Dance life

Tonight I went to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.  The Rockettes were spectacular, but the show itself was a bit of a disappointment for a teenager.  I was expecting the see an extravagant dance show with sparkly costumes, happy Christmas songs, and lots of kicking lines, but the show was too kid-oriented.  I’m a kid at heart and I enjoy smiley cheesy characters but this show was a little too young for me, it was geared at kids who believe in Santa. 

I was excited to get the see the famous Rockettes perform, and in the back of my mind I always felt that if I really committed myself to dancing I could have been a Rockette too, basically because Cameron dance is recognized of its kicking lines.  The opening number was exactly what I’d expected.  They were dressed as beautiful sexy reindeer.  They performed a sharp and very esthetically pleasing jazz routine, equipped with the infamous kicking line.  I was shocked at how simple the movements actually were.  Everything they did was simple yet well executed so the effect was amazing, I felt my eyes glazing over trying to look at everything at once.  The costumes were amazing and the props were incredible.  I would love to be in such a professional looking dance.  It was the only time I saw a group of girls in buns look truly beautiful.

When I focused on the dance I was captivated, but I the show itself made me feel a bit sad.  We had bought seats in the Club section of the Bell Centre, but our tickets were updated to the red section close to the stage because they hadn’t sold many tickets.  The audience was empty, and almost an entire section seemed empty.  I felt horrible for the performers because this must have seemed like a pathetic show for them. Poor Santa who came out during the reindeer dance was trying to pump up the crowd, but he seemed to realize there weren’t enough people to cheer loudly.

Between the dances there was a story. Two brothers, one who didn’t believe in Santa, needed a Christmas gift for their sister.  It was cute, but the best part about the whole acting portion of the show was the poor security guard sitting against the stage.  Every time Santa made it snow or used his magic to cause a shower of sparkles and confetti it showered down on the security guard who was covered in a layer of fake snow by the end of the scene.  There was also a group of six singers between dances who looked and sounded like the kids from glee.

The best dance the Rockettes performed was as tin soldiers.  The dance was almost entirely focused on visual effect and most of the routine seemed to just be controlled walking and kicking lines, but with 18 girls in long white pants it looked fantastic. Asides from their basic kicking line dances there were others, like tap and ballet on pointe, that made me realize my random fantasies of ever joining the Rockettes were over.  I realized that the dances weren’t simple, they made them look simple.  They had one routine about Christmas in New York City where the dancers were kicking outside the windows of a tour bus as it moved around the stage.  I was pretty amazed.  They also had a routine as rag dolls and they used blocks that spelled out Merry Christmas, even though I’d seen that bit in the commercial I’m still a sucker for spelling out words in dances, I think it’s really clever.  They had an interpretation of the Nutcracker with big (slightly creepy) animals. The dancers wore huge suits, the kind a mascot would wear, and one of the bear heads could even blink its eyes…it was a little weird.  They made up for it with their Santa dance.  In this one they were wearing Santa suits with stuffing, no sexy Mrs.Claus outfits, and they did an amazing group routine that was once again very sharp and precise.

The show ended with their rendition of the nativity scene, which looked great, but in my opinion wasn’t the best way to end a dance spectacular filled with glitz and glamour.  When everyone came out to bow I was shocked, the whole show was less than an hour and a half.  I was sad to see it end, but I couldn’t help but think that next Friday’s much less expensive 10$ ticket to New Moon would leave me more satisfied. 

I knew Tara Jean would win, I think it was pretty obvious considering the judges comments last week that echoed the ones Jeanine got before she won last season’s American SYTYCD.  I was so sure she’d win I was thinking of starting her tribute blog early and I began mentally thinking of which videos to post and what to say.  As soon as Tara Jean’s name was announced I forgot all that and I was just pissed.  

I wanted Jayme Rae to win, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen because the judges said the same things to my favorite from SYTYCD’s American show last season, Kayla. The judges agreed that not only was Jayme Rae the best girl in the competition, but that she was technically the best dancer of the entire show.  It’s because of compliments like that that assured me Jayme Rae wouldn’t win.  The best dancers never win, it’s always the people with the best personality that take the title.  Examples of annoying people who beat better dancers because of their personality: Evan (third) who beat Kayla (fourth), Benji (winner) who beat Travis (runner up) and now Tara Jean and Jayme Rae.

The judges said that Tara Jean “peaked at the right time” and that she was “the underdog,” which were the same exact things Jeanine heard before she was crowned the winner.  

I knew Tara Jean would win, and I didn’t want to get my hopes up for Jayme Rae, but the one thing I wanted, and the thing I think should have happened, was to have both girls in the top two, something that has never happened in SYTYCD history. Jayme would have gotten runner up and won a car, Tara Jean would have gotten the stupid title, and everything would have been acceptable.  Of course Vincent has to creep up there and steal second place leaving poor Jayme Rae with nothing.  

