Yuku free message boards

RYAN & ELLENORE - Lindy Hop - Lindy Hop pulls out all of the things about Ryan that I don't like. He was over-the-top mugging from start to finish and it grated on my nerves. That being said, he is probably the one here best suited for that style. A subtler, more nuanced dancer would have a hard time cheezing it up like that. Ellenore's lower body was better than her upper body. She seemed stiff in the shoulders. Mostly, though, she just faded for me (or was obscured by the glare off of Ryan's beaming smile).

LEGACY & KATHRYN - Breakdancing Jazz - Did Sonya choreograph that piece or did Legacy?! I guess it's a good thing that some choreographers gear their routines to showcase the particular talents of their dancers. However, in the context of a competition, I think it's an unfair advantage that some dancers get that showcase, while others actually have to mold themselves to moves the choreographer comes up with that don't necessarily come easily to them… And I'm sure which couple gets this sort of treatment is completely random and has NOTHING to do with which dancers the producers want to advance to the finals… Just like the decision as to which couples get the Quick Step early on… Legacy did well. Kathryn was sexy. I just look forward to seeing these two stretch someday… Well, there's a second dance, tonight. Maybe they'll be the couple doing the Can-Can. By the way, did anybody see anything in the dance to do with that story that Sonya laid out about the guy who quivers? I didn't. It was cool choreography, but the "story" of it went right over my head.

VICTOR & KAREN - Tango - If these two had been paired up from the beginning, I think both their status in this competition would be CONSIDERABLY higher. They really did connect well, even from the very opening moments of the dance. Channing was obviously the weak link, connection-wise, for Victor in the past two weeks. Nigel was 100% right about Victor's sway back, though. I swear, that is the exact word I was thinking, long before Nigel used it. It was maddening, as if he had just tucked his pelvis, the whole dance would have worked about 50% better...

NATHAN & MOLLEE - Hip-Hop - I actually really liked a lot of the ingenuity in the choreography for this piece. Yes, there were some bobbles (not just because of Mollee's ankle, either - both of them had hand problems with and without props at one time or another), but overall, I thought it was good. I definitely see what the judges meant in that the hip-hop style between the two wasn't that well matched. Although they were in synch, Nathan's moves were all bigger and more aggressive ("harder-hitting") than hers. There's nothing inherently wrong with Mollee's style. Rather than put all the blame on her, I think the choreographer needed to get them to match better, WHICHEVER style they leaned towards. I don't really know anything about Nathan's resume, but I'd be surprised if hip-hop isn't at least a secondary specialty for him. His solo last week was heavily hip-hop based, and he is clearly comfortable with the movement vocabulary. For Mollee, her training appears to be more "pure", so this was probably more of a stretch.

RUSSELL & NOELLE - I don't have the technical expertise that the judges do, but I liked this much more than they did. I thought there was definitely an infectious party vibe to their dancing, even if it wasn't quite as smutty a party as the judges may have wanted. My only problem through most of it was that they (Russell, in particular) were a bit too careful, so there were occasions where we saw them thinking about choreography. I hated the very end of the piece, but I think that's Tony & Melanie's fault. They needed to choreograph an ending - not just let the choreography fizzle and leave the poor dancers attempting an odd freestyle moment…

JAKOB & ASHLEIGH - Wow! We finally got a piece that takes what Jakob does so brilliantly and uses it in support of the dance rather than in opposition to it. His incredible control and clean movement were a positive, here, rather than a distraction. And somehow (whether through Ashleigh's influence or some other reason), Jakob finally connected. Bravo. I'm sure she danced very well, but who could look away from him? When I did focus on her, I noticed that she continuously lacked extension in her arms and hands. At times, they looked limp and dead. What I'm not sure of, though, is whether that was a flaw or if it was the stylistic intention of the choreographer. Either way, it didn't bother me.


ELLENORE & RYAN - Broadway - That was probably one of my favorite Broadway routines on this show, and I'm loving the new choreographer (and NOT missing Tyce in this style). What a difference it makes to have someone who doesn't equate Broadway with minstrel shows! I don't have much to add to what Adam said. Ryan was good. Ellenore was astonishing. The whole thing just worked!

KATHRYN & LEGACY- Viennese Waltz - Well, I got my wish and Legacy was forced to stretch. I was hoping he would succeed and I could finally be convinced that he IS this versatile dancer we've been hearing about for weeks, but he failed. Boy oh boy did he ever fail! That was horrifying, and there wasn't a second of it that was convincing from him. Brandon, week one's unfortunate casualty, was a hip-hop dancer who gave us a waltz that was 10,000,000 times more believable than Legacy's. And that was after being in the competition for a total of a day and a half! Legacy should by all rights have been so much better! The judges were WAY too easy on him (although as Nigel pointed out, how could they NOT be after that motivational speech he was allowed to give?!). I'm not sure what to say about Kathryn. She looked radiant and seemed to achieve some nice lines, but you can't waltz without a partner, and she didn't have a partner.

KAREN & VICTOR- Hip Hop - I agree with everything the judges said about this dance as it pertains to the first half. They were out of step with each other and with the music, and there just wasn't much there except a lot of pretentious posturing. Victor's femme-y attempts at "swagger" were almost comical. The second half actually got a lot better, but I'm guessing the judges had written it off by then. I don't think I've actually liked anything LaurieAnn has done on this show. Ever. Bring back the lesbos (Cecily & Olestra, or whatever their names were)!

MOLLEE & NATHAN - Can-Can - For the most part, this was fun and frothy, and the dancers and their fabulous costumes looked amazing. My biggest problem - and it's a strange one - is that there was one little section (the classic Can-Can kick line section) that had SO much energy that it made the rest of it seem a little too slow and lazy. That probably wouldn't have been a problem if that section had been at the end of the piece and they had built to it. The fact that that section came early, though, left the rest of it feeling a bit hollow, despite all the razzamatazz.

NOELLE & RUSSELL - Mary used the perfect word in her critique. Flowing. What was great about this piece is how the energy and the movement flowed from dancer to dancer with each motion leading into the next. What was extraordinary about it is how they managed to continue that feeling, even when the dancers were not in close proximity or even in sight of one another (as in the moment with the aerials that Adam raved about). Given Russell's [alleged] lack of training, his technique really is amazing, but he still had a couple of bobbles. Given how invisible Noelle has been through most of the competition, I'm glad that she was finally able to showcase what she does best.

ASHLEIGH & JACOB - Ashleigh did an excellent job, and that was to be expected. Jakob did a good job and was extremely convincing in the style, and that was impressive. His moves are still too exaggerated for me, though, and I wish that one of the choreographers (or even the judges) would just tell him that sometimes less is more.



Routine Rankings:

1. JAKOB & ASHLEIGH - Jazz
2. ELLENORE & RYAN - Broadway
3. NOELLE & RUSSELL - Contemporary
4. RUSSELL & NOELLE - Samba (I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but I did)
5. LEGACY & KATHRYN - Jazz
6. ASHLEIGH & JAKOB - Cha Cha
7. MOLLEE & NATHAN - Can-Can
8. NATHAN & MOLLEE - Hip-Hop
9. VICTOR & KAREN - Tango (His sway back was a real distraction)
10. RYAN & ELLENORE - Lindy Hop
11. KAREN & VICTOR - Hip-Hop
12. KATHRYN & LEGACY - Waltz


Not a bad night. I'd say that nine of the twelve were really good, and two or three were great.