So … what’s the big ‘Deely’ on So You Think You Can Dance this week, Cat? I don’t know. But it was an interesting night.
Well … let’s start of with a hip hop routine by AdéChiké Torbert and all-star Lauren. This much is certain: The judges sure went ga-ga over the first routine of the night. Some spiffy cool moves were performed, but the piece was all over the place. There was a fantastical throw of Lauren by AdéChiké at one point, causing me to wish I’d been a fly on the wall during rehearsals. I would have loved to have seen them practice this move over and over again. No clue how many times it took to get it right … ’cause it appeared dead on during the performance.
Ashley Galvan gets to take a turn with Ade in a contemporary spin. And let me tell you: Ade certainly drew the short stick in this routine. He was the workhorse of the two, tossing her about, lifting her endlessly, moving her around the stage. And again, judges Nigel, Mia and Adam gushed like unstoppable water cannons over Ashley.
Something a little different this evening on SYTYCD was the peppered solo performances by each contestant in their own style — a brief preview of what we will get in the event any of them wind up in the Bottom Three. Billy Bell was the first to commit 30 seconds of contortionism as only he can do.
Robert Roldan jazzed it up with Courtney and he lent words during rehearsal: “This dance is powerful, intense, creepy and crazy.” With Sonya Teyah choreographing the number, there wasn’t any doubt it would be different — that’s just Sonya’s style. But in the end, it just didn’t cut the mustard. The words Robert used to describe the piece weren’t off their marks, it’s just that the dance was too frantic … too spastic … too overly-dramatic. I don’t know — maybe it was the lighting that turned me off to it. Had there been a lot less light — a different moody atmosphere perhaps — to make it appear creepier … crazier … mayhap I would have enjoyed this piece more. One big *meh*.
Jose Ruiz did his solo stint to James Brown’s “Super Bad.” Dude can cut a B-boy rug, lemme tell you….
Melinda Sullivan drew Pasha for a salsa schwing. Dammit, Jim! I really like Melinda. But the poor girl was full of foibles during her routine. From Pasha barely able to swish her about, to her costume getting hung up on her heel, to the accentuation of her moves one moment morphing into wishy-washiness the next and finally into something akin to cheesy slo-mo to finish it off, it was rather unbecoming. I must confess that not only will Melinda wind up in the Bottom Three, but she’ll be ‘the ousted’ this week. *sigh*
To break the tension, Kent Boyd came out to do half a minute of Monkey Boy moves. He’s a card, he is … and then Alex Wong followed up Kent to *literally* perform some ‘simian artistry’ in a piece straight off the “Planet Of The Apes” soundtrack. (Not the original mind you, but the Tim Burton hot mess, for those of you who just have to know.)
Then comes Lauren Froderman who contracted Neil for a sultry Broadway dance schwoon. And — as with Melinda before her — the costume malfunctions continue, this time Lauren almost pulling (unintentionally) a ‘Janet Jackson’ on us. The poor girl’s left strap came loose for whatever reason and she spent the last few moments of her routine making certain her boob didn’t pop out at us. Still, she pulled it together and made proud the saying “the show must go on.”
Ashley Galvan did her solo next, something that was not the least bit inspiring or noteworthy. She’ll be in the Bottom Three as well.
Billy Bell ‘contemporarys’ with all-star Katheryn to a strangely Sia-ish “Jar Of Hearts” by Christina Perri. (You can hear the tune here.) Look … here’s the thing: I used to despise contemporary. If this were two years ago, you would hear me coughing and gagging at a contemporary piece just like the one Billy and Katheryn offered. But it’s grown on me over the last few seasons … and I’m into it now. And this was one of those performances that not only ‘talked’ to me, but which I thought both performers did marvelously well. Right down to the mismatched clothing they wore, further exemplifying the rejection within this conjoinment. Spiffy stuff and I dug it hugely. Nigel didn’t dig it like I did, however … and as far as I’m concerned he can bite me. Same with Mia. “Connection”? Both the judges were harping on the connection Billy was lacking with his partner in this piece? What the hell … ?!? THE ENTIRE ROUTINE WAS ABOUT REJECTION, NOT CONNECTION … !!! Dumbasses….
I cooled off my steaminess with the Robert Roldan solo. He offered the viewing audience what a flailing, flannel picnic table cover would look like it it could dance. Wow.
B-boy Jose Ruiz gets Anya for some samba. Now, I rather enjoyed this routine. Good lighting to ‘atmosphere up’ the piece. I don’t necessarily like Shakira or her music whose number the routine was based on, but Jose made it believable. The dude can definitely exude feeling and make something better, even though he isn’t technically adept at doing so.
And here comes bouncy, sky-high Kent Boyd, paired up with Allison for a jazz bit. And believe you me ‘bit’ is the right terminology for this fluffy serving of chode. Now, I like Kent … but his effort failed and floundered and was filled with fakery. It was awful. Awfully awful. Mandy Moore who choreographed the piece was on a mission to transform ‘Kent The Boy’ and break out ‘Kent The Man’ … but her machinations didn’t buff out any manhood. It just didn’t work.
Two more solos by AdéChiké and Lauren. All right. Enough already with the solos….
Lastly, we get Alex Wong dancing a hip hop routine with all-star … Twitch … ?!? Really? Yes … really. Given his ballet background, it was a wonder to behold him do so well on a hip hop number. I’ll say it here:
BEST. DANCE. ROUTINE. OF. THE. NIGHT.
Nigel said it all when he quoted: “Alex … this is about a ballet dancer doing the most incredible hip hop I’ve ever seen … ever … anywhere …” (See it here. Hurry. Before the hand of quashment removes it.) Enough said.
As stated, I’ll sadly wave goodbye to Melinda, knowing full well she tried her best … her best not being good enough….
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Jul 01, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
