Multiple Personality

Well, Ashley is the new Alex, injured too much to dance tonight. These crazy kids. Sorry, toots.

The first number tonight is Tahitian, with Lauren and All-Star Mark. It’s choreographed by some chick named Tahini, or Titania, or something, and she proceeds to explain to us that Tahitian dance is dance that comes from Tahiti. I’m serious. Then we see the dance. C’mon…really?! Who costumed this thing, Liza Minnelli? Those feathers were so huge I had not a clue what kind of dancing was going on — except that it didn’t do very much except shake Tahitian moneymakers. That was about as content-free as dancing gets on this show. Mark did look cute in his Tahitian mudflap loincloth, but all in all…what a hunk o’ Tahitian bunk. Next.

Adechike and Anya are doing some makeshift Salsa choreographed by another newcomer, named Lia Lulu, or something (I’ll learn their names if I like their work). Well, they weren’t kidding when they said that dance was hard. I loved that horizontal double tour Anya did in Adechike’s arms (though the speed Lola Lula got demonstrating it in the taped segment was even more awesome). And how the hell did Anya get up after Adechike placed her in that sitting backbend? I may have to rewind the tape for that, because it seemed to defy gravity and stomach muscles. There were a couple more fantastic lifts and moves, but honestly the thing had very little flow and not enough shape or build. I’m not learning Lilo ‘nStitch’s real name yet. And I still don’t think Adechike should still be around.

I guess this is gonna be another bah-humbug evening: Jose did a Joey Dowling Broadway number with Courtney, and it was a hot tranny mess. Granted, I know Margot was loving seeing Courtney in the Vegas showgirl outfit, but it didn’t make one lick of dramatic sense…what is a showgirl doing strutting around on an empty stage with a worklight? And who the hell is Jose’s character? Yeah, I know the “vaudeville” of this number is in the style of “Chicago” (sort of), but it just didn’t hold up as a stand-alone narrative. Broadway, darling, Broadway. And Jose not only didn’t dance it very well technically, he wasn’t even very compelling to watch. Hmph.

Okay. I’m gonna try and pull myself together to write this. Robert and Allison did a Travis Contemporary, about Travis’s mother’s illness. I started to get misty-eyed during the taped segment, but I wasn’t prepared for my reaction at the very end of the dance. I’m a wreck. As you may know, my sister died recently after a protracted, painful illness, and this piece got me right in that place. It was beautifully danced, and astonishingly choreographed. And I don’t think I want to say anymore.

I don’t know how anything could follow that, and Billy’s dance certainly couldn’t. I don’t think Louis Van Amstel should choreograph for this show. What do you call Dutch cheese? Gouda. And this number wasn’t very gouda. It looked just like one of those cheesy things they turn out on Dancing with the Alleged Stars, and was utterly annoying. It was fun watching Billy’s legs for a while, flailing with such precision. But the dance was just a rambling mess, and nothing could save it. And it exemplified Billy’s weakness with flow and continuity. Too bad.

Hmm. Tyce choregraphing a Damn Yankees baseball number for Ken and Neil. That sounds like it has possibilities. Some of which reached fruition. But I’m not jumping up and down (even though our boys seldom stopped jumping up and down). Yeah, there was energy, yeah there were terrific turns (and a great double tour), and a phenomenal series of souped-up a la seconde turns by Kent…but there was too much unison and not enough partnering/interaction. And it didn’t really build. And worst for Kent — he was largely outdanced by Neil. Yes, Kent can hold his own as a dancer with almost anyone…but Neil outperformed him. And it’s hard to say whether this was Great Tyce or Awful Tyce…it was more like Sorta Good Tyce. What up that?

Now it’s the intramural pair-ups, and Billy/Lauren are doing Mandy Moore Jazz. Y’know, there are some really hard numbers tonight. This was an intricate, balls-out-dancing number, and these two hit all the moves. But I’m not really a fan of the dance itself; I didn’t feel it played out its premise in any significant fashion, and sometimes I think she took the musical accents a bit too literally. Lauren is performing very well, and Billy is still missing something even though his technique is exquisite.

Jose. Dominick. Nappy. Tabby. Endora. B-boy. Y’know, that was a really awesome number! I didn’t expect it. I believe Dominick is in the League of Extraordinary Dancers (right?), and the precision of this number made that apparent to me. They were both just wonderful, and the dance was terrific. And it even got a little Cirque du Soleil for a minute, with Jose doing a sick lateral jump up to being supported by Dominick’s feet in the air. Yow. I liked this damn thing a lot. It’s good that Jose could redeem himself; there’s no doubt all his fans were going to vote for him regardless, but now they don’t have to feel guilty about it.

Adechike and Kent are doing a Contemporary number by Dee Wallace Stone Caspary the Friendly Ghost in the Machine (I’m sorry…it’s getting late and I should be in bed already). Boy, if Neil outdanced Kent in the Kent’s last number, Kent just totally turned the tables (and chairs) and completely outdanced Adechike. Actually, though Kent was quite wonderful, it was really the fault of the choreography. In fact, I venture to say it’s rather insulting to give one of the two dancers such a subordinate role…Adechike basically just moved furniture while Kent danced. That was major suckage, but — as I’ve made little secret of — I”m not an Adechike fan, so I’m not positive he would’ve stood up to Kent even if he’d been choreographed properly. But as it stood, it was only one guy’s number.

Okay, I don’t know how to anticipate this last number. First, I’m sad that Ashely was injured. But…you know how I love me some Kathryn! And I’m happy she’s dancing with Robert. And I’m curious and excited to see how they do Disco. But…it’s choreographed by You-know-whonchez. Gulp. Okay…it had all the trademark Doriana-mania-too-many-moves-done-too-quickly and clumsy exits from lifts. But…I loved watching Robert and Kathryn dance it so much! They are just a delight, and when they did the funky-rock-out steps in the middle, I involuntarily started doing it with them. (I have to confess, “Instant Replay” was the next number I was planning to choreograph, in the old days, before I moved away from that phase of life.) Anyway, I’m just so happy watching these two dance, and they did a magnificent job making Doriana’s choreography look un-bad.

So…who will be the bottom two tomorrow night? Well, I would put Billy and Adechike there. Who would America put there? Hmm. If they put Robert there, after that Travis Wall number, they are unpatriotic Sarah Palin followers. I don’t think they’ll put Jose there, even though he is the weakest technically. So I’m uncertain who America isn’t wild about right now. But if Ashely isn’t well enough to dance next week, then I guess it’s moot. So I’m not gonna try and predict; I think it should be Adechike, but perhaps America listened to everybody on the panel fawn over him and they’ll believe it. (Hey, he’s good. I just don’t buy his performance as much as I do the Kents and the Roberts and even the Laurens.) So I’m not gonna try and call it this week.

Can we see Kathryn dance some more, please?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 12:48 am and is filed under So You Think You Can Dance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.