, and I spent at least 10 minutes trying to decide if I should purchase pictures for the dancers to sign if I got the chance. I had passed up the $20 "program" - which is just a booklet with the dancers’ pictures in it, along with their stats. I figured I could see their pictures online whenever I wanted, so why spend $20? Well, it wasn’t until after I’d stood in the autograph line that I understood - you buy the $20 program, and then you’ve got a page for each of them to sign. Well, I was wondering what the heck I would have them sign and how I’d know which dancers I’d have the opportunity to meet. Each picture cost $5, so eventually I just bought Lacey’s picture, wondering how I’d explain to Sabra that I loved her too if I had her sign the back of Lacey’s picture! Advice to anyone planning on going to the tour and getting autographs: bring your own stuff to sign - much cheaper, plus the picture I bought of Lacey wasn’t even that great compared to other ones I’ve seen online - and it already had a copy of her signature on it.

Outside, we spotted the buses pretty quickly, so we wandered up to them and joined a crowd of people all spread out in a line behind a gate that separated us from the area directly in front of the two buses. From the stories I had read, I had imagined that I would have to pick like one or two dancers and then try and fight the screaming girls to actually get to talk to them. I wondered if I’d chicken out, since I’m not a very aggressive person. Plus there’s the whole "I’m self-conscious about acting like a giddy teenager obsessed with reality TV kids" thing. And what would I even say?? Well, it didn’t work like that at all. My boyfriend figured out where they’d be coming from, so he positioned us to be in what he thought would be the "front" of the line. We waited forever, and then finally one by one (sometimes two) the dancers came walking up the path, escorted by security, up to where we were. They came sporadically, with long gaps of time between them. My boyfriend was right that we got to see them first, so that was cool that we could scream for them before the rest of the crowd, but Anya, the first one to come, walked straight down the line to the other end and began signing autographs. So that meant we were really at the end of the line. Ha! But it was really quite civilized - the way they had it, we all got the chance to meet every one of them as they came down the line. Well, every one of the dancers that actually came out (see below!).

The next few dancers also went to the other end, so we thought we’d have to wait forever for anyof them to make it to us, but then Kameron came and instantly assessed the situation and started instead on our end! Yay Kameron! As I said before, I was most impressed with how comfortable he seemed with himself and with the crowd - so much more so than he seemed on TV. Well I got a picture with him, and then Jesus came and he also started on our end. After I got his picture, I found myself blurting out, "I was so sad when you were kicked off the show!" He looked me in the eye and said thank you and actually looked genuinely grateful. Well that was it, Jesus had gotten me over my nerves, and I began to feel more and more like a teenager. I figured pictures were better than autographs, so rather than ask for both and take up too much time, I mostly just got pictures. But wow! I had no idea that would be so easy. Asking for autographs first does give you more of a chance to talk to them while they’re signing though. The way I did it, I had to slip in a comment as we pulled away from each other after the picture. But I managed to do that for Shauna, who I also told how sad I’d been when she was kicked off (I really was), and she also seemed genuinely thankful. Shauna was much more relaxed and personable than on TV as well.

Well it was sort of surreal actually being that close to all these people who the night before I’d only seen on TV and online videos. One great moment was when Sara came and joined Shauna a few places away from me in line. I heard them asking some people if they ever use youtube and they began describing their video they made. Right away I knew they must be talking about the video that was just posted, so I yelled "I’ve seen it!" (thanks to bsytycd!). The girl next to me had seen it too, and Shauna and Sara were so excited, saying, "they’ve seen it, they’ve seen it!" They seemed very proud of it - apparently they stayed up 'till 6 am editing it.

Well, I had met and taken pictures with all but a few of the dancers outside with us, when I overheard one of the men in charge telling some people that neither Lacey, Danny, Dominic, nor Jaimie were coming out at all because, "they’re all sick", "they’re all on medication". I could only partially hear him telling them about Lacey’s injury and how they sent her home and how she’s been back about a week and only dancing some of the dances. He wasn’t close enough, or I would have grilled him about Lacey’s knee and asked if they were hoping she’d dance more in the future. Darn! I had a hard time understanding why Lacey’s knee injury would make her unable to walk up and down our line behind a rail signing autographs if she could dance 3 numbers in the show. Besides, she had done so the last several evenings, judging by the pictures and comments on her myspace. So I was left wondering if she, Danny, and Jaimie might be all coming down with Dominic’s illness and whether the 40 degree (plus wind chill) weather might have played a factor.

