Tonight's
So You Think You Can Dance was an exhibition to show off each dancer's individual and collective talents. Although the judges may be pretending not to judge, I am not and I have some predictions for you! Ladies and gentlemen, each dancer has such grounding, if not mastery, in their respective genres, the winner will be the dancer with the greatest level of versatility, showmanship, star quality and the timing of great camera angles to become America's Favorite Dancer.
The opening number began with Wade and Amanda Robson's superb, hip choreography to The Revels' "Comanche," set in a smoky, bar cafe with "turf wars" to boot. It was fantastic, with each group mostly composed of the various genres showcased this season. Nathan Trasoras opened the scene with sharp movements, popping isolations and a committed character face.
The women's movements included lots of thrusting, loose wrists and sharp twists. Pauline Matta, Ellenore Scott, Ashleigh Di Lello, Ariana Debose and Channing Cooke stood out for me. In fact, I found Channing to be far more in character and giving attitudinal face and flair in the opener than she did performing in her own genre. Ellenore looked slightly uncomfortable in her heels at one point but there were no obvious weak links in this performance.
Indeed, when the trumpets blared another octave and Jakob Karr, Billy Bell, Kevin Hunte, Russell Ferguson and Legacy Perez swept downstage, hands-on-crotch, with sharp isolations, wobbly jazz legs and double pop-snaps, it put me in the mind of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." This makes sense, of course, since Wade Robson sharpened his skills, performing on stages with the man who lived in Neverland! We love you, Michael, R.I.P.!
So You Think You Can Dance continued by focusing on each genre, so Russell, Legacy and Kevin then showcased hip hop. Sidebar, random question: Why does Legacy get to go by his nickname and no one else does? It was good to see Legacy excited to learn the choreography and, I must say, all three gentlemen performed exceptionally well. Certainly, Tabitha and Napoleon D'uomo played to all of their strengths, so it was genius to have Legacy open the performance in a spotlighted, mid-backspin, to "Beggin'," a District 78 remix by Madcon. All three danced on beat with fancy footwork that showcased the difficulty of performing excellent hip hop dance; but as Legacy explained, it is also about "power moves", so the audience screamed in ecstasy as Russell leapt offstage over his partners' backs and started krumping. It was "nasty!" "sick!" "wonderful!"
Tyce D'Orio's choreography to K.D. Lang's "Crying" was stellar, moving and exceptional (can you tell I like adjectives?). As he explained, "the best dancers are the best actors", which is why Ariana and Nathan completely stood out for me in this performance. Channing and Jakob were also exciting to watch, especially the manner in which Jakob effortless threw his body into mid-air turns. The throws, catches, leaps, floor rolls and leg lifts were simply outstanding. But in terms of energy, acting and commitment to "the story", I think Ariana outshone them all, which was quite a feat, with Nathan and his superior pirouettes at center stage.
The newest edition of tap was very well showcased by Bianca Revels, Phillip Attmore and Peter Sabasino with choreography by another newcomer, Derick K. Grant. Their costumes were classy, stylish and befitting their "dizzy feet" (wink) and casually flowing arms. As Derick explained, tap is "like a good kung fu movie, it's action-packed", thus, audience members greatly appreciated the added floor mics that allowed us to actually hear the intricate polyrhythms that accompanied Ella Fitzgerald's "Take the A Train;" and be inspired by Bianca's second position split leap and back flip.
Look people, their shuffle-ball-changes and Charleston steps were flawless; but the fact is, as Nigel explained, "smooth ... can be a bit boring and tap will be tough to compete." He's right. My advice is to make all of the tap showcases outstanding and try not to ever fall into the bottom three because a tap solo, by virtue of its nature, will not win in a head-to-head competition with any other genre on this show. I also tap dance and offer my deepest apologies as I write this; but be sure to make an excellent showcase for yourself while you have the spotlight in front of millions!
Adam Shankman related that jazz dance is "rooted in character and extroverted". That certainly explains Sonya Tayeh's personality and her approach to choreographing to "On a Cloud" by PPP. She wanted the sexiness that confidence displays by giving Mollee Gray, Pauline Mata and Ellenore Scott lots of floor rolls, open splits, leg extensions, front kicks and plenty of jazz hands. I admit to being less excited by this choreography and the costuming; but given what they had, I felt Ellenore connected more with the audience, Pauline was close behind her and Mollee, while not dancing like a teeny-bopper, did not demonstrate a real connection. In addition, I think I witnessed an awkward combination and near-fall into a movement when she did a quick solo upstage.
Mandy Moore's contemporary piece on Billy Bell, Noelle Marsh, Victor Smalley and Kathryn McCormick was quite uplifting to "Vida La Vida" by Coldplay. Noelle had an excellent left kick and layout, while Victor had some of the most flawless spotting and crisp pirouettes I have ever seen. His leaps were unmatched as well. Kathryn's energy captured me the most in this piece; and she had some great lines, turns and lifts, even if she got caught in Billy's mid-section in a forward turn. The power and strength in their movement was well-displayed when they danced in a row, with synchronized leg lifts and rolls.
Did you see Ryan almost kiss Karen when they were in a pose just before the break? He is a true showman but held back---but he should not have. I am already tired of the "that's my husband, better watch it!" routine. It's boring and uninspiring. This is a show. And if Jeanine could kiss Jason simply because it's what her character required, then Ryan is going to have to commit dance adultery on this show! I mean, if that is, indeed, a concept or principle . . . Anyway! the last, Latin showcase of the samba was choreographed by Jason Gilkison, starring Ryan, Ashleigh and Karen. Their swift footwork and lines were beautiful and, when synchronized, audience members could see just how much power, control and stamina one has to have to do the Samba. We could have picked them up and planted them squarely in Brazil!
But between Karen and Ashleigh, Karen was the winner tonight, for me. I will not go Mary's route and say "there is something animalistic" about Karen. No, it is that Karen brings passion, character, commitment and flair to her technical dancing, whereas Ashleigh has the technique and the character. Now, judges (i.e. Mary!), please stop objectifying our male ballroom dancer! Really, the man can dance! It's not his fault he is good looking, too!
Thus far, the persons I am 100% convinced came on
So You Think You Can Dance to win it are Nathan, Ariana, Kathryn, Ellenore, Russell, Jakob, Karen and Ryan. The others are fabulous and they want it. But these dancers above BRING IT and they are coming hard. Get ready everybody!
Stay tuned and keep dancing!
--Dr. Goddess, BuddyTV Fan Columnist (Image Courtesy of FOX) Dr. Goddess is a performing artist, dancer, choreographer, poet and scholar whose been dancing since seven years old, loves the art of dance and has been following So You Think You Can Dance since season one! In many other places in the world, she's known as Kimberly C. Ellis.