no Disco, no Jive, no random dances like Pas de deux or Swing or Ballet or Lindy Hop or Hustle or Can-Can, etc.
There was a jive in the first week! Melinda danced it, and I'm told she was terrible, but I was pretty much looking exclusively at Pasha, not gonna lie. Jive is actually part of the dancesport Latin repertoire (they seem to always put it at the end of the competition when the dancers are already exhausted, as some kind of sick endurance test). And I know Pasha and Anya can do swing/Lindy Hop, because they had to do it in Burn the Floor. Neil's listed for disco so we might get that at some point, and I think one of the guys is listed for 'Classical' which would presumably translate to ballet, but first we're going to have five trillion contemporary and jazz pieces.
I'm thinking of just muting the judges from now on. They are not being helpful.
I thought she did a really good job, too, better than the judges gave her credit for.
Considering that she spent part of the routine attempting to hold her dress up, she deserves some kind of prize. The Ellenore Award For Poise in the Face of Total Wardrobe Disaster, maybe.
Fans of this show are so nostalgic, which is probably why the producers thought the whole All-Stars thing was a good idea.
See, I totally get nostalgia. Look at me bouncing up and down over Pasha and Anya, for one thing. But, well, for one thing I guess I never really 'got' Mark, and for another, I guess I don't see the point in comparing Robert to someone he's not even competing against. As to "Mark would have danced that better," well, Mark was never gonna dance that because he's not a contestant. And it was a good dance! It would be like if I slammed Jose's samba not because he didn't dance it well, but because he's not Pasha. Although I do feel like comparisons of Jose and Legacy are fair, because Jose himself invited them with his statement at his audition that he believes he is better than Legacy. Robert's said nothing at all about Mark. The judges have said he has a similar quality of movement (which I can see), but certainly not that he's better than him.
There was a jive in the first week! Melinda danced it, and I'm told she was terrible, but I was pretty much looking exclusively at Pasha, not gonna lie.
Heh, well, not surprised I missed it, since Melinda was pretty much invisible to me. The lack of variety this season really is startling, since variety is what SYTYCD is known for. I'm on board with scaling back the ballroom a bit, but I'm hoping we'll get to see some of the other new and different kinds of dance the show is known showcasing.
But, well, for one thing I guess I never really 'got' Mark, and for another, I guess I don't see the point in comparing Robert to someone he's not even competing against. As to "Mark would have danced that better," well, Mark was never gonna dance that because he's not a contestant.
Well, though, here's where I actually see some of the value in having All-Stars on the show. Back when we had two regular contestants doing some of these routines and we'd have terrible routines some weeks, it was hard to tell sometimes if both dancers were really bad or if they'd just gotten stuck with sucky choreography. Like, you couldn't even tell what the routine was supposed to look like if it was being danced as it was envisioned. Now, with the All-Stars, there are weeks when I'm like, "Oooooooh!" because you'll have a routine where the All-Star half is just kicking ass and you can tell what the routine is supposed to look like, and then the contestant half is just a hot mess, and you know the whole routine would be terrible if you had two mediocre dancers dancing it. So I think that's what's happening when people make the Mark comparison; they're just mentioning him because he's the All-Star male who would best dance a Sonya routine, in this case. But for me, it's not even literally about Mark or whomever--it's about how the dance would look if it was being danced with the passion and intensity and artistry it was envisioned to be danced with. Certainly, every dancer is going to dance with his or her own style and interpretation, and Mark is actually a bad example because he's so weird and he is practically a Sonya muse. But you will notice that first week when we had Mark/Cristina doing the Sonya routine, Mark kicked ass and Cristina still ended up in the bottom three, because people saw the inequality in their dancing. I knew the other half of that dance would look totally different if, say, Courtney or another All-Star was dancing it and really capturing the intensity the way Sonya envisioned it.
That's one thing I like about the All-Star concept; it's helping me differentiate the best dancers from the rest of the pack. When I watch, say, Contestant-Lauren or Alex perform a routine with an All-Star, I can't tell who the All-Star is and who the contestant is, because they're so equally matched. Both performers in the routine could be All-Stars. I would never confuse Melinda or Jose with an All-Star.
I figure they have a contractually-obligated number of performances or something, and Comfort's had one week out already and Dominic's had two, so hopefully Lauren's turn will come. Soon.
I'm not on board with scaling back the ballroom, because it's the part I love, but, opinions do vary.
In a development that should come as no surprise to anyone, apparently I don't express myself well super-late at night.
