Dance Magic Dance
Because my fiancée loves me and because she's great and because her employer owns the venue it was held in and offered discounted tickets we saw the So You Think You Can Dance tour's Cincinnati show last night. Rather than bombard everyone's Twitter feed-which I very easily could have with "WOO"'s and "THAT WAS AWESOME"'s-I decided to somewhat organize and dump my thoughts here.
-The crowd was, as I expected, overwhelmingly female and white. It was also mostly teens, but there were a good number of "older" people like Rachel and I. I think it reflected the typical So You Think You Can Dance audience and the typical American Idol audience. Both shows are run by the same people and draw similar viewers. That's one reason I find it amazing that the American Idol finalists and the SYTYCD ones differ so much in terms of race and gender. That's a whole 'nother post, probably better written by someone else but I'll wind up giving it a try anyway on another day.
-I think every superhero comic book artist should be forced to watch a few late season episodes of SYTYCD to learn how to handle sexiness. Everyone one the stage is fit and gorgeous and in some (a lot) of routines is wearing very little, yet they never cross the invisible line into "too much." One dancer (to no surprise to viewers of this season it was Jordan) rode that line hard during a solo and it was amazingly hot and not creepy. Incidentally, she was wearing a lot (comparatively) while she was doing it. Covered up can be sexy as hell. Take notes.
-A male dancer, Tadd, rode the sexy line as well, but it was more the Bieber/Beatles teeny-bopper sexy as opposed to the more adult version Jordan was working with.
-Again, no surprise to the regular viewers, Jess is a large ham live and it's a lot of fun. He was flirting with the front rows left and right.
-Why isn't tap a bigger thing? Is it because it has a dorky rep? It's adding a beat to a track. It's watching a DJ work with his whole body.
-Is there a single film that wouldn't be improved by a Bollywood routine? I say there is not. I want to see Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman working their arms in full Death Eater make-up.
-They showed American Idol videos at intermission. HOORAY CROSS-PROMOTION. Lauren Alaina finally found a stylist that works for her. Some of her looks towards the end of the season were truly tragic. Someone on my Twitter feed accurately described one as "a Confederate war widow."
-There was a mix of old routines from the show and new ones. My favorite of the latter was a bit involving "painting" on the jumbo screens that made up the back of the stage to "Viva la Vida." Man that song was over-played, but hearing it again after so long with such beautiful things happening to its beat felt great.
-My favorite part of the night was being surrounded by super-fans. The young-ins* behind us had a rich discussion about dancers' career tracks and the strengths and weaknesses of various performers. One woman 3 rows ahead of us l let out an "Oh my God" after a particularly dexterous move that sounded like she would need a cigarette after the routine. There's a moment at the climax of a piece where Melanie turns herself into a human missile and leaps a good five feet into the arms of her partner (around 1'17 here). When the audience saw her set up for it they started clapping like a crowd at a baseball game waiting for the last pitch. When she landed we exploded.
They're really nothing like sharing a positive emotion with that many people.
*I think middle schoolers. Rachel swears they were high school aged.
-The crowd was, as I expected, overwhelmingly female and white. It was also mostly teens, but there were a good number of "older" people like Rachel and I. I think it reflected the typical So You Think You Can Dance audience and the typical American Idol audience. Both shows are run by the same people and draw similar viewers. That's one reason I find it amazing that the American Idol finalists and the SYTYCD ones differ so much in terms of race and gender. That's a whole 'nother post, probably better written by someone else but I'll wind up giving it a try anyway on another day.
-I think every superhero comic book artist should be forced to watch a few late season episodes of SYTYCD to learn how to handle sexiness. Everyone one the stage is fit and gorgeous and in some (a lot) of routines is wearing very little, yet they never cross the invisible line into "too much." One dancer (to no surprise to viewers of this season it was Jordan) rode that line hard during a solo and it was amazingly hot and not creepy. Incidentally, she was wearing a lot (comparatively) while she was doing it. Covered up can be sexy as hell. Take notes.
-A male dancer, Tadd, rode the sexy line as well, but it was more the Bieber/Beatles teeny-bopper sexy as opposed to the more adult version Jordan was working with.
-Again, no surprise to the regular viewers, Jess is a large ham live and it's a lot of fun. He was flirting with the front rows left and right.
-Why isn't tap a bigger thing? Is it because it has a dorky rep? It's adding a beat to a track. It's watching a DJ work with his whole body.
-Is there a single film that wouldn't be improved by a Bollywood routine? I say there is not. I want to see Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman working their arms in full Death Eater make-up.
-They showed American Idol videos at intermission. HOORAY CROSS-PROMOTION. Lauren Alaina finally found a stylist that works for her. Some of her looks towards the end of the season were truly tragic. Someone on my Twitter feed accurately described one as "a Confederate war widow."
-There was a mix of old routines from the show and new ones. My favorite of the latter was a bit involving "painting" on the jumbo screens that made up the back of the stage to "Viva la Vida." Man that song was over-played, but hearing it again after so long with such beautiful things happening to its beat felt great.
-My favorite part of the night was being surrounded by super-fans. The young-ins* behind us had a rich discussion about dancers' career tracks and the strengths and weaknesses of various performers. One woman 3 rows ahead of us l let out an "Oh my God" after a particularly dexterous move that sounded like she would need a cigarette after the routine. There's a moment at the climax of a piece where Melanie turns herself into a human missile and leaps a good five feet into the arms of her partner (around 1'17 here). When the audience saw her set up for it they started clapping like a crowd at a baseball game waiting for the last pitch. When she landed we exploded.
They're really nothing like sharing a positive emotion with that many people.
*I think middle schoolers. Rachel swears they were high school aged.