So there was no watching them get in the buses. The whole thing was so well orchestrated. When they’d finished signing and picture-taking, they’d be escorted back, and presumably they got transported to their hotel some more clandestine way. Sigh. No Lacey. Ah well, that way I get to forget that she’s a spazzy teenager who I probably can’t relate to. Later that night, (like 2:30 am), I noticed Lacey had just changed her myspace page to indicate that she was cuddling with Hok. Hmmph. Sick, indeed! ;)

SYTYCD Chicago Review

Big thanks to BSYTYCD reader Shanat for sharing her observations of the tour date in Chicago last night:

General Thoughts: The show was like an infomercial for SYTYCD. I felt as though the producers were preaching to the choir. Patrons bought tickets because they were already huge fans of the show…there was no need to “sell” us on it. My husband and I felt like a good 45 minutes were wasted on clips, and some of the clips were even duplicated. Waste of time! The script reading corny. Some dancers were more natural at hosting then others…particularly Lacey, Sabra, and Pasha. Danny seemed a little nervous…I really didn’t read arrogance into his personality at all. Sara/Dominic hosted a lot of the show but seemed too scripted. The dances were exactly like they were performed on the show, give or take a few details. I wish they would have added more to each piece. All in all, we wanted to see more dance, less talk.


Performances: It was great to see the dances live, and our seats were close enough so we could see the intricacy of the movements. However, you could definitely tell that fatigue was a factor for the dancers. Some dancers looked sluggish or just didn’t look as technically sound as they did on the show. Neil was a great example of this. Lots of his motions looked unfinished. We were really impressed with Sabra, who made it look so easy, and of course, Danny, who looked like...

CLICK TO CONTINUE READING

...the consummate professional. His movements were very fluid and very controlled. I wonder if he is dancing a bit safe because of his back injury, though. Danny and Anya did their foxtrot and their Viennese Waltz. Lacey returned to the stage, dancing the Samba with Danny and the DDD with Neil.


Standouts: The breaking routine with Hok, Sara, and Dominic kicked ass. It was high energy, and it really allowed Dominic to show off his skills. They performed the Lion King group routine right before intermission…a very joyous dance. The Imogene Heap group dance was also fantastic. It was my favorite group dance on the show and it looked great in person. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Danny. The hummingbird dance was phenomenal, and the boardroom routine with Sabra and Neil was a crowd favorite. The Good/Evil routine with Neil and Lauren was perfect in person. The theatrics were right on point, and when Lauren is not all giggly she is a great performer.



Snoozers: Pasha and Sabra did the quickstep. Danny and Jaimie did the jive. Sabra and Neil did the Paso Doble, and while not my favorite, it did look much better in person.


Alternates: Shauna, Jesus, and Anya were all there and performed. Shauna did The Wiz with Kameron, and she took Lacey’s place in the “Dancing” Mia routine. Shauna definitely brought the technique to it that Lacey lacked…but I actually preferred Lacey’s version. I think Lacey’s style went with the emotion of the piece better. Anya and Pasha did a Latin routine. Jesus did the Vagabond routine with Sara.


Solos: All top ten did a solo, complete with footage of their interviews from the show. Neil showed off his acrobatic skills. The crowd didn’t want Danny’s solo to end.

Jaimie has great technique and is much underrated.

Shanat

Lacey Returns

Lacey Schwimmer returns to the tour after taking time to recover from her knee injury. Reports indicate that she is performing in the Mia Michaels Time routine with Neil Haskell, and her Samba with Danny Tidwell. Here's the Time routine in Toronto.


