Dance Outlook

SYTYCD6 Boston, MA Auditions Live Blog/Chat

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Press Release: So You Think You Think You Can Dance's Sonya Tayeh Presents The Endurance to Move

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:33:00 +0000

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE’S

SONYA TAYEH

presents

THE ENDURANCE TO MOVE

at the historic El Portal Theatre

November 13 & 14

Two Performances ONLY!

Internationally known choreographer Sonya Tayeh, the red-hot choreographer seen on So You Think You Can Dance returns for her third engagement to El Portal Mainstage in North Hollywood November 13 & 14 at 8pm. Created and directed by Sonya Tayeh., The Endurance To Move brings her intense, unique vision to the stage, expressing the miracle of survival and the strength to endure any obstacle.

Originally from Detroit, she received her BFA in dance studying dance history, anatomy, and performance from Wayne State University.

Now an internationally recognized choreographer, Tayeh is most familiar to audiences for her signature mohawk haircut and her ground breaking choreography on the hit television program So You Think You Can Dance and the new promo commercial for Dancing With The Stars.

Tayeh resides in Los Angeles where she is faculty at the Edge Performing Arts School, LMU University, and now leads the modern dance wing of the popular Monsters of Hip Hop. She also travels the world teaching workshops, intensive master classes, and choreographing her own pieces. Sonya has had the pleasure of collaborating with artists such as Kerli, Tabitha and Napoleon, Beat Freaks and many more. She has received much recognition and prestigious accolades at various choreography competitions and University Gala performances.

The talented cast includes: Hani Abaza, Shawntel Aguirre, Rey Barcena, Megan Campbell, Justin Daniel, Jenn Freeman. Jessie Hartley, Melissa Jackson, Will Johnston, Renee Kester, Melody Lacayanga, Nick Lanzisera, Kevin Le, Kristin Lorello, Danielle Peig, Brooke Pierotti, Joey Tarwarter, Chelsea Thedinga.

My experiences working with Sonya have been influential challenging and inspirational. She creates an aura of energy that pulls drive out of people to push themselves even harder than they knew was possible. Sonya has set a new standard that has been lost in LA for discipline and respect in rehearsals as well as on the stage. – Kristine Lorella

Don't miss America's best dancers in what is sure to be a sold out engagement!

The historic El Portal Theatre is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.

For tickets and information please call 818-508-4200.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

SYTYCD6 Phoenix, AZ Auditions Live Blog/Chat

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +0000

SYTYCD6 Phoenix, AZ Auditions Live Chat

Stay on your toes,

Selly

The Corral-- Premieres October 9th

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:34:00 +0000

THE CORRAL (World Premiere)
by ANABELLA LENZU/DANCEDRAMA
AT
MERCE CUNNINGHAM STUDIO
55 Bethune Street, 11th Floor
New York City
OCTOBER 9-11, 2009
Friday 9pm
Saturday & Sunday 8pm

Community. Chaos. Revolt- Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama will premiere The Corral, a dance-
theater piece for six dancers that explores the themes of homeland and patriotism at Merce
Cunningham Studio. The Corral features music by Astor Piazzolla, Alejandro Lerner, Eladia
Blazques & Victor Heredia, poetry by Gabriela Mistral and photography by Todd Carroll.
Performances are October 9-11 (Friday at 9:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday at 8pm) at Merce
Cunningham Studio, located at 55 Bethune Street, 11th Floor, New York City; tickets are $18; students $15 and can be purchased at the door.

Reservations recommended, please email: info@AnabellaLenzu.com

Anabella Lenzu reconstructs physical drama using contemporary movement and character
development. Lenzu’s movement vocabulary originates from folk traditions using rustic
primal gestures with accents of sweeping lyrical action that transports the audience to a
vibrant physical and emotional space.

Lenzu's newest work The Corral process the experience of “El Corralito”—the 2001 social-
political uprising in Argentina when the government froze all bank accounts, essentially
robbing the entire nation overnight. The word “Corralito” translates to corral, a holding pen
for farm animals.

