So You Think You Can Dance – Episode 7-15

Unbelievable! A third dancer injured. What’s interesting is that the injured ones (Ashley, Alex, Billy) are some of the most trained dancers this season. They know how to take care of their bodies and still get hurt. Every season there’s a push to go bigger and better than last time – with the dancers, the choreography, the stunts. They’re pushing the contestants way too hard and need to scale back. A warm-up coach isn’t going to help anything.

On to the dancing!

Lauren and All Star Twitch, Hip Hop – Truth be told, I thought this was okay. Good, solid, but it wasn’t NappyTabs’ best work and you could tell Twitch was holding back. The judges, as usual, threw praise all over it.

Jose and All Star Allison, Contemporary – I thought the concept of this routine was really interesting and Allison was flawless in her movement. Jose (not great to begin with) was lost in all of the great things happening around him. He was overpowered by this choreography and by his partner. I guess it’s better to be ignored than noticeably awful. Adam Shankman Awkward Moment #573: The comment about Jose’s girlfriend knifing Allison. Dude, what possessed you to say that?

Robert and All Star Lauren, Jazz – A forgettable routine. I love it when choreographers don’t do over the top concept pieces, but the song and choreography have to be pretty special in order for it to be memorable. This wasn’t quite there, although Robert danced it wonderfully.

Kent and All Star Kathryn, Jazz – I liked this. It was a quirky serving from Sonya Tayeh, and while I wish the pairing was given something meatier to work with, it was one of the best routines from the night. I disagree with Mia, Kent’s expressions worked in this routine. It was upbeat and all about having fun and accepting yourself, this is one of the few routines where his faces added to the charm of it.

Adechike and All Star Comfort, Lyrical Hip Hop – This is an excellent example of dancers elevating mediocre work. I didn’t love the concept (overdone), the choreography (the NappyTabs usual), or the song choice (this isn’t American Idol) but Adechike put emotion into the routine. He made it powerful, great performance.

Robert and Lauren, Samba – Lauren rarely does enough emoting in her routines, and this was a prime example. The Samba is one of the hottest dances ever, and she generated zero sex appeal. In comparison to some of the past Sambas (Dancey’s, Maks and Kayla’s) it was robotic and boring. This isn’t the first time I’ve found Lauren soulless, and I’m annoyed the judges aren’t calling her out on it. Robert was at least trying.

Adechike and Jose, Paso Doble – This was an interesting experiment, and it could have been epic. Imagine if Dmitry and Pasha were dancing this routine – fire. Instead, Jose threw water all over it. I’m not saying Adechike was dancing the way a ballroom male would have been, but he was at least dynamic and intersting to watch. Another cool concept ruined by Jose’s weaknesses.

Kent and All Star Twitch, Step – This was awesome. I’m sure there are plenty who could outdo Kent in stepping, but for what he was doing (and who he was doing it with) Kent really made it work for him. I do think that if Billy had performed this routine as intended, it would have crossed the line from awesome into awful. Twitch was able to ground the routine and not let it go into joke territory. Also, this isn’t the first time stepping has been featured. Nigel had stepping in his Broadway choreography as he mentioned, and Dave Scott included stepping into Shauna & Jimmy’s Hip Hop back in Season 3.

Solos – The only solo that really stood out to me was Adechike’s. He’s fabulous in his genre, and has a unique combination of power and smoothness in his movement. Other than that, maybe Lauren’s? Robert’s? There wasn’t too much solo work to grasp on to tonight.

Bottom 3 Predictions

  • Poor injured Billy
  • Jose, Jose, Jose
  • Lauren

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