Our friend Carissa (Momma2Mingbu) reports from the Indianapolis show last night:

Unfortunately Dominic was sick tonight so we didn't get to see him dance at all. Shauna is still replacing Lacey in the "Dancing" number with Kam. She did a great job filling in, but of course it was a little disappointing to not get to see Lacey dance it. (She did do "Hip Hip Chin Chin" with Danny. Yum. Sexiest number of the whole year. I wish they would have done the Pasha/Lacey manequin routine.) I'll give the camera guys props for doing a really great job (better than the TV show camera work!) and having enough sense to let us see their feet on the video screen on things like Pasha and Sabra's quick step. Seeing Pasha and Anya dance together was a real treat. The transition from the Matrix piece into Pasha and Lauren's hip-hop was a nice choice. Mia's piece about her dad is so much more moving in person. I loved the way they added the group in at the beginning to strew the flowers around the stage. I wish they could have danced it that way before. The two princes piece with Neil and Danny was fabulous with lots of tension and energy. Pasha, Neil, Danny and Sara all have wonderful stage presence.

MORE

More From Toronto

Murtz Jaffer reviews the show in Toronto last night:

After the top 10 were introduced, the standout performer of the night, Dominic Sandoval grabbed the microphone and said "Toronto" repeatedly which predictably brought louder cheers everytime. He had a great line when he 'almost' thanked everyone for their votes (considering Canada cannot vote for any of the dancers).

MORE



Our friend Rebecca was there and says the show was phenomenal. She was particularly impressed with Danny and Sara. Rebecca tells us about an interview the top 4 did with MuchMusicTV, Canada's answer to MTV. Unfortunately, it's blocked outside the country so only our Canadian readers can view the video. They blame the lawyers.

Pics LINK here, for everybody.
Video LINK here, for Canadians only.

SYTYCD In Cleveland, Toronto

Vance at Tapeworthy tells us about the tour's sold-out appearance in Toronto:

The good news is that So You Think You Can Dance is doing really well, the bad news means, they know how to milk it and thus, put So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour into a much larger venue this year in Toronto. 5 times larger. The Air Canada Centre "Theatre" arrangement wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but then again, I was in the 100's and not the 300's (though still, my pictures weren't great. Sorry for the blur. More below though). Still, a venue that holds 10000 people instead of 2000 makes it a lot more grand and rock concert-like but much less intimate and I needed some sweet alone time with Neil, Sabra and Pasha so this was no good. The extra 9999 people watching kinda made it awkward. I like to watch. I don't like being watched.

MORE


Go to x_idolfanatic_x's Live Journal blog for HQ videos from the Halloween show in Cleveland, including another view of the Hairspray/Thriller routine.

LINK

SYTYCD Tour Coverage

_{Courtesy of} kissed_upon_the_eyes

Thanks to Flickr artist kissed_upon_the_eyes for use of the photo above. Check her page for many more from the Atlanta show.


Live Journal Blogger noisywallflower went to the Halloween performance last night in Cleveland.

So they’re doing their encore of You Can’t Stop The Beat in their Halloween costumes and the music sllllooooows down and slows down and their dancing slows with the music and then BAM! THRILLER! YES! They did the Thriller dance! It was the best thing ever. And Dominic was trying to get candy from the audience.

MORE


Tonight's Toronto show sold out in a matter of hours. TheStar.com previews and talks to Danny Tidwell:

You'd think that for someone who has performed at Lincoln Center, dancing for a TV competition would be a come-down, but Tidwell says he has gathered a lot of new skills over the last year. "I've learned a lot about partnering. Ballroom is a great way to learn where a woman's weight is."

It's hard when you first start out, he says, "to find your own personality on stage."

But, he thinks being on So You Think You Can Dance, with all the grilling that goes on to show what the dancers are like as people, helps a dancer develop a stage persona.

MORE

SYTYCD Tour Coverage

_{Courtesy of} Aliza

Thanks to Aliza for the use of the above photo from the East Rutherford show. There's plenty more great photos at her album.


We're getting reports that Lacey Schwimmer is returning to the the tour and may even be performing tonight in Columbus, Oh.


Our Myspace bud Angelica went to the Minneapolis show Sunday night. Here's her report:

The show was AMAZING... yes the stage was high but I could see pretty well even in the front row. The only thing I hated was they got mad if we stood up! About the dances... the one that stood out to me was the Prince dance w/ Danny and Neil! Of course Danny is my absolute favorite but they both rocked that! The Time piece touched me very much and I enjoyed Jamie in it. Lauren stood out to me the whole night.. that girl was rocking it! The show was very scripted but cute at the same time. Dom talked a lot and cracked his crazy jokes. There was one point where some guy screamed, I LOVE YOU NEIL! when he was on stage alone and Neil was just cracking up as well as everyone else!

