‘So You Think You Can Dance’: Double the dancing

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With the top six couples performing two dances apiece, we had a LOT of show tonight, so let’s get right to what happened on the dance floor. Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi kicked the evening off with a Doriana Sanchez disco. Ade was worried about looking ‘wack’ if they didn’t have the proper amount of disco ‘swagger,’ but he had nothing to worry about. I thought he looked great handling the genre. Melissa, I thought, could have given herself in a little bit more to the snap and crackle of disco, but the judges were very forgiving, because she’s a ballet dancer and disco is way outside her comfort zone.

Next, Kayla Radomski and Kupono Aweau danced a Mia Michaels-arranged contemporary number about addiction -- Kupono playing the poison, Kayla the addict. Was there any doubt it would be a memorable dance? Kupono controlled Kayla, she tried to escape him, he threw her around. I really liked Kayla’s acting in the performance (although Nigel claimed it was hard to see her face) but my favorite detail of the dance was how Kayla began it all by running to Kupono. Finally, I feel like I am on board with how much the judges (who adored the performance) worship Kayla.

Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover performed a Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin foxtrot, one that was choreographed so as to have a little more female strength and sexiness in it than usual. It was a very cool, suave dance, with Jason and Caitlin looking like they were performing in some 1930s nightclub. I wish their performance had, to steal Ade’s word, a tiny bit more swagger in it, but I enjoyed it. The judges were impressed by how easy Jason and Caitlin made it look, although guest judge Tyce Diorio wanted a bit more out of Caitlin’s eyes (she looked lovely, incidentally).

I was laughing at the happy head-bopping Jeanine Mason and Phillip Chbeeb did before the commercial in their traditional Russian costumes. And, before their Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko-choreographed Russian folk dance, I did get excited for it, per Jeanine’s instructions. I must be a sucker for the power of suggestion because while their dance, as Nigel said, was very ‘folky,’ I enjoyed it and thought it was fun and different, but the judges seemed to hate the dance (even though they liked the dancers). I felt bad for Phillip and Jeanine: It seemed like there wasn’t anything they could have done to make the judges like the performance, so it was confusing why the dance was included as one of the genres.

Next, Randi Evans and Evan Kasprzak danced a hip-hop routine designed by Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo wherein they portrayed a young couple that just discovered a baby was on the way. I rolled my eyes a little bit at the beginning of the performance, as Evan hid a prop engagement ring (sometimes Nappy-Tabs’ dances are a little too literal for me), but it was a good performance, especially because, as Nigel pointed out, neither Randi or Evan tried to BE hip-hop, they just danced it. Randi especially did an excellent job emoting terrified elation, and I liked her dancing through Evan’s arms. Nigel declared them one of his favorite couples, and Mary was pleased and gave a mini-whoop, even though she admitted she had been expecting a trainwreck.

I discovered a small theme with tonight’s episode, and that for me involved the less-high-profile member of a few couples becoming the standout star. That happened with Janette Manrara and Brandon Bryant, who danced Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo’s Argentinian tango. I couldn’t take my eyes off Janette the entire time: she was sexy, she emoted a perfect tango attitude, and her legs were on fire. I knew that Brandon was doing a good job as well because he was there for her every step of the way, but for me Janette just stole the show. After the performance, Nigel was silent for a few tense moments before he stood to give the dancers an ovation and the other judges joined in. Tyce expressed his appreciation by unrolling some complicated metaphor about fresh-squeezed orange juice, and I pondered my new theory that Tyce is related to Jeff Goldblum.

Before we got to the second round of dances, Cat Deeley announced that next week the partners would be broken up, so the dancers discussed what they’d miss most about their partners. It was touching to see Melissa cry when she talked about what she’d miss about Ade. They danced a Ron Montez traditional waltz, which was lovely, pretty without being fusty: I especially loved Ade’s turns toward the end. In some ways it gave me the same feeling as their pas des deux from last week. The judges liked it a lot, although Tyce thought that Melissa can work harder at dances like that since she’s such a natural, she makes it look a little easy. I wonder how Melissa will fare next week without Ade: I think he really brings out the best in her and she might be a little boring without him.

Fresh off their adored Mia Michaels routine, Kupono and Kayla danced a Joey Dowling Broadway number, striving to capture the love at first sight feel from ‘West Side Story.’ This was one of those dances where everything LOOKED fine, but I wasn’t feeling a certain magic, but I couldn’t tell if maybe it was just me. It wasn’t: Nigel said that the dance lacked the danger of those from ‘West Side Story’ and that Kupono and Kayla didn’t get into character enough. ‘I could say you danced it well, but I need more now,’ he said, which summed it up perfectly.

I am worried for Caitlin and Jason after tonight. I feel like this was the episode where they really needed to grab the judges and audience by the ears and make them pay attention, but they didn’t quite get there. Their bodies looked beautiful together in Mandy Moore’s lyrical jazz dance but, as Mary said, it wasn’t magical, and Nigel worried about their chemistry. I don’t have anything bad to say about Caitlin and Jason, but they haven’t given me goosebumps.

Again, while I think Phillip was the audience darling of his couple, Jeanine has emerged as the true star of the duet. They danced a jive as choreographed by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin Nigel pointed out that Phillip was a little nervous and slipped during his dance but otherwise lauded him for doing well outside his genre. Jeanine however was, as the judges pointed out, the star of the performance, adding a little Broadway drama to her sexy jive. She looked a little like a living Vargas girl to me, and the judges guaranteed that she’d be back next week.

Randi and Evan didn’t fare quite as well with their ballroom routine, a sexy samba choreographed by Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev of season three of the show. As she tends to do, Randi expressed trepidation over whether she could portray a sexy beast, and of course she totally nailed it. Evan, on the other hand, looked a little scared during the performance, and he looked like he was working a little too hard during the lifts. The judges loved Randi’s heat but didn’t think Evan (who, again, I used to consider the audience favorite of the two) was dynamic enough. It will be odd when this petite pair is broken up.

The best (or one of the best) was saved for last in this long night of dancing, as Janette and Brandon danced a Wade Robson jazz routine. They played jewel thieves, Janette impulsive, Brandon thoughtful. I loved their mod costumes with the white sunglasses--they reminded me of Johnny Depp’s getup in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ It was a highly stylized routine and this was just one of those dances where the performers hit their moves hard and were snappy where they needed to be. As Mary said, with every move the pair painted clear pictures.

Like I wrote above, I predict Caitlin and Jason will be in trouble tomorrow night, although who knows who else will make up the bottom three with them.

--Claire Zulkey

Photo: Fox