So You Think You Can Dance - 11xwhatever "Wherever I Left Off"

Circumstances have, over the last number of weeks, led me to the official Fox Youtube account to watch the routines. If you've never had the pleasure, the official account just shows the routine -- no rehearsals prior, no judges' comments afterwards. The experience of watching the performances in isolation is disorienting, not to mention time-saving -- I can finish an episode's worth of routines in half an hour! -- that the absence of all of the show's ancillary stuff feels so much more acutely missing. With so many packages and so much content devoted to things other than the actual depiction of dance, you could say that dance interrupts all the other reality-tv goings on, much like the song interludes in a musical.

I'd even go so far as to conclude -- polemically -- that SYTYCD isn't even about dance (at least not anymore), and that rather it's an exercise in finding appealing bunch of kids who are willing to play by an arbitrary set of rules in the hopes of getting audiences to vote for them (and since voting now takes place entirely through an app, the cynic in me wonders how much of SYTYCD has become an excuse in data mining, much in the same way that tv content was created to sell ads). That is, it's first and foremost a reality tv show -- one punctuated by dancing -- and that its narrative is propelled by other tangentially related matters. Then, in a Zizekian maneuver, I'd claim that its blatant Emmy-chasing (which, already being a non-entity in terms of granting critical recognition to the tv industry, is even more vapid as an arbiter of dance) is a symptom that's meant to cover up its lack, a shameless search for validation of what it's abandoned.

But anyway, I adored Jacque in "99 Red Balloons."

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x10 "The Top 14 Perform, 4 Eliminated"

Whenever I'm talking with someone new for the first time and the conversation reveals my affinity for reality tv, I'm often asked what I think about American Idol, and my witty rejoinder is always, "I don't watch Idol because I like music." I'm beginning to wonder if SYTYCD is reaching that point for me and dance, since I've been bumping uncomfortably against the show's cramped depiction of dance for multiple seasons now.

To borrow another reality program (Project Runway), my thoughts about this show have been circling around its taste level. Designers who have technical knowledge but no or ugly design flair get called mere seamstresses, and SYTYCD seems to fill its cast with the dance equivalent: kids who can turn a billion times but whose face is fixed in a plastic rictus and/or otherwise lack a distinctive point of view from which they approach their chosen art.

I'm obviously talking about Casey, whose balletic abilities, marvelous as they are, don't seem to operate on a level of emotional interpretation, from song choice to solo choreography to the performance thereof. Contrast his solo with Emily's, who seems to dance in a space where the artistic signifiers are more available: dancing to a modern classical piece (originally commissioned by my new choreographic crush!) with choreography that isn't just a series of tricks performed with greater subtlety and delicacy. (I'm trying not to place too much emphasis on choreography, which can be a product of access to choreographers as much as a sign of ineffable artistic vision-- i.e. not all dancers are choreographers, much less self-choreographers.)

Of course, this kind of a discussion has no end point beyond polemics, and I rather dislike intense arguments about what are essentially matters of taste, so I'll end there (and which is why I'm trying to use more neutral language to explain why I prefer Emily's solo to Casey's). (Furthermore, the qualities I mention can all be taken as signs of middlebrow, which can be a more offensive aesthetic allegation.)

Emilio and Bridget - Jazz
Not bad on all counts. Emilio doesn't finish his lines, but he looks very comfortable when the music gives him a pulse to work with. And thankfully, the choreography is Ray Leeper, not Ray Creeper.

Jacque and Zack - Paso Doble
I have to say that a paso set to Rob Zombie's "Dragula" was good for a laugh, though Zack hits a lot of the right paso notes. In terms of the taste discussion above, this routine is an interesting example of personal history determining reception -- having grown up on mid- to late-'90s alt rock radio, I'll react much more positively to post-Marilyn Manson horror schlock nostalgia than to the emotional schlock of a Celine Dion song.

Serge and Carley - Quickstep
I don't know what compels me to comment on this routine -- Serge doesn't seem to have spent a whole lot of time doing standard judging by this routine, though all else considered his performance is a good effort -- but I guess I've become a sucker for quicksteps that throw in vernacular jazz and Charleston elements. 

Rickey and Valerie - Hip Hop
Those Academy of Villains sure like their makeup, but it's all good as far as breaths of fresh air go. And as far as prodigiously talented modern/lyrical dancers go, I'm impressed with Rickey's acquittal in hip hop -- he could dance with a heavier load in his pants (in a manner of speaking), but he gets down pretty well. And oh yeah VALERIE'S LEG WAVE??

---

The opening number is Stacey Tookey's best routine in a very long time, partly because she avoids dipping into the barren well of romantic entanglements, partly because she showcases Rickey.

