So You Think You Can Dance: 7.14.10

Cat's dress is weirdly peacocky tonight, but she carries it off, because she's Cat.  Another night of two dances each.  Cool. 

Oh no!  Another injury!  Ashley was brought to the hospital with severe rib pain, and can't dance this week.  This means she will be in the bottom 3 automatically, and if she makes it, and can't make it to dance next week, she's out.  Gah!

Kent is dancing Broadway with Neil, Adechike is dancing Salsa with Anya, Robert is dancing Contemporary with All Star Ashley, Ashley would have danced the rhumba with Pasha, Billy is dancing Jive with Anya, Lauren is dancing Cultural with Mark, and Jose is dancing Broadway with Courtney.

Adechike and Kent will be dancing together.  Ashley would have danced with Robert.  Lauren is dancing with Billy.  Jose is dancing with .. Gold Star?  That would be Dominic.  B-Boy!

Lauren (with Mark, Tahitian Cultural, Choreographed by Tiana Lufau)  It's the first Tahitian dance ever on the show.  Mark is portraying night, and Lauren is portraying day.  They are full of feathers and leaves and it's kind of awesome.  Lots of really good hip and butt shaking.  Lauren did a great job, and Mark looked at home.  Lauren looked like some really randy bird.  Girl's hips must have been exhausted after that!  I liked it!  Nigel didn't know what to say, but thought it would be a good dance for turkeys to do on Thanksgiving.  Mia loved it, and thought it was like a duck in heat.  Adam was in awe of Lauren, and loved her energy, and his friend in the audience who used to teach Tahitian dance gave them the thumbs up, so he thought her technique must have been spot on. 

Adechike (with Anya, Salsa choreographed by Liz Lura) Mighty fluorescent costumes they have!  I am not sure if she was supposed to almost fall on the floor in the very first lift, but it didn't look intentional!  Anya looked better than Adechike,  and he looked like he was struggling at parts with some of the technique. To me.  Untrained me.  It didn't flow very well for me.  It wasn't magical like they should be at this point in the competition.  Not to me.  Nigel thought the choreographer was a crazy woman, and thought that it worked.  He thought that Adechike pulled it off.  Ok, I might be just totally off again.  Mia loved the choreography and the tricks.. but she thought there were little bumps here and there, and they looked like they needed a couple more hours of rehearsal.  She did think it was a really good attempt.  Adam thought that he did a good job, too.  I'm with Mia.

Jose (with Courtney, Broadway choreographed by Joey Dowling) Courtney is a show girl, and Jose is a sad stage hand who is enamoured with her, but she never notices him.  It's to Mister Cellophane from Chicago.  He did the character really well, and the dance was fun.  Courtney was there to dance with giant feather fans beautifully.  Nigel loved the number from Chicago, and loved the way that Joey changed it up.  He worried that Jose's personality was hidden, and it showed that his dancing wasn't very good.  He said that Jose's dancing wasn't up to par.  Mia didn't want to see Jose sad.  His puppy dog eyes were killing her.  The patheticness was a little maxed out, and the glimmer of hope was missing, and the technique wasn't there to back it up.  Adam wanted to give him some constructive criticism, and told him that he had some lines that were missing, and really, he just needs dance lessons.

Robert (with Allison, Contemporary choreographed by Travis Wall)  The routine is about Travis' mother, who just went through surgery and a lot of things.  Allison is portraying his mother, and Robert is portraying the son.  He is very close to his own mother, so this should work well.  Wow.  Just Wow.  They are amazing together, and this choreography is astounding.  There was one moment where she just leapt entirely blindly backwards, and he caught her, and the trust was palpable.  I got chills.  Amazing.  Robert broke out in tears afterwards.  The judges gave them a standing ovation.  Nigel said that it was transcendent.  He likened it to Addiction and Tyce's Breast Cancer pieces.  I would agree.  Nigel thought that if the audience doesn't come out for Robert after that, he doesn't know what would do it.  Mia was in tears and said that it was the best Robert had danced to date.  Adam thinks that it is a shoe in for Emmy Nomination.  I would agree.  He said that the routine made him blow a snot bubble crying on tv.  I love Adam.