Is your homeland part of your identity? Where is your home once you have left your
homeland behind? The pages of history in any country are written with the same words:
anger, power, joy, fear and hope.

The question of "society" and personal identity are interwoven, and the work centers around
the destruction and subsequent rebuilding of that relationship. It tells the story of one
specific country, but the message is global.

The Corral is performed by Briana Fails, Samuel Humphreys, Dawn Quigley, Debra Zalkind,
Lauren Ohmer & Anabella Lenzu.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

SYTYCD6 Premiere Live Blog/Chat

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:56:00 +0000

SYTYCD6 Auditions

Stay on your toes,

Selly

FAME, in theaters 9/25/09

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:39:00 +0000

FAME, a modern reinvention of the 1980 Oscar-winning dance flick follows the lives of students of Laguardia High School in New York City. With an all-star cast including Bebe Neuwirth, Debbie Allen, Kelsey Grammer, and many others, such as SYTYCD4's Kherrington Payne, it's bound to be good.

In celebration of the movie's release, The Pulse on Tour is holding a workshop with FAME choreographer Marguerite Derricks, along with dancers from the film. A Day of Fame will be on Saturday, September 12th at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands in Secaucus, NJ. More details and a tentative schedule can be found at the A Day of Fame website.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

SYTYCD: 15 Best Routines Ever

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Even though I didn't necessarily agree that some of the featured routines on last night's SYTYCD were some of "the best ever", I loved getting to see some of the old seasons again. It was kind of weird, just having Nigel talking to an empty studio, though.

In case you missed it, the dances featured were:
Season 1:
Shake -- Destini and Jamile, choreographed by Shane Sparks
All That Jazz -- Nick and Melody, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio

Season 2:
Black Mambo -- Benji and Heidi, choreographed by Alex de Silva
Why -- Allison and Ivan, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio
Calling You (The Bench Dance) -- Travis and Heidi, choreographed by Mia Michaels

Season 3:
The Hummingbird and the Flower -- Jaimie and Hok, choreographed by Wade Robson
Sweet Dreams -- Sabra and Neil, choreographed by Mandy Moore
Hip Hip Chin Chin -- Danny and Lacey, choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin
Fuego -- Pasha and Lauren, choreographed by Shane Sparks

Season 4:
The Garden -- Mark and Courtney, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Bleeding Love -- Mark and Chelsie, choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo
Hometown Glory -- Josh and Katee, choreographed by Mia Michaels

Season 5:
Love Is Really My Game -- Brandon and Janette, choreographed by Dorianna Sanchez
Gravity (Addiction) -- Kayla and Kupono, choreographed by Mia Michaels
If It Kills Me -- Jason and Jeanine, choreographed by Travis Wall
This Woman's Work -- Melissa and Ade, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio

The first audition episode of Season 6 airs next Wednesday at 8pm/7pm Central time. SYTYCDism.com has an excellent spoiler list up for S6 auditions and Vegaas Week, but proceed with caution if you don't want to know who got through; it is very thourough.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

I'm back for real this time, but you will have to bug me or I will not post very often

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:29:00 +0000

Here's the deal: I've been majorly busy. I've been lazy. I haven't been feeling like blogging. At all.

But I'm really wanting to again. And I'm going to need some help from my blog friends and readers to make that happen. Basically, what I'm saying is that I need a lot more motivation to keep the site up. So, if I haven't been posting in a while, shoot me a comment, or an email, or a twitter message or something, because, the more I have someone other than myself telling me to write, the more likely it is that I actually will. Getting back in to posting multiple times a day, or even multiple times a week, is going to be hard, but I'm willing to make that commitment, because dancing and writing are two things that I love.

So hopefully you'll be hearing a lot more from me very soon.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

A quick update before I go out of town

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:10:00 +0000

I have an exciting dance-filled weekend, jam packed with performances, master classes, and hopefully a quick stop at my favorite dance store.

St. Louis's ArtSpace's grand opening is this weekend. The All That Dance! studio has a slew of dance related events going on tomorrow, times and details for which can be found at their website.