The only dance that did not do anything to me was the Wiz dance with Kameron and Shauna... I don't believe they had chemistry and Shauna was not doing it as well as she did w/ Jimmy!

On to the meet and greet... it was in a press room and not many people in there at all... probably only 25-30!! You can imagine me FREAKING out before the dancers came in! They came in one or a few at a time and it was up to us to go up to them. Here goes...

I met Jesus first and he was the sweetest guy! My mom and I told him how much we liked him and how sad we were when he got kicked off! He was very gracious and adorable!

Anya-She is beautiful but SO small! I thought she would be taller than she was! We were talking about how terrible the lighting was in the room and I told her I loved her and Danny and they were my favorite couple

Danny...after the jump

CLICK TO CONTINUE READING


Danny...YES THIS WAS THE BEST MOMENT! He walked in looking really shy so I ran right up to him and said Hi and he smiled really big and gave me a hug.. I almost died!! Then my mom took 2 pictures of us cause I am obsessed. LOL. He said hi to my mom and I told him how many fans he has, how beautiful he is and how I send him a card to his mothers studio. He was so gracious and so attentive and looked me in the eye the whole time I talked.. which was a long time! He then needed somewhere to put his coat and me being strange said I would hold it and he started laughing really hard!

Pasha-My mom asked him if he still talked to Jessi and he seemed VERY uncomfortable with this question and said no. I asked him what she was up to and he said he has no idea. He was very quite to me.

Lauren-This girl was AWESOME! We talked about a lot and I told her she had so much energy tonight and she really stood out and she laughed and said she was trying to sleep in between numbers. What a pretty girl too!

Sara-I talked to her the longest. She asked me all these questions about myself, how long I danced for etc and was so sweet. I felt the most comfortable with her and she really is generous. She told me the girls did not get to shower yet and she thought she stunk LOL

Kameron and Sabra-I talked to them together and Kameron was the first one that asked my name. Talk about a HOTTIE in person by the way! He was very very kind. Sabra was hilarious too. I asked her if she had a cold because she keep sniffling and she told me it was just allergies and Kameron said no it's because she picks her nose all the time! Well when he said that my mom and them were taking a picture and Sabra meant to pinch Kameron but she pinched my mom so hard! It was so funny and Sabra kept apologizing and saying she should give my mom something LOL

Neil-He was standing alone with a friend of Doms and Doms friend said they needed some ladies over there so Neil acknowledged me and asked if I wanted a picture! I took a picture with him and yes, I asked him to do the wookie and he did it out of the corner of his mouth.. so funny!

The others in the room, Dom, Hok, Jamie and Shauna I did not get to meet:( Alot of the time they were talking to Dimitri's parents who were there or friends. It was hard to get to them so I tried outside but still did not! Outside was SO packed so I am so happy I got the exclusive meet and greet!

I have a TON of pictures on my facebook just search for me... Angelica Agents I have two albums full and many from the meet and greet!

Report From Atlanta

Our friend and frequent commenter Lily Mac went to the tour date in Atlanta and has been kind enough to send this report:

The first thing that struck me was just how diverse the crowd was! Young and old. White, Black, Asian and Latino. All excited about dance. It was amazing.


Now to the dancing. A-maz-ing! I've got two words for you: Danny Tidwell. The guy is flawless. There was not a single misstep. His extensions are beautiful. His center is ridiculous. His every movement is elegant. I'm not exaggerating. Just perfection. He danced 'girlfriend' with Jaimie in for Lacey and it was fun. He did the beautiful Viennese waltz with Anya ('You and I and all of the people') and you just fell in love. He did Dmitri's Latin number with Anya in for Lacey and it was spectacular (though he wasn't wearing ballroom shoes...odd). The princes number with Neil had the crowd screaming. And his solo was 'Fear you won't fall' and it was beautiful (though I was sad he didn't do 'We are the champions'). Danny was far and away the star of this show.