Billy (with Anya, Jive choreographed by Louis Van Amstel) I think Billy may be made of rubber.  I thought it was a fun routine.  I don't know much about jive, but the Rock and Roll Anya, as Cat called her, was fun.  The back of her skirt ripped, too!  Nigel said that it was the hardest Billy has worked to get chemistry with a partner.  He said that sometimes, Billy's legs are too straight and too classic, but all and all, he loved it.  Mia loved it.  Confusion ensued when Cat called it a Sex Bomb, and people thought she was saying "Sex Bum."  Adam thought it was Billy's best yet, because of the connection, and loved all the kicks.

Kent (with Neil, Broadway choreographed by Tyce Diorio)  They are portraying baseball players.  Awesome.  Ok, the first thing that happened was Kent vaulted over Neil at full height.  That's insane.  Some of the tumbling that Kent has done was evident.  What a super fun routine!  I really enjoyed it.  For the first time, Kent didn't have to throw some sexy on the fire, and it was good.  Nigel thought that Kent was the MVP tonight, and said that he out-danced Neil.  Awesome.  Mia loves boys, so much.  Cat asked Adam if he also loves boys.  Funny.  He thought it was an awesome dance, and loved the Fosse-esque style.  He told Kent that he could have a huge future in Broadway if he wants it.


Lauren & Billy (Jazz, Choreographed by Mandy Moore) Lauren apparently eats like a squirrel, and Billy is in love with soda.  They have different colored converse sneakers on, and their shoes are "doing the dancing."  Bedazzled converse. The camera started out focused on the shoes, but thankfully pulled out.  These two are good partnering together.  It was a really fun routine.  Nigel thought it was a cool routine and it made him smile.  He again congratulated Billy on doing better with the partnering, and thinks that Jazz fits on him well.  He also thought that Lauren did well with the partnering.  Mia thought it was completely in the pocket, quirky and groovy, and the cutest thing ever.  Adam thought it was Happy-making, and thought that Billy finally lost himself in the music and got into the groove. 

Jose (with Dominic, B-Boy, choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon) I don't think these boys have bones like the rest of us.  I don't know if they were supposed toe in sync the whole time, but I don't really care.  it was really cool.  Some of the pairing was really amazing.  That was really cool.  I like.  Nigel told Jose that he totally redeemed himself in this dance, because no one else could have done that.  Mia reiterated her love of boys.  She wants more strength from Jose, but still thought it was awesome.  Adam said that this is the way to compete and show who is boss.


Adechike & Kent (Contemporary Jazz, choreographed by Dee Kasperwhat?) Adechike wants to be a cook and write a cookbook for dancers, and Adechike attested that Kent has a crush on Lauren and the kiss last week was more than choreography... the dance is using chairs, as if they were girlfriends fought over by the two boys.  The dancing itself was wonderful.  I like Kent more than I like Adechike.  I just think his personality shines more, and I love the way he moves.  Nigel called it a tremendous job. There was one moment when Adechike jumped like a gazelle.  He thanked Kent for underplaying it, and not going over the top.  His small moments made it beautiful.  Nigel told Kent that he stands a good chance of being this year's champion.  Mia is in love with Kent's dancing, and loves the organic quality of his movement.  She thought that the vulnerability and strength of the two of them was wonderful, and loved that it was a good week for Adechike.  Then, she called him a Giselle.  Nigel corrected her, and she said she is having a dumb day.  And then, in one of the funniest moments ever, she did a Paula Clap.  I laughed so hard I had to pause.  Adam thought that they taught America that super athletes can also be super artists, and said that they taught him about dance and performance and called them both brilliant.

Robert (with Kathryn in for injured Ashley, Disco choreographed by Doriana Sanchez)  Robert danced with Kathryn last week.  This hardly seems fair.  I really wish this was Ashley dancing.  Kathryn is great, and Robert is dancing super well, too, and some of the drops were terrifying to me (was the last lift a little slow on the release?), but it was good.  Nigel doesn't think people realize how hard disco is.  There are no stops for breath in disco.  He thought that Robert gave everything he needed to.  Mia loves him, but never wants to see him do that again, because it seemed too thin and didn't bring the masculine weight to the texture of the movement.  Adam said that disco is about being there for your partner and selling fun, and he bought it.

Another super hard week!  I think that Kent and Lauren were at the top for me, with Billy having his best night yet. 

Jose's first routine wasn't all that great, but his B-boy routine was awesome.  He may be in trouble, if Ashley is recovered. Adechike's first didn't sell me, but I loved the second.  Robert was really good, but I don't know if America will vote for him. 

What do you think?  I hope that Ashley gets better!  I don't want to lose her!