Similarly, Travis's boys routine earns back some of the plaudits that are impulsively heaped his way, with a handful of nearly stellar moments -- the various wave formations, the scream that disturbs the equanimity of the song -- that add up to that last indelible image of the guys falling off the stage.

Finally, if we're definitely going to have Mandy Moore choreograph a group routine, just for a change of pace, I'd rather see her do something for the boys rather than an iteration of girls being ethereal sylphs.

---

Alas, my brilliant idea of putting Teddy in a routine set to a David Bowie song, conveyed to the brains of the show, will now never come to pass.

But on the bright side, Tanisha is now freed from Rudy.

And as far as the all-star announcements go, I'll say that I'm a bit disappointed that Comfort isn't on for this week at least -- however overused she might be, she is still a remarkable dancer -- but with Jasmine Harper, they've finally found an all-star that can carry her own weight in hip hop (unless they decide to bring Witney in as a hip-hop all-star).

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x09 "The Top 16 Perform, 2 Eliminated"

Remember when I was literally sick and tired last week? As it turns out, I've been suffering fro pneumonia, but strangely enough, I have more to say than last week, even based solely on first impressions.

Tanisha & Rudy - Hip Hop
Rudy is this year's Kent, isn't he?

Emilio & Footman - Contemporary
This was diverting, though if I'm in the mood for random cross-season comparisons pulled out of thin air, Bridget has been reminding me of Jordan Casanova -- technically capable, but not an expressive performer.

Ultimately, though, this routine is most memorable, for the Rube Goldbergesque contortions required to get Emilio in a penché.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x08 "The Top 18 Perform, 2 Eliminated"

I've literally been sick and tired this past week, so I'll just say that I'm shocked -- shocked -- that the oldest remaining female contestant was eliminated. To paraphrase some movie, I get older, SYTYCD contestants stay the same age.

PS Teddy is our new dance god. 

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x07 "The Top 20 Perform, 2 Eliminated"

When the judges talk to Serge, they usually mention how he's a hard worker, which at the time struck me as oddly conspicuous. Later I remembered that that's the same faint praise that they give to Maks/Max from season 5, who of course lasted all of two weeks. Since he landed in the bottom already, and considering his advanced age, I wouldn't be surprised if Serge doesn't last much longer.

Something else: Nigel dings Marlene for not being sufficiently flexible, but aims no such criticism at Serge, who also seems to not have the bendy parts of, say, Ricky. 

---

Teddy is phenomenal in his routine -- he's all brilliant elasticity and sharp, stuttering angles -- and Emily does better with her hip hop than does Footman, who flashes some of the power and confidence needed in hip hop only in between moves and is self-consciously floating the rest of the time.
 
Something I noticed last week but couldn't be bothered to remember till now is Teddy's resemblance to a certain glam rocker.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x06 "The Top 20 Perform"

With the exception of one routine, the showcase extinguished the hope I'd built up during the auditions. Make room for me, Anthony Morigerato and your polite golf clap.

• Ricky and Jessica's routine is by far the only positively noteworthy routine, though what I think of as the elemental division of roles -- Ricky as air, and Jessica as earth -- spotlights Ricky to a large degree. I don't want to minimize Jessica in this routine, since her part in it -- the lifts, both as the one being lifted and the one lifting -- gives Ricky all that room to shine.
• A tap routine involving stairs invites this unfair comparison.
• Christopher Scott continues to bother me every time he sets a routine to another song that's not hip hop, or when he choreographs a prop-heavy piece, or both, all of which works to pull the idea of "hip hop" away from its core style. Nonetheless, I like this routine in spite of the choreography -- Emilio and Teddy both perform admirably.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x05 "L.A. Callbacks / Top 20 Chosen"

Hope springs eternal, even after an initial bout of disillusionment: I'm cautiously optimistic about the coming season (ballet!), even though I'm disappointed, first, that certain dancers didn't make the top 20, and second, that this cast has a few warnings flags.

With 157 dancers to dispense with in a space of 80+ minutes and instructions to build up arcs for specific dancers, a significant number of them will get short shrift. (To put the time-crunch in perspective, if every dancer got the same amount of screentime, that'd amount to about 2 minutes per person, so every additional minute devoted to Jessica Richens' or Steven Kador's travails drains the pool of available screen time quickly.) All the same, seeing Justine Lutz buried in the episode -- well, not seeing is a more apt phrase -- makes her sudden cut an especially acute one; Amir Sanders isn't even mentioned (though we see her unmistakable 'fro at the beginning), and if Cristina Moya-Palacios got any screentime, then I must've blinked. We see Shafeek Westbrook struggling in the jazz round and then giving a much more gracious sendoff than last time; Erik "Silky" Moore is perhaps a spectral presence only until he becomes the last Green Mile cut. I don't think I've had this many would-be favorites heading into a callback before, and seeing so many of them fall by the wayside is dispiriting.