I don't know how I missed this, but Ekaterina Maximova passed away earlier this week. The Bolshoi website has a shot and to the point obituary that was posted a few days ago. Check it out.

Excitingly, there are only 20 more days until the SYTYCD5 season premiere. Unfortunately, I have dress rehearsal for a big performance that night. My call time is early though, and since I'm only in one number, I might be able to catch at least part of the new episode if my commute back home isn't too bad.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately-- I've been really easy, and it's hard to get back in to the swing of blogging after taking a long break.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance Outlook Blog of the Weekend at Upstage Left!

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:36:00 +0000

This post is basically just a shout out to M.Butterfly at Notes From Upstage Left, who featured Dance Outlook as this week's Blog of the Weekend! So go check her site out. It's pretty amazing, and I'm not just saying that because she links to me.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Another post where I complain about pointe shoes

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:31:00 +0000

So right now, I have three pairs of pointe shoes in rotation: a pair of 10M Capezio Glisses in a "Regular" shank, and two pairs of Grishko Elites, one 6 1/2XX Medium shank and another 6XXX Soft shank.

After wearing the Elites for a couple weeks, I kept feeling like they were either a tad too big or a tad too wide, but I wasn't sure. I had gotten these from a different fitter than the one I normally go to (who has been strongly urging me to try both the Elites and the Glisses for months now) and wasn't sure I liked as much. So I went back to my normal fitter, told them what was going on, and got another pair in a half size smaller and a width wider. Bad idea. They felt fine in the store, but after trying to wear them in class, I realised that they're definitely too small and too wide. I don't think the width would bother me as much if these shoes weren't so square. I think if I get another pair of these, I'll get my original size, the 6 1/2XX.

After not being able to wear the smaller/wider Elites in class, I changed in to the Glisses which had been sitting in my dance bag since my early February performance untouched. They're SO comfortable, the shape is squarer than I would normally go for, but fits my feet almost perfectly, the shank and box are soft enough to mold to my feet really well but still be supportive, the vamp is long enough that I don't fall out of the front of the shoe because of the softer shank, and all of these factors combine to form a shoe that is both comfortable and supportive, and I am able to balance and get completely over the box in. It sounds like my dream shoe, right? Maybe, but with some platform Jet Glue and an Extra Strength shank. Needless to say, they died in that class that I wasn't able to wear the smaller Elites in.

While the Capezios are a tiny little tweak away from perfect, I think the Grishkos are more of a realistic shoe for me. They're significantly harder, but a heck of a lot softer than most Grishkos I've had, and a little squarer that the Capezios. Normally I would have a problem with this, but in these shoes (in the right size) I don't. The vamp is shorter, and combined with the stronger, Russian-style shank, also acceptable for keeping my feet from falling out of the front of the shoe. The most important thing, though, is that they make me work my feet a lot harder.

I think, ultimately, I'll end up in the Grishkos (and liking them). But, before I decide that for sure, I'm definitely going to order the ES shank Glisses and some Pointe Shoe Glue, just to see if I can perfect the almost-perfect pointe shoes.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

St. Louis Tap Festival 2009 and All That Dance! studio

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:08:00 +0000

The Robert L. Reed Tap Heritage Institute website was recently updated with the event and class schedule for the 2009 St. Louis Tap Festival. Information about a new dance studio, All That Dance!, opening in the St. Louis area to house the St. Louis Hoofer's Club was also posted.

Teachers for this year's SLTF include Robin Reed, Avi Miller & Ofer Ben, Logan Millen, Karen Calloway Williams, Bril Barrett, Denise Caston, Robert Reed III, Shannon Calderon, Robert L. Reed, Lynn Schwab, Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards, Mary Jo Clark-Cange, and festival honorees, Ardie Bryant and Miriam Nelson. Classes are scheduled to run Monday July 27th- SaturdayAugust 1st, concluding with the annual All That Tap show that Saturday night.

