Archive for the ‘Dancers’ Category

Tonight was the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance. It was a great show tonight and I loved that they had members of past years participate. Mrs. Donnie Burns (Heidi Groskeutz) and Travis Wall danced one of my favorite Mia Michaels numbers, but the true highlight was seeing Wade Robson dance to a number her choreographed. He is so brilliant – I want a weekly Wade Robson show. I so understand why Britney cheated on Justin with him. I digress.
The low light – the much hyped Katie Holmes Judy Garland Get Happy dance. Seriously, so so lame. She didn’t even dance – she has a wonderful body and she is stunning, but walking up and down the stage and kicking your leg doesn’t cut it. Especially on a show on the caliber of So You Think You Can Dance. Next time try Dancing with the Stars. But that was truly embarrassing. Anyone who that this would revitalize her career is way off mark.

Wow. Interesting finale. First – I was livid that they did a Paso Doble Faceoff – only because in my book I have the final three do a Paso Doble Pow -Wow – and I wrote that scene 3 years ago -though I know people will think I copied this final show.

Anyway – first thing that bothered me – as typical in the finale – each couple is coached by the judge – but prior to this season Len was always the one to coach. So Gilles gets Len, Melissa gets Carrie-Ann, and Shawn gets Bruno. How messed up is that? Len is the only judge who has a background in ballroom – fine use Bruno and Carrie-Ann for the freestyle but not for ballroom. So Gilles had a complete unfair advantage. My favorite part was Carrie-Ann showing Melissa how to do the Paso – what a joke – Carrie-Ann was showing her steps that I learned in a group paso class when I’d been dancing for a day. That’s not going to help Melissa at all

When they actually did the Paso – Gilles was amazing – PERFECT posture, attitude, fierceness. Melissa did way better than I expected since she hadn’t done the dance but I saw some balletic arms which were too soft for Paso. Shawn did the steps alright but lacked the right attitude for me. Round one Gilles.

OK – on to the freestyle – Shawn and Mark – nice and bouncy, worked to her strength, and Mark is brilliant.
Melissa – they were WAY to harsh on her – if Gilles acts, and Shawn does gymnastics, why can’t Melissa use so cheer steps. But Tony should have put in more ballroom esque moves to appease Len. It kinda looked like my beloved Kitty Carter choreographed it. Go DCC!
Gilles – I love flashdance and have been know to curl up in a ball and spin on the floor so I may be biased. Love the routine but for once, and only once, I will agree with Carrie-Ann. The dance showed off Cheryl and not Gilles which isn’t fair at all because Cheryl is the pro and Gilles already has an unfair advantage because the male stars have an easier time than the girls. The female pros can just dance around the male stars but the female stars have to dance their hearts out.

I think it will come down to Gilles and Melissa. I want Melissa to win but I think Cheryl did a better job with Gilles but this isn’t about the pros – its about the stars.

Louis van Amstel and Maksim Chmerkovskiy put Cheryl and Lacey on blast recently about their weight.

According to US weekly, “”[People] look at this show to be inspired and think, ‘If I just work hard enough, I can look like that,’” he says. “If they watch someone who’s dancing her butt off and she’s still heavy, they can be discouraged.
“You have to take responsibility,” he adds.”

And Maks (ever the gentleman) added “When I first saw these women this season, I said, ‘Guys, you know the camera adds 10 pounds,’” he says. “‘You have to do something about this.”

Everyone is up in arms about their comments. I have known Cheryl for over 10 years and she has a beautiful figure and has always been curvy. But what the public doesn’t realize is that Louis and Maks’s comments are very typical perceptions of how male ballroom dancers view female dancers. It drives me crazy that ABC tries to make Dancing With the Stars out to be such a family orientated show and ballroom out to be a wholesome sport. How many times was I told I was obese by my Russian dance coach who ordered me (at 19 and 105 lbs!) to only have cabbage soup and strawberries. I have a bulimic girl in my novel, Salome, who is always being yelled out for her weight.

I think Cheryl looks hot but I hope that Louis and Maks’s comment opens the rest of the world’s eyes to the evils of dancesport.

PS. I love Louis and think he is an amazing dancer and wish he would come back to the show. Maks’s ego needs to get checked however. He is not a good enough dancer to talk shit about anyone.