DING DONG DOMA IS DEAD!

Dancers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, and races.  Dancers also know what it’s like to walk into a room and be told to leave because you don’t “fit” what they’re looking for.  Mostly it’s because you don’t have the right look that the choreographer is looking for.  Perhaps you’re too short.  Maybe your legs aren’t long enough.  Either way, rejection hurts.

Nothing would ever compare, though, to being told that you don’t have the same rights when you get married to the person you love because of your sexual preference. 

I am so proud to be an American today.  DOMA (the Defense Of Marriage Act) has been shut down.  It’s a step forward for our nation, and hopefully a step forward for our world.  The amount of hatred I have seen in my lifetime against gay men and woman is despicable.  One of the most vivid memories I have is watching young children hold signs outside of my college that spewed hateful messages about God hating gays and creating AIDS to eradicate the culture.  Even as I type this, I am crying thinking about how much hate and ignorance someone must have in their hearts to pass on thoughts of inequality to children. 

Some of my favorite people on earth are gay.  In the dance world, as stereotypical as this is, you DO cross paths with a lot of gay men.  Even though many of them are stereotypically “softer” in certain respects, these men are some of the strongest willed, and emotionally strong, people that I have ever met.  I have seen many of them find someone who is just PERFECT for them, and yet sadly, they don’t want to marry, or they CAN’T marry (depending on where they live). 

I have never understood why it wasn’t recognized that two people of the same sex couldn’t be together.  I grew up in the dance world, not to mention that my mother grew up in both the skating and dance world, and my grandmother was an interior designer and ice skater.  I grew up not just automatically knowing the culture, and what that entailed, but I grew up with parents that instilled within me a general kindness, acceptance, and loving nature that I wouldn’t know what to do without.  I accept all people, and I only don’t accept those that act hatefully and put out a negative energy into the world that is harmful. 

I am so glad and proud today that our nation is standing up and acting out against that hate.  Perhaps with this will come more education and understanding that people are people.  It doesn’t matter what your race is or what your sexual preference is or what your gender is.  We are all human who are trying to make sure that we keep intact our basic right to live. 

Today, celebrate who you love.  In this world, you never know when that might be taken away from you, whether it’s the cause of a government, or if it’s fate, or nature.  You never do know, so on this day of celebration, make sure everyone you love knows it.  And if there’s that special someone out there, make sure they know you love them. 

Top 20 For Season 10 of So You Think You Can Dance!

It is officially my favorite time of the year.  No no, not summer.  So You Think You Can Dance has started!  I’ve decided to start keeping weekly tabs on here of my opinions on the progress of the show.  I mean, why not?  So You Think You Can Dance is everything that I love and hate about dance rolled into one reality tv show!

Last week, the top 20 were introduced!  Instead of going through each and every individual dancer and dance, I’m going to go over the things that particularly stood out in my mind.  I have plenty of opinions on this year’s bunch.  Also, please remember as I go through this- these are my OPINIONS!  I just don’t want any angry retribution that occurs here.

First off, I am highly disappointed in the female contemporary showing.  Yes, these girls are strong, and they have SO much potential, but the problem is that they are all cookie cutter.  I was hoping that since it was season 10 that the judges would be looking for dancers that were DIFFERENT!  I get it, they want people that are going to win the hearts of the judges, but the only person who I can even think of that stands out is Malece, and I’m wondering if that’s only because she has a different look to her with that bleach blonde hair, cupie doll face, and I-just-want-to-pinch-your-cheek personality.  And yet through all that standing out, the judges were almost hardest on her in the first round.  I mean, really?  The only contemporary girl that stands out, and you’re trying to knock down her image?  Ugh. 

While I’m on the contemporary dancers- WHY is Jasmine in the competition?  Her contemporary showing in Vegas was HORRENDOUS and that is HER STYLE?!?!?!  I get it, she has the great story of being Cyrus’s ex-girlfriend, but this is a show about dancing.  She DID do better last week on the show, but I’m just NOT a fan!  Too whiney for my taste.

The contemporary boys are definitely stronger.  I’m in love with Tucker.  He has so much going for him, and he has such a big heart (as you could tell from his crying the first time he hit the stage!).  I’m hoping for a top ten with that kid.  Carlos has a great personality, and his dancing is strong.  The teenage heartthrob this season, though, is going to be Nico.  With that adorable smile, and legs for days, he’s going to get ALL the girls’ attention!

