Friday, May 25, 2012

Silent

I have been consciously radio silent for a bit here. I'm working through some things and feeling a bit frustrated. Do you ever have that feeling of such confusion and irritation and just plain fed up-ness that you're afraid if you try to say anything you'll just start screaming and yelling? Well, that's kind of how I've been feeling lately. If you don't know that feeling, you can just call me crazy lady and be done with it. And I deeply envy you, because I would love to spend some time in a world I don't find deeply infuriating sometimes. Also, I've been super busy at work and my computer at home is old and almost completely useless (and will be replaced in the next month or two, huzzah!). Anywhoozle, I am breaking my silence right now to let you know I'm still here.

Also, I had a little ray of joy and peace last night in getting to sit and watch So You Think You Can Dance. I just love this show. I am not shy about sharing my complete disdain for most reality programming, especially American Idol and the like. I won't deny that SYTYCD of course falls prey to some of the trappings of these shows because it is a reality competition on a major network and therefore has to lure viewers with stories and weird auditions and whatnot. BUT, overall it maintains a purity (to me) that the others do not. This show is completely and all about talent. It's about creating beauty in the world. I think because it is a dance competition and not a singing competition, it doesn't have the same money pit to fall into. By that, I mean that yes, singing competitions are looking for talent, but ultimately it is going to benefit not just the winner(s), but also the companies involved with these shows because the winner sells music. I know it doesn't always work out that well, but you can't deny that these franchises are making quite the profit here. And yes, SYTYCD probably makes some money from their tours just like American Idol, but after that it seems to benefit the dancers on the show more than anything.

This is all my own opinion, obviously, and I don't know all the inner workings, but this is one of the things I love about the show. That and getting to see some incredible dancers. INCREDIBLE. (And choreographers, but we're not there yet - we're in auditions right now.) I wasn't shy on the Twitter last night about what I liked. You can visit my feed by clicking the link on the left to see what I had to say, if you're interested. Here's a link to the recap on TWoP if you want a bit more detail. I'm just going to post some videos of my favorites here to share with you all.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
My absolute favorite! Admittedly, I am a sucker for the ballet dancers. But I love his movement, the way it's not strictly ballet here, the musicality, how he moved with the music. Oh man. I had chills.

Hampton Williams
 This is why I love this show. This is not something I get to see every day (or ever, really). The promos made this seem creepy as hell, and his explanation of his style was kind of weird. But his dancing blew me away. Not just his style and ability, but the intense channeling of emotion was incredible. I was a blubbering mess on the couch by the time he was done. I honestly don't know how he'll do in this competition, but I hope he does well in Vegas because I would really love to see more from him.

Daniel Baker
Yes, another ballet dancer. He was awesome. And I really like that he wants to stretch beyond ballet and that's why he came on the show. I hope he does well in Vegas, because I think he has the potential to be great. And those leaps!

Sadly, no ballroom in this set of auditions, but maybe next week. I hope.
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And how about a few all time favorites for fun?

Lauren Froderman
I wish I could get a better version of this video, but it's not coming up on the video search. Whatever. This was Lauren's second time doing the cha cha, and I think her ballroom routines are a PRIME example of why she totally deserved her win in Season 7. When contemporary dancers try to do ballroom it frequently turns out not great, sometimes downright awful and/or not recognizable as the dance it is supposed to be. This is so not that. I hope she comes back again as an All Star at some point this season.

 Courtney and Mark - The Garden
Two of my favorite dancers and possibly my absolute favorite routine, period. I love Sonja's choreography. Just awesome.

Twitch and Alex
I have to include this performance. I love almost anything Twitch is in because he is awesome. But this was so impressive to see from Alex, a ballet dancer who before this was having trouble breaking out of his patterns and loosening up. And so sad because right after this performance, in rehearsals for the following week, he injured himself quite badly and had to leave the competition.

Pasha and Anya
 I can't not include these two. Both are absolutely phenomenal. I love seeing them back on the show, whether as choreographers or All Stars. This video is their audition for Season 3. I'm linking here to when they got to perform this same piece as All Stars in Season 7, which doesn't seem to be available for me to embed. :( Anyway, the only real differences are the outfits and Anya's hair color (and they get to do the whole number in Season 7). Every time I watch them I have to keep reminding myself that this is not sped up - they are actually moving that fast. Wow.

OK, one more and then I'm done. Promise. I know this got long. I just get so wrapped up. I love dance and there are so many wonderful dancers and routines that have been on the show. I'm going to end with...
Kent and Neil
I think anyone who has been hurt by someone can appreciate this piece. Plus, it's danced beautifully and Travis is a brilliant choreographer.

I'm going to stop there. If you stuck with me all the way through, thanks! I hope you enjoyed at least some of it. I like sharing the things that move me and inspire me. So, yeah. Anyway, have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone! xoxo

1 comment:

  1. I am glad you broke your silence! As a great somebody once said, "it's like break-fast". And breakfast is important, especially when it involves frosting or syrup or powdered sugar. Mmm, cinnamon rolls and waffles... Anyway, I like what you have to say!

    ReplyDelete

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