'So You Think You Can Dance': Breaking up is hard to do

There was actual clapping and cheering in my house tonight during the screening of "So You Think You Can Dance": Season 6 is in effect!  Kathryn McCormick and "Legacy" Perez and Ellenore Scott and Ryan Di Lello brought two solid dances per couple. Ellenore and Ryan opened the show with a very fun and energetic Lindy Hop and later on danced a delightfully creepy and charming Broadway routine (I especially love when Ryan can portray an unusual character, despite his hunky and slick exterior). I loved Legacy and Kathryn's sexy and quirky Sonya Tayeh jazz dance (especially Legacy's crab walk). They demonstrated wonderful chemistry and, especially in Kathryn's case, stage presence during their rock 'n' roll Viennese waltz, which wasn't technically perfect but still extremely fun to watch. They remind me of Courtney Galliano and Gev Manoukian from Season 4.

So I'm bummed that both couples will be broken up next week! As for my dream matchups, I suppose it would be Ryan with Kathryn (she could perhaps benefit from getting a new chance to shine) and Ellenore with Victor Smalley, since Ellenore could bring more out of Victor both in terms of proficiency and personality.

I did like Victor and Karen Hauer's tango: It was very sharp and sophisticated, and even the costumes and lighting looked great; Victor especially brought a new maturity and manliness to his performance.  Unfortunately, like the other couples tonight, I didn't think their second dance was that great.  Their overly dramatic yet weirdly empty LaurieAnn Gibson hip-hop routine didn't give the audience much to latch onto, as Mary Murphy noted. Nigel Lythgoe said that he had nothing positive to say and none of the audience members booed. I think if we were playing around with partners, it might be interesting to see Karen with Nathan Trasoras, to see how she'd handle a piece of fresh meat like him. 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Pirouette overload!

Tonight's "SYTYCD" analysis will be short and sweet, so let's get right to the spoilers:

"So You Think You Can Dance": Walking in tall cotton

 It's boring me, a little bit, how "So You Think You Can Dance" is keeping the same order of dancers each week, so for fun I am going to discuss the dances in the order I found most compelling (for reasons both good and bad).

Even though I think most viewers probably liked Travis Wall's dance the best, I was most impressed by Legacy Perez and Kathryn McCormick's Paso Doble. First, it was a good idea for Legacy to dance without his shirt on, but he wasn't the only dancer in the pair to work with this costume (or lack thereof). Kathryn was definitely fiery tonight, including, as Adam Shankman pointed out, the way she flung her flowing white dress down when she hit the ground. This couple is climbing up the ranks for me each week, and I also got a kick out of Legacy admitting to his practicing in the mirror. It was clear they both felt confident and excited about the dance, and the feeling was contagious. 

Speaking of the shirtless, I am rarely opposed to seeing Ryan Di Lello's abs, but I actually didn't think his exposed stomach worked in tonight's Travis Wall contemporary piece. I loved the story behind the dance, about a former couple reuniting and the man realizing he was the one who "lost" in the breakup. The dance was beautiful (including the autumnal stage lighting) and Ellenore Scott was captivating as always, but with Ryan's hunky physique hanging around it was hard for me to believe him as the character in the piece. But I did appreciate his dancing, thanks especially to the judges, who noted the great timing of his catches.  Mary Murphy (looking lovely tonight, a little bit more chic than when she's surrounded by a cubic zirconia halo) even got choked up as she talked about Ryan breaking down barriers on the show for ballroom dancers. 

What I still don't understand is the judges' love affair with Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasoras, who performed a Laurieann Gibson dance to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." I think it was a poor song choice in some ways because I was thinking about the recent video the whole time, which is weird and wonderful, but Nathan and Mollee's dance was neither. I just think they both lack the maturity to really throw themselves into their dances. As a couple they remind me a little bit of Ashleigh Di Lello and Jakob Karr, but I think Ashleigh and Jakob both work hard for the chemistry they have. It bothers me that Mary refers to Mollee and Nathan as the "dream team" because they're definitely not in my top selection of couples so far. 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Tough love

For me, it wasn't tonight's results that were noteworthy so much as the truth bombs dropped by judge Nigel Lythgoe.  When Karen Hauer and Kevin Hunte were sent to the bottom three couples and not Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasoras, Nigel said what he thought: that many voting women might be too intimidated by Karen to love her (guilty as charged) and, more harshly, he told Mollee and Nathan that they were safe because people thought they, especially Nathan, were cute. Nigel opined that Nathan did need to learn more but wouldn't do so just by being voted through for his looks, and criticized Nathan for being flippant last night about his bad performance in the salsa.  Some audience members booed but a few did applaud after Nigel's speech, and Nathan and Mollee looked satisfyingly abashed.