I know Jayme Rae will come back and choreograph like only the best contestants do because she has too much talent to just disappear from the limelight.  She was the best contestant on the show, the only reason Tara Jean beat her was because she didn’t show her personality enough.  Every episode Tara Jean was smiley and happy and laughing and saying funny things that the audience loved.  She was never in the bottom, ever, and I’d just like to know where all her fans are from, cause they’re not here in Montreal.  

I’ll admit that she’s had some good dances, the tap number and the piece where she was insane were really good, and even though I’m not her biggest fan I’ll admit that she is a good dancer and that she rightfully earned her title.  It’s a contest and she knew had to appeal to her audience. Here are her two best pieces, in my opinion, but posting them is just reminding me that she won and upsetting me more. Gah!

Congrats Tara Jean but Jayme Rae you’re my favorite dancer at least!  

My neck is stiff, my back is hurting, my legs are sore, and my feet feel swollen.  That’s right; I just got back from the weekend dance convention, Coastal Dance Rage with some of the most popular former dancers and choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance. 

Our first class was with Nico, Canada’s first SYTYCD winner, and he taught us contemporary jazz.  In all honesty I remember liking him and enjoying his dance, but I can’t remember much about his class because it was at eight in the morning and we’ve learned almost ten dances since then.  I loved Nico, and voted for him all the time last season, but he never had the same friendly and lovable personality some of the other dancers/choreographers had so he’s easy to forget sometimes. 

Blake is unforgettable on the other hand.  His dance, and the song we danced to, keep replaying in my mind.  He has an in your face attitude, and he can come off a bit strong sometimes, but if your keep trying, you’ll get it.  Blake walked into the room, got on stage and started teaching.  Even though it was fast, and hard to keep up with, in the end his dance was our favorite.  As soon as the song came on, I took the night by Chelley, we all just got it.  

Bobby Newberry, our next choreographer, has a very similar style, only his choreography was a lot more intricate.  After struggling for a while most of us managed to get the gist of it, and it ended up being a really fun class as soon as we stopped thinking bout the details and just had fun.

Shannon, Blake’s sister, was our contemporary teacher, and she likes to throw her head around a lot.  The entire ballroom seemed to be in pain the day after her intense head rolling choreography, but asides from the pain it was a really great piece.  I loved doing it, even though I knew I looked like an idiot it just felt nice to throw myself around and be emotional because it’s something I don’t do a lot.  

Twitch, runner up in season four’s SYTYCD was the best teacher of the weekend, and I’m so happy to see that his personality is just as personable and genuine as it appeared on TV.  He went really slowly with us, and broke each movement down, so we could get his hip hop routine even if (like me) we weren’t very gangster. 

Benji on the other hand…the winner of season two’s American SYTYCD, was my least favorite teacher.  He had great personality on the show, and even though I didn’t like him and was upset he won, I respect his dancing and I knew he won because of his great personality. He has a great personality, and every time he wasn’t teaching he was funny, and nice, and charming, but as soon as he started teaching he was harsh and aggressive and too fast, especially since the style he was teaching was completely unfamiliar to all of us.

Francisco, an amazing ballet dancer, taught us ballet the second day.  I feel a little bad for him because people don’t want to be doing ballet in a convention, but he’s an unbelievable dancer and I’ll never forget his tour jete. 

Asides from the celebrity teachers we had a few famous assistants in a few of our class, including Cody and Taylor, two of the dancers from this season’s Canadian version of SYTYCD who’d been eliminated.  There was also Melanie M who’d been eliminated just last week from the show assisting too, but she never assisted any of our classes. 

Even though I’m in a lot of pain the weekend was unbelievably fun and it’s worth the stiff neck.   

What is dancing? When you’re a dancer you sometimes forget.  For everyone else in the world dancing is when they let loose and shake it.  For me it was dancing along to ‘Hey Mickey’ at the end credits of ‘Bring It On.’ If you ask a dancer what dancing is it’s a sport, a passion, but it’s choreographed moves, pointed toes, tight abs, flat backs, turn out, and jumps and turns.  Dance becomes technique for a dancer. What dance really is, what I sometimes forget, is that dance is freedom.  It’s closing your eyes and not thinking about what you look like for a second and just moving.  I feel fit, I feel beautiful, and I feel happy and all it takes is a few seconds and a good song.  That’s what dance is.

Jamye Rae is my favorite dancer on the show and this week she made it into the top six!  Next week the final four are chosen and I hope everyone votes for her so she makes it in because she deserves it!

I’ve already posted a blog about Jamye Rae and her partner Daniel’s afro jazz dance, but here are two more of her great dances.

The first video is her and Daniel’s Dance Hall.  I loved this routine because it really showed of her hip hop side, and she looked freakin’ good.  I love the grinding halfway through the dance and dutty winds they did right after, but my favorite part is the pelvic thrust at the end!

This next video is the second routine from last Tuesday’s episode.  Jamye Rae and Everett’s routine was Jazz Funk choreographed by Nico Archambault and Wynn Holmes, and it was the best routine of the night.  In this routine Jamye Rae played a sexy bad ass chick and Everett was the nerdy guy falling for her.   The music in the dance is amazing.  It got me into the routine and went perfectly with the dance.  Everett and Jayme Rae play their characters well, and they both just make me smile. I love the thumb bite, it reminds me of Nico’s lip bite from season one. The dance is so good, I love watching it every time!

So the Black Eyed Peas song ‘I Got a Feelin’ may not be the best, and at times it’s pretty annoying, but I have to admit that it’s generating a bunch of cool videos.

The first one I heard about through the Gazette. A french school, Comm-UQAM or something, put together a video to the Black Eyed Peas song.  It took a lot of preparation, but the cool thing about it is that everything came together perfectly and they shot it in one take.  The camera man walks through the school taping people lip sync to the song and act out the lyrics.  Everything is perfectly on time and really cool, so check it out!

The next video is known as ‘The Famous Oprah Video.’  This one has the Black Eyed Peas on stage performing their song to a huge audience in Chicago.  This video also took a lot of preperation because as the band sang the audience danced along perfectly in sync with each other and the song.  It starts off with one girl dancing alone at the front of the audience while everyone else stood still, gradually as the song goes on more people start to join her until the entire audience is participating.  The best part of this video is when all the audience members ducked down creating a really cool domino effect.  I was blown away, like Oprah, and I’m sure you will be too:

So even though the song may be annoying and always stuck in your head (especially after you watch these videos…haha is it stuck in yours?)  the videos are great and well put together!

This weekend my friends and I went to Toronto to see SYTYCDC being filmed and it was so surreal! It all started with Michelle, my dance lurking best friend, who went on the site and registered to see the show.  Hearing the news that we’d been invited to see the top twelve filming show seemed like a distance dream, but I knew we’d make it happen.  After the six hour drive to Toronto we arrived at our hotel exhausted.  The next day we before I had time to process everything we were in a taxi on our way to the filming studio.  We shuffle through the halls lined with SYTYCD posters until we get to the waiting room, full of teenage girls like us. 

While we’re standing around listening to the employee Josh explain all the rules we were asked to move to the opposite side of the room.  Confused but obviously willing to comply, we move to the side of a Joe Fresh stage.  Without much explanation we’re dancing front row in the Joe Fresh station with dozens of other girls for the show.  After that exhilarating yet slightly embarrassing experience we’re ushered outside to wait in the hallway.  In the hall Josh, the off stage MC, was picking out girls to get their place in the audience first.  He walked right by us after saying he wanted energetic girls, so naturally I had to scream in his face to show I was pumped.  Turns out he didn’t like that much, so he walked by us numerous times picking out girls all around us.  Finally, after our smiles faded, our whole line was led into the audience mosh pit.  Turns out Josh was choosing girls to be on the balcony, and we got to stand exactly where we wanted – first row in front of the judges. 

I enjoyed every second of being there, while the cameras were rolling and while Josh was keeping us entertained during the breaks.  We were in our places almost an hour before the show was due to start, so we were entertained by a cute little eight year old named Harper who was hip hop dancing on stage for us.  While the audience was filing into their seats I noticed a few girls in Christmas suits.  The Rockettes were there and during one of the breaks they showed Josh a few kicks!  The audience was sprinkled with dance celebrities, from former SYTYCDC contestants, including Vincent from last year, to choreographers. 

Before the show even started we were filming our screams.  These cheers would be the shots used to show the posters for each couple because we couldn’t hold any posters during the show.  The stage manager told us to cheer as if we’d just watched a dance and we filmed it over and over - once for each couple and a few more times with different lighting.  There was so much fake cheering going on that I was coughing and fake screaming for a large part.  I thought I’d lost my voice, but when the dancers walked on stage I forgot all about it and screamed even louder. 

When the show finally started I was going crazy.  We needed to make an aisle in the mosh pit for the judges to walk through, and I was at the edge of that aisle meaning I was inches away from the judges as they passed.  Tray actually double high-fived me as she passed and Jean Marc grabbed my hand, along with most of the other girls in the front row.  It was such a fun show, and everything was happening so fast.  No double takes, if they make a mistake they make a mistake, it felt very real and I loved that.  At the first commercial break Leah (the host) walked to the edge of the stage and looked right at me and said she has the same dress I was wearing.  I was in shock, I barely understood what she was saying and it was even harder to reply.  Leah looked beautiful and she was such a sweet heart all night. 