Coming in a strong second was Neil. The crowd loved him. His disco number with Sara (love the powder blue suit) was terrific. He was really charming during his 'mic duties.' His solo was good. And Mandy Moore's boardroom ball with Sabra was terrific. And Mia's reunion number danced with Jaimie in for Lacey had many of us in tears. So beautiful.



Everybody loved Dominic. Mostly when he was on the mic making us laugh. He is just such a likable guy. His solo was un-be-lievable. I'm not even a fan of breaking, but it was spectacular.



Sabra was terrific, of course. But it did seem that the crowd was there to see Danny and Neil first. She is a beautiful dancer, but didn't capture the crowd the way the gentlemen did. Here 'Mr. Pinstripe Suit' routine with Pasha was a standout.



Jaimie and Hok's hummingbird and the flower routine was beautiful and a crowd favorite as was the vagabond routine with Sara and Jesus and Sara and Pasha's Benji-choreographed swing number. The skeletons routine with Pasha and Laura was also a big hit.



Lauren jumped into Lacey's shoes for the Tyce Diorio top 4 routine and was terrific. Lauren was also fabulous, as always, in the angel and devil routine with Neil, which the crowd loved.



Other observations:

· Sara should rethink her style. She is much stronger at everything else than at breaking

· Kameron was a great emcee. Lots of potential there... lots of stage presence

· Would have loved to see more of Hok and Jesus

· Great to see Jamie, Anya and Shauna featured... they were terrific

· Lacey was missed, but her stand-ins were flawless

· Pasha and Anya (who partner each other in competition) did a strong Latin routine, but the choreography was that exciting

· Felt badly for Kameron... Lacey's absence meant less dancing for him



On a funny note... Just after the show started, a group came in late to my row. Guess who was among them? Brandon Norris (aka the clogger). At the intermission, people were asking for his autograph and getting their pictures taken with him. It was a hoot.

Also, there was a lot of local pride for Bryan Gaynor, the bowler-hat wearing dancer with scoliosis who appeared in many clips on the video screen.



That's the report from Gwinnett. I hope everyone gets a chance to see the tour. It is a wonderful show.



Final thought: I'd pay money to watch Danny walk down the street. His movement is simply remarkable.

SYTYCD News Roundup

Your weekend will belong to Benji, Travis, Donyelle, Heidi, Ivan, Allison, Ryan and the rest. MTV has a season 2 marathon scheduled beginning Friday night. We'll have an open discussion thread, so stop by and share your observations. Thanks to Loralyn for the tip.

LINK to Friday's schedule
LINK to Saturday's schedule.
LINK to Sunday's schedule.


The Daily Press has 3 mini-reviews from Tuesday night's show in Hampton, Va. Here's one:

Although my favorite dancer, Lacey Schwimmer, couldn't dance because of a knee injury, I thoroughly enjoyed the energy of the show and the enthusiastic crowd. Ballroom dancer Anya Garnis and contemporary dancer Shawna Noland did a good job of filling in for Lacey during some of my favorite dances -- the samba with local Danny Tidwell, who dominated the stage with his presence throughout the show, and a moving contemporary piece with Kameron Bink. I watched the show all season and it was interesting to see how the emotion of the choreography played to a live audience -- at times the solos seemed lacking, but during the group numbers the show came alive. -- Nicole Paitsel, Daily Press

MORE



Stephen Boss, aka tWitch, was the last cut in this season's Las Vegas audition round. Here's an excerpt from Amy Weaver's story about tWitch's return home to teach hiphop dance:

Boss’ outfit - a black cap tilted sideways, a green Superman T-shirt, long red and black basketball shorts hanging low, bright yellow tube socks, and green Nike hightops - said he came to dance hip-hop and nothing else. No tutus today. With or without the persona, the intensity he has for teaching his style radiated from him for 90 straight minutes.

His musical choice, a number written by Robson, rattled the floor boards, but so did one stomp of his foot. Students were captivated by every move he made.

It was carefree but precise, commanding but rebellious, arrogant but confident. Miss a beat, miss a lot, so try to keep up.

MORE

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.

LINK




_{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.

LINK