So You Think You Can Dance

I waited patiently for the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance to be posted on Hulu.  This is the first season I am not watching on broadcast television so I missed some of my favorite parts of the show; the auditions and early eliminations.  The following is from my blog on the site.

New format what I like:
I like the concept of an All Star pairing with a contestant in theory; it evens out the partnering delimna both in terms of numbers and making the contestants stretch and grow as performers.  You cannot improve each week if you are stuck with less experienced dancers in a competition.  I would rotate everybody, all the time, both the style component and the partnering component.

Judges:  Yeah Miss Mary hurt my ears but she has a lifetime of experience with ballroom, a style until 10 or so years ago, young Americans knew little about and still are learning, she should be a rotating judge.

Nigel & Production Pimping;  It is Nigel's show, he is responsible to his backers to make money; therefore he must keep the dancers and crew aware they are responsible for good entertainment, to do otherwise is a failure on Nigel's part.

Adam; entertaining in a quirky way, keep from going off on tangents.

Miss Mia; she choreogrphed a challenging number in S1 that everyone loved.  I thought to myself; Thats where this show needs to go!

Tice  Tyce; Thank goodness for a Broadway voice! {correct spelling}

The rest; they have added a voice, some good, some fluff.  Glad to see Debbie Allen at least still doing commentary.  I'd like to see her serve as a judge again.

I like Nigel as permenant overseeing judge, one change of regular judge after several seasons and a rotating judge every week.

Lastly I love tWitch's involvement.  Yes he has been a favorite of mine since his audition.  He has taken the critique of "take classes/learning new styles" to heart, making him a much better dancer.  I also like the fact he can talk on camera without repeating himself or sounding stupid. 

Which brings me to what I do not like . . .
Comfort is aweful on camera.  She lacks basic knowlege of dance as a whole.  It seems she may not have taken extra classes or has not paid enough attention to dance terms.  Rookie mistake and insulting - calling a male dansuer a ballerina.

So let me lay some knowlege out there; Balleriana - female ballet dancer, female lead - Prima Balleriana.  Dansuer - (French) male or Ballerino (Italian).  Premier Dansur or Primo Ballerino, respectively.

Generally, I do not like the unedited interview/commentary.  It is not complimentary to the single dicipline dancer who knows nothing outside his/her genre.  Note to the aspiring; take classes outside your comfort zone.  You would have thought contestants had gotten the message after six seasons.

This is the first season I am not watching So You Think You Can Dance on broadcast television.  I am waiting patiently to see the tape on Hulu.  I miss one of my favorite parts; the audition shows.  The audition shows and early elimination shows are what hooked me for the first six seasons and why I watch this show instead of the other "star" show.

I want to see amatures go through the process.  I want to see a street corner hip-hop kid learn ballroom on a dime.  I want to see a lyric danser lock -n- pop.  That is what made the show for me.  If I wanted to see polished professionals, I'd hop a train for NYC or watch Great Performances once or twice a year for the rare ballet they offer.  In my opinion the show's title and original mission is being left behind.

Judging & Critique vs Gushing;  Just stop it!  Go back to the tough  but constructive and instructive critique, so both the dancers and the audience can  learn, please.  This show started out as an outstanding teaching tool for an artform that always gets passed over for musicains, vocal performers and cinimatographers.  Please, please go back to the developmental teaching format.

As a former dancer and retired teacher I was thrilled at the beginning; finally my artform would not take second place.  It would be equal among complimentary artforms.  As a tap dancer; no you cannot pull Tap out of the hat each week. However tap dance should continue to be represented.  Tap dancers are percussionists, aka musicians, as well as dancers.  Please find a way to make Tap in all it's styles a featured part of this show.

It seems I have coverd six seasons instead of my first impression of Season 7.