Now onto Ballroom. WHEW!!!!  I’m finally excited to watch ballroom dancers this season.  They are STRONG and they are HOT!  I could not believe the fire that all four of the ballroom dancers had on the stage.  I couldn’t stop watching!  Usually I get bored with ballroom dancers, and I say that only because I am not as intimately versed in ballroom as I am with other styles.  I am so excited to see how these ballroom dancers match up against the contemporary dancers.

I am SO EXCITED that there is a strong tap showing this season.  Alexis is so cute with her smile, and the fact that she wants audiences to connect with tappers is something that I’ve been hoping for! Curtis is so adorable.  I want him to go far only because he makes me smile when he dances.  His smile is infectious, and his dancing is so full of energy and happiness!  Aaron is someone I want to see more of, mainly because I don’t like him yet due to the fact that I haven’t seen much of him.  Not to mention that his shoulders were up by his ears half the time and it was killing (dance teacher moment where you just want to go up behind him and push the shoulders down for him!).  I  was also excited that the tap choreography was done by Anthony Morigerato.  I saw him win so many categories in a National competition when I competed.  His group was up against mine back when we were both in high school.  It was really neat to be able to see him be so successful!

Hip Hop- Fik-shun has a lot of heart, but he fell so short this past week.  His counterpart Mariah was sexy, but the choreography was so boring to me that I didn’t feel like either of them stood out.  I’m excited to seen Mariah, though.  It will be very nice to see a strong female competitor for hip hop again in the competition. 

As for the animators- why oh WHY is Jade in the top 20?  He had to fight for his life TWICE in Vegas.  My eye was drawn to him more than once in the group dances because he was SO off in choreography!  It’s one thing to be a good animator, but it’s another thing when you can’t pick up choreography.  BluPrint is MILES ahead of him.  Not only does BluPrint shine in what he does, but he picks up choreography amazingly well (as was even pointed out by Nigel at one point) and keeps up with everyone.  I’m hoping Jade is the first out of the competition because I can’t stand watching people who expect to be professional, and can’t keep up with choreography.

Finally, the only jazz dancer of the season- Jasmine.  I LOVE HER!  She is FIERCE!  I don’t know why, but there is just something about her that I really like.  She has a personality that’s drawn me in, and I think she is going to grow and come up from behind.  The judges critiqued her on her technique, but I think her dance personality will win her a lot of votes.

My favorite piece last week was done by my favorite choreographer of all time- Christopher Scott.  I’m in love with him as a choreographer.  He created the top 10 guys’ Sand dance.  Not only did he choreograph a piece using SAND, but he took 10 guys who have very different ways of dancing, and made them not only look seamless, but choreographed points to showcase each of their individual talents.  I can never get enough of Christopher Scott’s musicality within a piece, nor can I get enough of his unique style.  If there’s ever a choreographer I could be like, it’s Christopher Scott.

I wasn’t too impressed with the top 10 girls.  It was a cute piece, but it didn’t have the same kind of excitement as the guys.  Obviously I love the mod style, and the song “Let’s Have a Kiki” holds a special place in my heart, but something about it fell a little flat.  Perhaps it’s because it’s harder to take 10 girls who have little personality dance-wise, and all different styles, and have to make them all seem the same.  Ray Leeper definitely made it work.  The girls all looked uniform, but it made the dance not seem as special.

The top 20 dance by Sonya Tayeh was SO disappointing.  I’m getting tired of Sonya’s work.  It’s all the same stuff.  I loved that she branched out last year and made softer pieces.  Her quirky choreography has always been great, but I think that even she may be getting a little tired of it.  However, I think that a lot of my disdain for the work, though, had to do with the fact that you couldn’t see ANYTHING!  The cameras were TERRIBLE during this dance.  The camera angles changed so fast that you couldn’t see what was happening.  There were so many moments that I felt were meant to watch as almost a tableau, and yet you couldn’t see what was happening because the cameras were jumping from one group to the next.  Also, holy smoke, Batman.  No really, what was up with all that fog onstage?  There was SO much that I couldn’t see feet, and I could barely see anyone when they went to the floor!  I’m hoping that the cameramen get better with the group numbers because if they continue as they did with this piece, I’m going to stop watching.

Overall, I’m excited to see what happens with the dancers this season.  I can’t wait to see who is going to come out on top.  Also, curious to see what “celebrity” judges they’ll be having on the show.  I’m always amazed at their choices for judges.  Half of them don’t have much of a background in dance.  The only one I like is Jesse Tyler Ferguson.  He is the dance judge love of my life.  But that’s just me.

Cheers to Season 10!  Can’t wait to see what happens tonight!