Certainly I don't think we shouldn't compare the contestants to the All-Stars they're dancing with. I've been doing that every week. But what I've been seeing a lot of is people dismissing Robert's performance (which was, as far as my uneducated in the ways of jazz eye could tell, good) this week because Mark would (presumably) have danced it better. It's almost, "Well, now I don't like him because he's not Mark," which I feel is unfair.
There was a jive in the first week! Melinda danced it, and I'm told she was terrible, but I was pretty much looking exclusively at Pasha, not gonna lie. Jive is actually part of the dancesport Latin repertoire (they seem to always put it at the end of the competition when the dancers are already exhausted, as some kind of sick endurance test). And I know Pasha and Anya can do swing/Lindy Hop, because they had to do it in Burn the Floor. Neil's listed for disco so we might get that at some point, and I think one of the guys is listed for 'Classical' which would presumably translate to ballet, but first we're going to have five trillion contemporary and jazz pieces.
I'm thinking of just muting the judges from now on. They are not being helpful.
I thought she did a really good job, too, better than the judges gave her credit for.
Considering that she spent part of the routine attempting to hold her dress up, she deserves some kind of prize. The Ellenore Award For Poise in the Face of Total Wardrobe Disaster, maybe.
Fans of this show are so nostalgic, which is probably why the producers thought the whole All-Stars thing was a good idea.
See, I totally get nostalgia. Look at me bouncing up and down over Pasha and Anya, for one thing. But, well, for one thing I guess I never really 'got' Mark, and for another, I guess I don't see the point in comparing Robert to someone he's not even competing against. As to "Mark would have danced that better," well, Mark was never gonna dance that because he's not a contestant. And it was a good dance! It would be like if I slammed Jose's samba not because he didn't dance it well, but because he's not Pasha. Although I do feel like comparisons of Jose and Legacy are fair, because Jose himself invited them with his statement at his audition that he believes he is better than Legacy. Robert's said nothing at all about Mark. The judges have said he has a similar quality of movement (which I can see), but certainly not that he's better than him.
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Heh, well, not surprised I missed it, since Melinda was pretty much invisible to me. The lack of variety this season really is startling, since variety is what SYTYCD is known for. I'm on board with scaling back the ballroom a bit, but I'm hoping we'll get to see some of the other new and different kinds of dance the show is known showcasing.
But, well, for one thing I guess I never really 'got' Mark, and for another, I guess I don't see the point in comparing Robert to someone he's not even competing against. As to "Mark would have danced that better," well, Mark was never gonna dance that because he's not a contestant.
Well, though, here's where I actually see some of the value in having All-Stars on the show. Back when we had two regular contestants doing some of these routines and we'd have terrible routines some weeks, it was hard to tell sometimes if both dancers were really bad or if they'd just gotten stuck with sucky choreography. Like, you couldn't even tell what the routine was supposed to look like if it was being danced as it was envisioned. Now, with the All-Stars, there are weeks when I'm like, "Oooooooh!" because you'll have a routine where the All-Star half is just kicking ass and you can tell what the routine is supposed to look like, and then the contestant half is just a hot mess, and you know the whole routine would be terrible if you had two mediocre dancers dancing it. So I think that's what's happening when people make the Mark comparison; they're just mentioning him because he's the All-Star male who would best dance a Sonya routine, in this case. But for me, it's not even literally about Mark or whomever--it's about how the dance would look if it was being danced with the passion and intensity and artistry it was envisioned to be danced with. Certainly, every dancer is going to dance with his or her own style and interpretation, and Mark is actually a bad example because he's so weird and he is practically a Sonya muse. But you will notice that first week when we had Mark/Cristina doing the Sonya routine, Mark kicked ass and Cristina still ended up in the bottom three, because people saw the inequality in their dancing. I knew the other half of that dance would look totally different if, say, Courtney or another All-Star was dancing it and really capturing the intensity the way Sonya envisioned it.
That's one thing I like about the All-Star concept; it's helping me differentiate the best dancers from the rest of the pack. When I watch, say, Contestant-Lauren or Alex perform a routine with an All-Star, I can't tell who the All-Star is and who the contestant is, because they're so equally matched. Both performers in the routine could be All-Stars. I would never confuse Melinda or Jose with an All-Star.
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In a development that should come as no surprise to anyone, apparently I don't express myself well super-late at night.
Certainly I don't think we shouldn't compare the contestants to the All-Stars they're dancing with. I've been doing that every week. But what I've been seeing a lot of is people dismissing Robert's performance (which was, as far as my uneducated in the ways of jazz eye could tell, good) this week because Mark would (presumably) have danced it better. It's almost, "Well, now I don't like him because he's not Mark," which I feel is unfair.
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