Then, after the solos, Nigel lit into the dancers in the bottom three couples, telling them that none of them performed as well as they should for the solos, especially compared to Season 5. In the end, Pauline Mata and Peter Sabasino were eliminated. I liked them both, but by a matter of comparison it made sense: The judges love Karen, and Ellenore Scott is too unique to give up so early. Ryan Di Lello is eye candy for the TV public, and between a hip-hop dancer and a tapper, I think we all knew that none of the tappers would last very long. I wonder if in the future the judges will put tap dancers through to Las Vegas as easily as they did this season, or if they've given up on this little experiment.

But it wasn't all negative. I liked Dave Scott's warriors group dance, especially the mini solos starring Legacy Perez, Ellenore and Ryan's abs. And the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater put on an amazing performance; the women especially were a remarkable mix of powerful and vulnerable. But most importantly I enjoyed Dominic Sandoval as a sidewalk correspondent -- he even made it seem charming and not kind of weird that he was talking about dance and promoting K-Mart at the same time.

-- Claire Zulkey

'So You Think You Can Dance': The luck of the draw

Not all the performances were great tonight, but it felt like the first episode of the season where the partnerships felt solid, not new, which I enjoyed -- it was "I wonder how they'll attack this" instead of "Oh, I forgot they're together."

I thought Karen Hauer and Kevin Hunte's hustle was fine, but I would have liked to learn a little bit more about what to look for in the dance -- it's obviously not interchangeable with disco, but how is it different from other partner dances? I fully admit that I can feel a bit of personal backlash against Karen lately -- the judges love her SO much and she's been able to work her sex appeal so well that I kind of want to see her, as Adam Shankman said, do something that involves a bit of withholding before I buy her as a very good dancer and not just a hot lady. 

Up until tonight I wasn't totally sold on Ashleigh Di Lello, and I wasn't sure she had great partnership with Jakob Karr, but I came around on them tonight during Mandy Moore's contemporary dance which, as Nigel Lythgoe pointed out, certainly had hints of Moore's table routine with Neil and Sabra from several seasons ago.  I didn't think the cane was incorporated, either into the choreography or the dancing itself, as seamlessly as Moore had wanted, but the two exhibited the best chemistry they've shown so far this season, and I loved the styling of the piece to boot: I hope Ashleigh is put in some more androgynous looks to come and isn't always dressed in ballroom attire. 

Next Peter Sabasino ("Peetah") and Pauline Mata attacked the quickstep. I find Pauline more and more appealing each episode: She's cute and charming without being cloying. I agreed with the judges that the story of the dance (she: a tantalizing island girl, he: a happy soldier) helped bring good cheer to the piece, even if it wasn't perfect. 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Catching up with Adam Shankman

Choreographer, director and producer Adam Shankman joined "So You Think You Can Dance" this season as its third full-time judge.  We caught up with him between the top 18 and top 16 performance episodes to talk about his role on the show, the Oscars and those other dance shows.

Where do you fit in between Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe? What do you offer as a judge that they don't?
"So You Think You Can Dance" is not really my day job, and I do have an outsider's perspective.  I think that I am a person who hires dancers a lot, and so I bring the perspective of a prospective employer. We all share one thing -- we're all professional dancers, so I happen to be the guy who actually hires them. So I bring that outsider eye.

Will you choreograph this season?
I have been staying away from that, but I have now started making inquiries -- I am kind of looking into the possibility of choreographing something for the show that's noncompetitive.