The whole experience was surreal, there’s no other word to describe how I feel about it, but it was something I’ll never forget!

I have encountered a slight problem with the way I decided to write about each SYTYCDC episode… I was hoping to write blogs on the best dances of each show and include the video of the dance being performed.  The problem is the videos don’t go up on YouTube for a while, and I end up writing about a good dance weeks after it’s been performed.  So it seems odd writing about episode two after episode three is long gone and the fourth one is coming up, but I blame Youtube. Well at least the video of Vincent and Amy dancing Blake’s contemporary went up eventually…here it is:

It’s very creepy, but I love it cause it’s well danced and well ‘acted’. In the opening video Vincent seemed as if he couldn’t be that dark and menacing character, but he really pulled it off during the dance; at times he even looked possessed (like around the 2:59 point.)  Every detail of the dance was well executed, from the smallest finger move that opened the dance to every jerky movement Amy does while she’s being constrained by Vincent. It wasn’t just creepy it was emotional too, and typical Jen Marc seemed to be on the verge of tears when it was time for him to comment on the dance. 

I loved this dance, and I love Vincent even more – he’s so SYTYCDC in my opinion.  The French accent, the name, the adorable ballroom dancing, and the cute personality.  Vincent is one of my favorite dancers, and I hope he goes far, I hate seeing this couple in the bottom, two out of three weeks isn’t very good, so they better pick it up!!!

My mom sent this video to me in an email and it was hard to believe what I was watching.  This is what the email said:

Recently, in a televised modern dance competition in China - a very unique couple won one of the top prizes and received the longest standing ovation.

She was a dancer, who had trained since she was a child.  Tragically, she lost her entire left arm in an accident and fell into a state of depression; so she decided to coach a children’s dancing group.  From that point on, she realized she could not forget dancing. She still loved to dance and wanted to dance again. She tried to do some of her former routines but without her arm she had difficulty maintaining balance. She practiced strenuously and developed a dance routine - always dancing alone in her studio.

He was not a dancer. He lost a leg in an accident and he had fallen into a deep state of depression. They met - and her goal immediately became to help him become positive about life again. She taught him to dance and in her studio they danced together and developed a routine as their lives and friendship became closer.

Their life together, behind the closed doors of the dance studio - was one creativity, challenge, determination, practice and sometimes failure. Their focus was on doing what others said would be impossible. Several times it became so difficult and frustrating for them that they gave up, broke up. But life alone, without each other, brought them back together again and they became even more determined to perfect a dance routine to a point where they might try to dance outside the studio to see what friends and family thought about what they were doing all that time inside the studio.

Their friends and family were so supportive they encouraged the couple to enter a dance competition, which they finally agreed to do. Only later did they realize the competition was to be televised locally. We will now see the first - and to date only televised performance of their dance…

It took a lot of courage for these two to perform, but what amazes me is the strength they each have while performing the dance.  They male dancer is unimaginably strong and he not only holds himself up with perfect posture but he lifts his partner better than some able-bodied dancers can.

Good for them!

Last week on SYTYCDC, the first week of the top twenty, there was one dance that stood out to me – Jayme Rae and Daniel’s Afro Jazz.

Jayme Rae was my favorite female dancer going into the competition, and I was so excited when the judges said her dance (with Daniel) was the best one of the night.  The dance was different, ethnic, creepy, and really fun to watch.  The music was perfect and the lighting added to the intensity of the piece.  The movements were sharp and strong the whole way through including some great leaps and flips, but the best part was their wall work at the beginning especially when she walked on the wall. The couple was in sync and very compatible, I see good things coming from them in the future, and I hope Jayme’s success on the show continues.    Here’s week one’s best dance:

I said I would only blog about the best dances, but I just have to mention some other great dances: Cody and Mel M. are the cutest couple ever!  They’re the two tiny, skinny dancers but I love them both.  I liked their contemporary dance because it showcased their connection – they really relied on one another and established a strong trust early in the show.  I thought Natalie and Danny’s hip hop was fun to watch also.  I couldn’t keep my eyes off the krumper, I’m happy she’s on the show.  Tatiana and Austin did a Capoeira routine that had some mind blowing tricks and stunts and Tatiana shouldn’t have gone home!  And lastly Mel B and Taylor’s tango was bloody and sexy, it was a bit shaky, but I could tell they were trying hard, it’s too bad Taylor left!