The warning flags of the cast come down to the racial composition on the girls' side: an initial glance suggests that they're all white. Racial diversity has rarely been a problem on the guys' side, and every prior season has featured at least one woman of color (though the ethnic diversity doesn't measure to the guys' side). But this development might not be all that surprising if we take stylistic representation as a proxy among the women. When women are overwhelmingly labeled as contemporary/jazz -- even when they have hip-hop backgrounds (e.g. Donyelle, Karla Garcia, and Jasmine Harper), contemporary/jazz trumps -- I don't think that the leap to an all-white cast is that far behind. I've mentioned before about such skewed representation: they give young girls a very limited scope of acceptable femininity is, certainly as far as dance goes (contemporary or gtfo).

Another warning flag is the average age of the cast, though believe it or not, the boys this year are younger, with an average of 19.9 against the girls' 20.4. Some of the boy choices are particularly glaring in this regard, especially with selecting the baby-faced Nick Garcia as a ballroom guy over a much more physically mature Armen Way. (Serge does have a more prototypical ballroom physique, though Marcquet is a lot more lean and I chalk up his inclusion because of what I hear is his facility with hip hop, also, African-American ballroom dancer.) If we assume all other dance qualities being equal, why pick Nick over Armen? The way that castings go nowadays, I doubt that Pasha -- the go-to male ballroom All-Star -- would make the cut.

On a related note, this cast does feature more Latin dancers this year than they've ever had, I think -- perhaps a belated response to DWTS encroaching on SYTYCD's territory by having non-ballroom styles on the show (particularly contemporary)?

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x04 "Auditions #4"

From the first episode -- where I was readying on obituary for my relationship with this show -- to now, I've changed my opinion on the upcoming season nearly a full 180. The two middle episodes are spectacularly exciting, and while this last audition isn't as rich with beautiful dancing, it's still elevated by the auditioners who go beyond the over-played competition style. For instance, though I wasn't moved by the aesthetic elements of their solos, we see a couple of fantastically athletic dancers in Kelly MacCoy (who is, considering her spotlight-loving parents, hilariously monosyllabic) and Marissa Milele (whose solo sputters out at the end but after those superheroics, I'm not surprised).

And yet, even if neither of them had auditioned, this audition would've been something to remember. Erik "Silky" Moore for starters kicks out a scintillating audition that is so tight that the music seems to be spun out of his body. And then there's Cristina Moya-Palacios -- nuff said.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x03 "Auditions #3"

Maybe I should voice my disillusionment more often because for the second week in a row, the show has attracted and/or shown a caliber of dancer that gives me cautious hope for the competition. And as far as my current hobbyhorse goes, the last two auditions seems to have complicated my belief that SYTYCD's focus on the under 20 crowd solely serves Nigel's commercial purposes rather than any higher artistic aspirations (for the sake of brevity, I'm being reductive here), since more than a handful of my favorite auditions so far have been from teenagers.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x02 "Auditions #2"

Previously: SYTYCD offers me nothing. This week: WOAH. The episode is especially rich with beautiful leg-lines, and as an added bonus, we saw TWO guest judges who know from dance, which, in this era of Wayne Brady and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, has taken on epic importance. (Fabrice Calmels stays well within the confines of SYTYCD judging -- critique in generalities and superlatives, overlook the dancer's shortcomings -- but he's fully engaged with what's going on; I was impressed particularly with how he handled being put on the spot when Nigel asked him if he remembered seeing the trainee during his time at Joffrey.)

Notably, though, most of the episode centers on women -- situation normal, in other words -- but what differentiates this episode from the previous is that it rambles farther across the stylistic landscape than usual: even if we remained mostly within Western balletic traditions, this episode touches down on classical ballet and modern and a few stops in between so that we got something more than a factory line of competition girls. Where I complained last week about the show defining Dance according to its very limited parameters, this week sees SYTYCD acknowledging the breadth of dance out in the real world, to magically revitalizing effect.

So You Think You Can Dance - 11x01 "Auditions #1"

I won't beat around the bush: I don't know how motivated I am to continue blogging SYTYCD, mainly because I'm less and less interested in the way it presents Dance (note the capital D), especially if the first audition episode is any indication. I took away two related things from the premiere, neither of which gives me much hope: the show's artistic complacency, and its increasing insularity.

First, the way that it conveys emotion exclusively across surfaces to the exclusion of interiority or ambiguity (a characteristic of almost all reality programs, to be sure) leaves me wanting in a large way (and this complaint also has a lot to do with my own exploration of dance in the last year, i.e. a lot of swing (as a participant) and some ballet (as a spectator)). Reality tv is generally concerned with searching for and then depicting the mean between the prosaic and the glamorous (the combination of which is what (initially) made the genre such an explosive hit, especially in its early days). However, perhaps because of some kind of anxiety about the former part of the equation -- the banality of our lives is, after all, banal -- its producers are driven to amplify and/or push the interior lives of its subjects out into the open, which explains the tears and fights endemic to the genre as a whole. In other words, if something isn't obvious, it doesn't happen.

SYTYCD engages in some of these strategies, namely the unceasing tears (Nigel: "What is it with every dancer burst [sic] out crying when they talk to you?") (as if he doesn't know) and the bathetic stories of personal loss and tragedy. Such a theatricality of sentiment also infects the broader artistic temperament of the show, which in turn impresses on its young auditioners to follow suit: thus we have Caleb Brauner announcing the emotional tenor of both of his audition pieces.

As such, I'm beginning to wonder if my longstanding formulation of what qualifies as art -- i.e. anything that moves you emotionally -- is insufficient or at least in need of update, since most of the auditions bored me: considering the trajectory of the show in the few seasons and the forgettable clutch of auditions this last week, Nigel seems intent on positioning his show as a showcase for juvenilia -- the average age of the identified dancers is just under 20, the oldest being 25, and with fully half of them being 18 -- which as an artistic statement is puerile, but from a commercial one is probably the safest bet in terms of catering to the show's taste-defining demographics. Here is a synecdochal image of Caleb leaving after his first audition that summarizes the show's intentions:

Such a focus on all-American youth all but rules out something like with as much emotional depth as Robert Battle's "In/Side" or as physically demanding as Wayne McGregor's "Borderlands" or as technically virtuosic as Crystal Pite's "Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue" or as thematically elusive as Jiri Kylian's "Indigo Rose" or as focused as Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's "Rosas danst Rosas", except -- maybe -- as special guest performances. All of which then makes Nigel's execrable proclamation last season of viewer complaints of the show being too artistic that much more perversely laughable. (We've had hints of artistic ambition before -- arguably some Wade pieces, Garry Stewart's two routines in season 6, assorted Mia numbers which aim for something higher than the middlebrow -- but they're almost all consigned to the distant past by now.)

Second, with the dad danceoff among other things, we're seeing the result of the producer/contestant give-and-take that creates and then codifies a program's culture. What began a few seasons ago as a modestly cute treat -- i.e. bringing contestant's family onstage for a fun turn in the spotlight -- has become an expected part of the show. If ever such things were spontaneous, they almost certainly aren't anymore -- that dad is clearly comfortable as the center of attention and the transition from his daughter calling him the talented one to his taking the stage seemed far too prepared, for instance.

Not that I'm upset that something on a reality program comes off as staged, but I'm taking the initial dad dance and the ensuing danceoff as a sign of how deeply the show has withdrawn into its own world, sustained almost entirely on its own idioms and exhibiting few signs that it's willing to reopen itself to different artistic challenges -- much like its retreating artistic ambitions. Maybe, because of the rickety ratings-health of the show, Nigel has adopted a bunker mentality, going with what he knows, a formalism for its own sake, such as waving three tickets for the two people onstage.

And this is all without considering any complaints about the show's treatment of hip hop.

But it's not all piss and vinegar with me. Novien Yarber brings a lot that I like to his audition: great body control, lovely movement, and an excellent sense of pace. Megan Marcano has many of the same qualities, though with the added coquettishness (as Nigel notes), and? Photogenic as hell. (Although her personal story seemed to be missing a detail or two that would've made more sense to me.) Also, this girl:

Edit: Just found out her name is Mikaella Abitbol, and her audition can be seen in full here:

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x15 "Finale Part 1: The Finalists Shoot Their Guess Campaign"

So what initially appears to be a final-three runway turns out to be another one of Tyra's cruel hoaxes (the biggest one of course being the promise of a lucrative modeling career to the winner), where one more elimination is to take place just before the final runway. And that's where the last episode ends, which is as good a time to address something critical that I've ignored too long in this space: Tyra's mom hair.

She may or may not be sleepwalking through an otherwise invigorated cycle, but the show (ostensibly) remains concerned with fashion, so you'd think she rock something a little less dowdy. But there you have it.