What do you want to see more of this season, especially compared to last season?
Last season it was such an even playing field there was a lot of consistency. This year there's not a lot of consistency: The casting theory was taking great people from multiple genres.  I'd like them to shed the notion of "competition," if possible, because that's creating tension.  Obviously, it's a competitive show, but if the dancers relax into choreography they'll perform better.

Like how?
This is rough because some of the responsibility falls onto the choreographers. For instance, this is so technical, but last week Jakob [Karr] chaînés into a switch chaînés, and it felt incredibly unwaltz-like. It felt like a competition move and took me out of the dance. It wasn't Jakob's fault -- it was in the piece. And in Jamal Sims' piece, they were just overperforming it, and it took them out of the character.  Everything was just too giant. 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Tapping out

As much as tonight's cut might have hurt Nigel Lythgoe personally, I think it made sense and frankly I'm not surprised that tonight's eliminated dancers went home. I had a feeling that a certain group would be a quick casualty of the show, and I was right. That group of course is: 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Easy come, easy go?

There were so many new and temporary pairings on tonight's competitive debut of the Top 20 that I don't think it's fair to judge all the performances.

I will pick out my favorite couples based on tonight, however: 

Bianca Revels and Victor Smalley.  Sure, it helped that Bianca and Victor were given a very strong Travis Wall contemporary dance, but separately, they seemed like entertaining individuals and I liked the way they come together. Victor was so cruelly cold to Bianca in the dance, especially compared to how goofy and colorful he seems offstage, that I see a lot of performance potential in him. As Adam Shankman put it, "That was your dance," and Nigel Lythgoe noted that at that point in the competition, they had the best connection of all the couples. 

Ellenore Scott and Ryan Di Llelo.  They're a hot couple. I had basically already picked them out as the best-looking individuals in the competition, and now they're paired up and I have high hopes for them. I don't always like Sonya Tayeh dances as much as I would like to, and this was another example of a dance that I think really could have soared more and gone weirder, but I think we saw a great example of Ryan getting into a role and not being a ballroom guy. Meanwhile, I still love Ellenore's sexy quirkiness. 

Kathryn McCormick and Legacy Perez. These two surprised me. I didn't take Legacy seriously because his name is "Legacy," and I didn't take Kathryn seriously because of all the high-pitched cry-talking last week. But Kathryn especially did a better job than I expected on Dave Scott's caveman hip-hop dance. This could be one of those cute petite fun couples that forms great chemistry as the season goes on.  They rendered Mary Murphy pretty much incoherent too. 
 
I'm sure some people think Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasoras shouldn't be left out. I do think they did a great job on another intense Doriana Sanchez disco routine, especially with the crazy lifts and spins.  However, those youngsters need to grow on me a bit (especially Mollee) before I can put them on the Bold Print Train. 

'So You Think You Can Dance': Meet your Top 20! (Especially since two of them will be gone tomorrow)

Was tonight's "Meet the Top 20" episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" essential? No, but the producers has a good idea to give the viewers a little non-competitive introduction to the new season, show what the dancers can do best and,of course, give the audience a chance pick out favorites (like I've already done).

Before the dancers were grouped by specialty, the whole cast performed a Wade and Amanda Robson number set in a 1930s bar that was very cinematic and had a lot of flash (and hands on crotches for some reason).  It seemed designed to make the dancers all look like sexy stars.  It'll be interesting to see if and how the group numbers evolve as the dancers find their chemistry. 

The hip-hop dancers Russell Ferguson, Kevin Hunte and Jonathan "Legacy" Perez were up first, performing to "Beggin" as choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo.  I loved the guys' footwork and stunts, but again, I can't wait to see them come back in a few weeks -- they're going to be even more impressive when they develop some rapport. Russell is still my early favorite of the hip-hop dancers. 

Next, four of the contemporary dancers -- Channing Cooke, Ariana DeBose, Jacob Karr and Nathan Trasoras -- performed a Tyce Diorio dance that looked beautiful (the lighting on the new stage looks pretty great in HD), but it made me miss Mia Michaels already. I didn't pick out anyone from this group as someone I know I like early, but Channing did have one amazing moment in the dance when she really connected with the camera.

'So You Think You Can Dance': Your Top 20 revealed!

 

 So here's who I'm excited about for Season 6: