OK. I know I'm probably going to be one of many people posting about this, but after watching last nights show today I just have to say something. I was so excited when "So you think you can dance?" came on the first, second, and third seasons. I thought, "Finally a show that shows real dancers and real dancing." This season has really started to bug me. These are the reasons why aside from the obvious Mary Murphy and her screams.
1. Why are there so many hip hoppers and hip hop routines on the show? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a good hip hop routine and I KNOW how hard it is, but there are other genres that totally get overlooked. Being a person that was in ballet for 20 years, I feel like they are overlooking the toughest of all the dance genres. The ballet dancers are always the first to go.
2. Everyone's bad technique is being overlooked time and time again by the judges. Courtney never turns out her legs in her pirouettes and don't get me started on Comfort. What is the worst of all is the so called Russian routine the guys did last night. I have seen real russian dancing and that wasn't even close to as good. Plus their costumes were actually Ukrainian not Russian. I don't feel like any of the dancers are very technically trained as they were in past years. The ones that were left the show early.
3. Why is this new style of dance so frantic. I feel like the dancers never slow down for us to feel anything about their movements. It's all too fast.
4. Ok this is the last one. Why do all the dances have to have a story. Can't we just enjoy the dance movements and appreciate the beauty of the movements. The dancers have to be actors too. To me the purpose of dance is an expression of a person and what they are feeling. When you have to be so overt and explain a story that goes with the movements, it really takes away the art of expression. After watching Alvin Ailey on the show you can really contrast what real dancers should be doing and what they do on the show. They were amazing!
None of this really matters now because it's over, but I feel better.
Oh one more thing--I wish they would stop with all the different camera angles. I end up missing some intricate footwork because the stupid camera guy thinks I want to look at Chelsea's face. Just give me the wide angle.
5 months ago
7 comments:
you're too funny! i'm glad that i'm totally ingnorant when it comes to dance and technique. i thought they were all good, shows what i know!
Michelle, I like seeing what you have to say because you come from a trained background. I am clueless about dance and technique, so to me the shows are pretty good. I do agree with you though, they do a lot of hip-hop and I think they over-look a lot of mistakes from the dancers. Maybe REAL dancers like you aren't their target audience because you know better, but it's dumb people like me who just thinks, "That was cool!" Regardless, I really think you should teach a dance class. I would love to take a class from you!
I know I should take all that into account and be less critical considering who they are targeting. I look at dancers from past seasons like Danny, Neil, and Travis (who I think is amazing!!!!!!!) and wonder why they didn't chose anyone that good for this season. Maybe I'll start my own show.
If you taught dance, I'd take the class too! Sarah and I can be your students. :)
I agree with you on lots of those points: too much hip-hop, weird camera angles (I often have to rewind and watch stuff 2 or 3 times to really see what they did), too manic, (especially on the contemporary girls' solos), etc. I was really hoping the ballet dancer would have stuck around longer.
I thought Will was just amazing though. The pas de deux was beautiful. Katee was pretty good too. There were a lot of hip hop dancers but Joshua was really good at lots of other things too, and Twitch was really fun. I cringed whenever Comfort came on the floor. I think there were lots of great dances and a few great dancers this season but they could use to make it a little less commercial, even though that's what they are going for.
My dance training consists of only a couple of years, and I was pretty young, but in my next life I'll be a dancer. You can teach me :)
I can't stand it when they do all the fancy editing and angles...it is so irritating.
I hear ya sister!
Yay! So fun to catch up with your blog! You know I'm completely clueless when it comes to dance, but I'm with you on the whole "story" thing. I kept thinking, why so much emphasis on "acting"? Can't I just appreciate their amazing athleticism and grace??
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