Anyway, to handicap the probable final two, I doubt Cory will make it, even if he's been one of my favorites for the majority of the cycle. Although he's been featured in (nearly) every episode, he's been used exclusively as a talking head, an observer pithily commenting on the other contestants and the various goings on. He has only started talking in earnest about himself and his own chances of winning the competition as of this episode, and the show didn't even start positioning him as the androgynous alternative between Marvin and Jourdan (both of whom have been allowed to talk themselves up) in an overt way until episode 14 -- yes, it's always been a subtext with him, but a reality program lives almost solely on the surface of events.

A real contender then has to present him or herself as a contender (or by proxy, through other contestants remarking on how s/he is a threat to win), which was underscored for me when Jourdan said that she wants to show that she's more than just a pretty face during the Guess shoot. ANTM supposedly being a modeling competition, a pretty face is fairly crucial to the being a model (notwithstanding the show's increasingly tenuous hold with the industry), but the "more than a pretty face" line goes along with the reality tv narrative impetus to (shallowly) psychologize its protagonists. This psychology then gives the contestants a sense of depth that goes beyond the simple parameters that the show is supposedly measuring. That is, it's not enough that a contestant is technically good at the program's challenges; the exigencies of the reality genre require that they also elicit sympathy from viewers to become someone for whom we can root. This requirement explains why we've been barraged all season by Jourdan talking about her abusive marriage and Marvin being a janitor's son, both reminders of which have only intensified as the competition has narrowed down on the two of them. (You see this tension between the demands of the genre and the demands of the industry/medium most clearly on vote-in shows such as SYTYCD, but it's showed up on ANTM as well, and long before Tyra incorporated the social media element to her show.)

In contrast, Cory mentions his difficulties growing up as a biracial kid in the first episode, and subsequently... a lot of pithiness about Marnee and stuff, which deflects attention away from him (well, it may call attention to him, but as a wit, less so as a model). And it's not as if he lacks a storyline -- the producers could've fashioned a classic plot for him where he struggles against and eventually overcomes Rob's obvious homophobia distaste for him. No, the editing of the cycle telegraphs the improbability of his becoming America's Next Top Model, while keeping him around as America's Next Top Sassy Gay Sidekick.

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x12 "The Guy Who Has a Panic Attack"

True heart, no hurdle, set out by man or nature, will keep me from seeking out thy lovely smizes or the newfangled "booch," not that I swing like that, but hey, it's a novel thing and I'll try anything you suggest once.

In the early parts of the season, I marveled at how much the new format seemed to revitalize the franchise, and the guys have continued to carry the cycle to the overseas portion of the show. Not to say that the girls haven't been pulling their weight -- Nina has finally become the social media beast I expected all along (although I thought she'd be hoovering up all the votes from the start, considering her resemblance to Allison), Jourdan, as boring a reality tv personality as she is, is unparalleled in photos, and Renee has been at the forefront of both the modeling competition and the reality drama (make of that what you will) -- but the guys have provided an unremitting stream of fascinating behavior.

Phil, whose ADHD antics are cast in a negative light on the main show (but which take on a freewheeling and goofy aspect in the recap episode, a portrayal that would complicate the master narrative but which is one of those gems unveiled in recaps), may be old news now, but Cory remains utterly delightful while the lingering figures of Marvin and Chris still captivate because of how they express their masculinities. With the exception of Jeremy, none of the remaining guys are laconic ciphers, and all are in fact so openly expressive that they ably fulfill ANTM's quota of crying. Similarly, Marvin's avowal of camaraderie from a few episodes prior, where he tells his closest friends in the competition in plain (and teary!) terms how he'd be unable to bear any of them going home. Perhaps because of the conventions of the genre as a whole -- not just ANTM, but including series like The Jersey Shore, as well as the wider bro-phenomenon throughout pop culture -- naked expressions of fraternal affection no longer threaten masculinity in a way that used to be automatically coded as gay. What's more, almost none of the guys are too cool for school and are often willing to engage with the show's dumber aspects (at this late stage in the game, I think they're going to miss out on the joys of Tyra's butt-padded tooching teaches, but otherwise, they've played Tyra's games with enthusiasm).

(Meanwhile, over on Project Runway, we've seen the unhinged and violence-threatening male archetype, though of course with a gay spin, with Sandro and Ken. As a further aside, both of them have rather clear rage issues, and I don't mean to make light of them other than to note that traditional modes of maleness are becoming complicated.)

And I'm tickled pink (as it were) that Cory is firmly established as the cycle's den mother, trying to stamp out the pointless blowups that invariably feature on ANTM (my advice to him: Don't! You do realize that's why we I watch this show, yes?). It's preternatural how mature and even-headed he's been in terms of interpersonal dynamics, which would serve him well in his inevitable (I hope!) casting on RuPaul's Drag Race, which would free him from the obvious contempt that Rob Evans has for him.

And finally...

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x18 "Winner Chosen"

First off, congratulations, tiny dancers!

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x17 "Top Four Perform"

My gut reaction for this week was surprise that we'd finally gotten a performance finale that lived up to the idea that these four are the best (favorite, if you prefer) dancers of the season. In most seasons, by this time the remaining dancers have been so overworked and fatigue-bedraggled that the last week of performances rarely yields much worth remembering. (Off the top of my head, I can only think of Wade's fox piece for Lacey and Sabra, which might be my favorite Wade duet, in terms of choreography and execution.) But the evening in question starts off so forcefully that the entire night has been propped up in my imagination by two great numbers, with some mediocre routines that still manage to offer some pleasing luster, and then the chaff that gets consigned into oblivion.

Aaron and Amy - Jazz (chor. Ray Leeper)
Ray Leeper likes to for sassy/sultry/slutty (choose one) (or more, if you're the polysemous type), which is not a mood that Amy is able to project. That said, the beginning sets a high athletic bar for her, and she's one of the most physically gifted women this season.

Fik-Shun and Jasmine - Contemporary (chor. Travis Wall)
I'm not entirely sure if the improvement in Fik-Shun's technique meets the judges' praise -- the handful of parts where he has an opportunity, yes, he does point his feet, but he doesn't quite manage full extension with his legs, and his shoulders wander upwards at least once (however, the first two are matters of flexibility and to expect rapid improvement over 10 weeks is a fanciful thought) -- but this is still a beautiful piece, with the choreography living up to Travis' hype this time (and not holding back or being cute with his music geek bonafides and going full in with Arvo Pärt's Post-Minimalist realness), and Jasmine and Fik-Shun both executing it so gracefully, and where the grace stumbles, the performance never falters.

Mary tells Fik-Shun, "When I heard that the two of you were paired together, I honestly thought this would just not work out. Boy was I wrong." I'm tempted to ask when she's ever right about these things.

Aaron and Melinda - Tap (chor. Anthony Morigerato)
I dare say that this is the anti-Curtis routine, all soulful and deeply felt. I still wouldn't say that I get tap -- the complex rhythms continue to elude me in a way that's not the case with clogging, for instance, and Aaron's later solo still doesn't resonate for me -- but the performance of it carries me away. I don't get it at all, but I feel it.

Jasmine and All-Star Comfort - Hip Hop (chor. NappyTabs)
And Jasmine proves me wrong about her problems projecting and serves nearly everything. She's doesn't quite match Comfort, but Comfort's just the best female hip-hop dancer this show has had and will ever have, so Jazz Harp is just going to have to content herself being in videos for some Ciara chick, and it's not like Ciara videos are reservoirs of great dancing or anything.

What's more, NappyTabs have been on a winning streak lately, foregoing the tepid, gooey Kenny G hip hop that nearly derailed the style for a few seasons, and offering some uncompromising teeth-baring, soul-shattering hardness that even outdoes Luther Brown's offering the same night. It all comes down to the personnel (NappyTabs did present "Lovecats" just last season, after all), and with two fierce divas, D'umos give them the chance to both sexy and strong, and not a caricature of female sexual objecthood that gets hauled out too often. (In fact, NappyTabs describe the routine during the rehearsal package as strong, hot, empowering, and feminine, which is something we hear about often but seldom see.)

Twitch gets the lion's share of adulation, and well-earned as it is -- and believe me, he has hustled hard for that love -- I'd say that Comfort has been burnishing her star since her All-Star run began.

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x16 "Top 6 Perform"

One of the concepts that I've developed and carried with me for a while is that reality programs -- especially but not limited to the competitive types -- are inherently moralistic, and that their morality is built on what viewers believe the people on the shows deserve or don't deserve. Just recently, though, two other shows (Breaking Pointe and RuPaul's Drag Race, if you're keeping track -- and for lack of time, I won't be able to delve into them deeply) have foregrounded one of the commonest and most important elements to this morality: humility. Ironically, I haven't noticed the importance of humility on SYTYCD because it's everywhere, which has the paradoxical effect of camouflaging it, at least not as such.

I tend to think that Nigel practically mandates that the dancers at least put up a humble front. First, think of the ever-present sob stories of contestants who come from humble beginnings (pun intended), and consider those rare moments when privilege gets flaunted: Nathan saying that when he gets stressed he likes to unwind by jet-skiing and consequently getting a verbal beatdown from Nigel. Of course, Nigel as executive producer had to have known that Nathan was going to mention jet-skiing -- somebody had to have the footage ready of the kid on the waves -- he may have been using Nathan to warn other dancers against flaunting privilege; conversely, if dancers come from a stable, nuclear background (which reads as privileged for the sake of this argument), they have to mention how fortunate they are to have such a loving and supportive family.


That's when they get to speak -- usually, the contestants' chances to speak are carefully managed by the show. The prompts during rehearsal packages corral the dancers so they stay on anodyne territory, and the ones who are hep to the game use the opportunity to press our moral buttons (e.g. inspirational relatives, deceased friends and family, etc.), and the rest of the rehearsal packages are edited so that the dancers only speak about the choreography (about which I'll revisit). They seldom speak during their critiques, and almost never to argue with the judges, who are almost always right, besides.

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x15 "Top Eight Perform"

Ever since their stint as VEAGS choreographers, I've been yearning for Comfort and/or Twitch to get their chance to put routines together, but not even in my wildest dreams did I expect the benefit of their choreography and seeing dance in their routines as well. This is the best idea that SYTYCD has had since the introduction of the All Stars themselves.

Not that every routine is a success; the night starts off with a Jive from Aaron and Chelsie, where the awkwardness builds and builds -- through the belabored transitions (which I'm surprised Aaron has trouble with), or the embarrassing air-guitar styling (which Chelsie should be ashamed of) -- until the routine collapses under its own weight. Mary says Chelsie throws in some West Coast Swing, but I believe that the section she's referring to -- a sugar push to a swing-out to a Texas Tommy -- is as much Lindy Hop (sez the wannabe Lindy Hopper). (And if you're curious, it doesn't look good because Aaron doesn't look like he's leading any of the moves.)

(Considering the difficulty he has in the Jive, and the fact that he's not in the opening group number, you have to wonder if Aaron isn't at full health, and if not, then why no mention of injury was made on the show.)

Where Chelsie's routine has a decent amount of Latin partnering (perhaps to its detriment), Dmitry's routine with Hayley is performed well but in my eyes mostly belongs to that amorphous style of jazz that's the default used for contestants who are dancing out of style. I counted about 6 measures' worth of rumba, near the beginning, and then some swivels later, but after the halfway point (which to me happens when her role gets relegated to the ground), she doesn't have much dancing to do, Latin or otherwise. Even when she's back on her feet, the rest of the routine asks her only to do some moody running to and away from Dmitry, which doesn't exactly give her the chance to show off any Cuban motion (which I didn't see -- but the tails of the men's shirt she's wearing could definitely have masked it). (To be fair, one of my favorite rumbas from is Janette's (with Evan) which has marginally more rumba in it.)


The night also bulges in the middle with the contemporary and jazz routines -- and I do mean routine.
Fortunately, none of these are as hobbled as the Jive or as fulsomely angsty or sentimental as my least favorite examples of contemporary and jazz. Shortney's number threatens to go in the latter direction when she says that her piece is inspired by Romeo and Juliet (I have a sneaking suspicion it's actually Romeo + Juliet that she has in mind), but thankfully, it's not weighed down by convulsive backstory (or regurgitated emotion) (or giant props) and the movement can become the focus. I particularly like the moments where she and Tucker are dancing solo but in sync, which, as I've mentioned previously, is an incredibly pretty vision. Still, a part of me wonders if having so much side-by-side synchronization is sign of choreographic unsophistication (like I haven't thought about what you should do right now, so just mirror what I'm doing = half the choreographic work). 

(But what's up with SYTYCD alums and apparently being crushed beneath the heel of Fate lately?)

Allison's number with Fik-Shun also occupies an inoffensive middle ground with Shortney's. Despite her rehearsal explanation that she would be tackling Prejudice, the ensuing result is amiably modest, and is a chance for Fik-Shun to show again that he can do gentle, lyrical vulnerability in addition to the earnestness he brings regularly. On the choreography front, Allison seems to get unmoored from the music from time to time, like during the slower passages in the song, she and Fik-Shun are still doing busy moves.

Something ancillary to the dance but which is tangentially brought up during the rehearsal and Nigel's critiques is the way the show tiptoes around examples of human ugliness (though Nigel exempts himself when the subject lies near his crotch heart). Usually it's the love that dare not speak its name (Tucker, for example, saying that his tough-guy sports-loving dad inspires him because he's fully supportive of his dancing son -- which is a roundabout way of saying his dad isn't ashamed of a gay son) (i.e. when has any contestant on the US show plainly said that he or she is gay?), but this time it sounds like Allison has been getting some paleolithic contempt for her engagement to Twitch. Another example is during the rehearsals of "Gravity," in which Kupono explains the potency of the routine on him because one of his friends battled addiction to "drugs" -- it's a context-less ambiguity that seems striking in how it tries to sanitize the ugly. I think that's what's motivating Nigel here: a paternalistic desire to shield viewers from our worst impulses, I think largely because this image sums up just who it is that he's protecting (and I don't mean Cat):

Anyway, all that brings me to my long hoped-for Twitch routine, which seems to have underwhelmed the blogosphere but which I enjoyed. I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for the skit-like nature of routine, which results in some dead-air and forces Jasmine to act and thus rely on her biggest deficiency as a performer, which is her inability to project much farther than the edge of the stage. Follow her eyes -- they usually don't seek the outer edges of the audience (certainly not in this number), and consequently I'm surprised that she's made it this deep into the competition with so little trouble. That said, Jasmine is an accomplished hip-hop dancer (NSFW lyrics), so when Twitch is challenging her with dance (he throws in some bone-breaking for her!), she excels with the kind dense, gravity-loving groove that hip hop often requires.

And to the undisputed champs of the week. I've never been much of a fan of Mark Kanemura, but the awesomeness of his jazz with Jenna is unmistakable. What really makes this number rise is that Mark drags up the routine to the gills with all the voguing in here. And Jenna is sharp and in full diva mode, and she takes turns with Mark at out-fiercing one another as the HBIC of the routine. How crazy is that?

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x14 "Top 10 Perform"

I missed a bit of SYTYCD, didn't I?

Routines of note have been fairly sparse, too, with this week only offering two performances: Comfort's virtual solo, and Travis's routine for Tucker and Robert Roldan.

First, Comfort is a starving lion eating up that routine -- her hair even looks like a mane -- and NappyTabs serve up something that well avoids their twee-romantic impulses (although they do indulge in their tendency to over-literalize parts of the lyrics) and opts to channel aggressiveness through animal pantomime. (I have no idea how Nico fares, and I'm not terribly bothered to find out.) Oh, and? "Get  Ur Freak On", which needs little explanation.

As for Tucker and Robert, their routine marks the second time he's choreographed a male duet on the show, and the second time the results have been stunning and beautiful -- all the more so because the dancers involved have resided or continue to reside beneath the shade of my disdain. However, something about seeing guys performing balletic moves in unison cuts through a lot of the problems I have with the personalities of the dancers, though I should note that Tucker and Robert fall out of sync during a couple different runs (which may have been intentional, I unno). Moreover, for once, the judges add something constructive to the routine by expanding on the fact that the routine is based in part on Travis's relationship with Danny -- for some reason, during the rehearsal package, I heard "brother" but didn't make the connection, and was more focused on Robert, whose accident was total news to me.

America's Next Top Model (Cycle 20) - 20x03 "The Girl Who Gets Married Again"

The last several seasons of ANTM have seen my favorite show of all time staggering with age and insularity, and when I'd heard that Tyra was letting boys on her show, I feared that ANTM was ready to stumble directly into the shark's mouth on account of being on its last legs -- 20 cycles and 10 years, after all -- which explains why I took almost a full week to watch the first episode(s).

And of course, it was worth the wait, allowing for, you know, the remainder of the season. I'm going to say provisionally that the inclusion of men has revitalized the cast, if only for the novelty of Rob Evans explaining how best to show off one's cuts (in my case, purely hypothetical) and/or the more obvious sexual tension among the contestants. But another new development that has me hopeful is the sudden drag queen subtext, which may not be all that sudden -- this is ANTM, and Tyra, after all -- but I'm noticing it more now that I've immersed myself in RuPaul's Drag Race.

So You Think You Can Dance - 10x09 "Top 18 Perform"

Well, yes, the top 20 in fact perform, but only 18 of them count, which is in my eyes an outrageous arrangement. I've seen a few arguable justifications for eliminating dancers at the top of the program: by limiting the number of routines that the judges base the elimination on, the audience will be less confused when Janaya or Amber are cut despite having the strongest performances of the night in order to save their pets (Witney, and Eliana). In other words, the elimination scheme in season 9 exposed the judges' agenda (not that they were ever demure about their preferences before). If the judges were invested in saving Witney no matter the night's proceeding, Janaya's heroic Broadway performance is going to be an inconvenient monument to their long-term, mad-scientist machinations.

But the real source of my outrage is, of course, the angst that it puts the dancers through. Notwithstanding the old "show must go on" saw, I don't see how moving the eliminations serves the interests of the dancers -- the judges get a fig leaf behind which to hide their agendas, and the show gets to squeeze more drama (or FEELS for those of you fluent in Tumblr) out of its departing contestants, but what do you get if you're the dancer getting cut. You're on this show, getting jerked around like pieces of agile meat.

So goodbye to our resident necktie-adjuster extraordinaire, and the other ballroom girl!