I'm getting really excited for this. Once again, I have the dilemma of picking between classes when I have two I want to take in one time slot. The odd thing this year is that ALL of the classes I want to take seem to be at the same time, and then there are times when nothing going on in either studio really interests me. But, I know whatever I tak, I'll end up having fun and learning a lot.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Release: Parsons Dance Gala 2009

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:59:00 +0000

Via Michelle Tabnick Communications:

PARSONS DANCE GALA 2009

Celebrating Lynn Davis, Ellsworth Kelly, and
Dr. & Mrs. Edward

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7pm
The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street
Linda Stocknoff, and the Board of Directors of Parsons Dance proudly announce Parson Dance's 2009 Gala hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7pm at The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street, NYC. The evening will begin with cocktails at 7pm and will include a performance by Parsons Dance, a competition Dancing in the Streets, where donors take the stage for one-minute routines with Parsons dancers as their partners, followed by honors. Parsons Dance recognizes Ellsworth Kelly and Dr. & Mrs. Edward J. Prostic, the lead commissioners of Remember Me, the company's January 2009 world premiere collaboration with the lead vocalists and music of East Village Opera Company, and Lynn Davis, a dedicated board member of Parsons Dance since 2006. Dessert, coffee, cocktails and dancing will end the evening. Host Lin-Manuel Miranda is the creator-composer-lyricist of In the Heights, winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and recipient of a Best Leading Actor nomination for his performance as Usnavi. Other credits: West Side Story, Stephen Schwartz' Working (contributing composer), Freestyle Love Supreme (co-founder/performer). TV/film: "The Electric Company," "Sesame Street," "The Sopranos." PARSONS DANCE GALA COMMITTEE 2009 Members of the 2009 Gala Committee are Linda Stocknoff, Gala Chair, and Co-Chairs Barbara Rohdie, Froma Benerofe, Richard Kielar, Vickie Morris, and Fiorenza Scholey. Parson Dance's 2009 Gala will be held Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:00 pm at The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street, NYC. Tickets begin at $495 and are available by calling (212) 869-9275, by emailing gala@parsonsdance.org or online at nycharities.org/parsonsdance.

ABOUT PARSONS DANCE PARSONS DANCE is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. The company tours regionally, nationally and internationally.

PARSONS DANCE HISTORY Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured an average of 32 weeks per year, to a total of more than 235 cities, 30 countries, six continents and millions of audience members. Many others have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network, and the Discovery Channel. Millions watched Parsons Dance perform live in Times Square as part of the internationally broadcast, 24-hour Millennium New Year's Eve celebration. In New York City, Parsons Dance has been featured at The Joyce Theater, City Center, New Victory Theater, Central Park Summerstage, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and The World Trade Center. The New York Times called David Parsons "one of the great movers of modern dance." New York Magazine referred to him as "one of modern dance's great living dance-makers." David Parsons (Artistic Director/Founder) has enjoyed a remarkable career as a performer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer of dance. Mr. Parsons was born in Chicago and raised in Kansas City. He was a leading dancer with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, where Mr. Taylor created many roles for him in works such as Arden Court, Last Look and Roses. He is a recipient of the 2000 Dance Magazine Award, as well as the 2001 American Choreography Award, for his work as a co-producer of AEROS, a production featuring the Romanian Gymnastic Federation that was featured on Bravo. Mr. Parsons has created more than 70 works for Parsons Dance. He has received commissions over the years from The American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, the Spoleto Festival and Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, to name a few. His work has been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Nederlands Danse Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Hubbard Street Dance and BatSheva Dance Company of Israel, among many others. In June 2007, Mr. Parsons was honored to be the very first contemporary choreographer ever to stage work at the centuries-old Arena di Verona, in Verona Italy, where he choreographed Verdi's Aida. The Arena is one of Italy's most respected operatic venues. In September 2007, he directed and choreographed Gotham Chamber Opera's production of María de Buenos Aires, which made its world premiere at a sold-out engagement in New York, at NYU's Skirball Center for the Arts. Parsons Dance receives support from Bank of America, The Blavatnik Charitable Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Friars Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund of the New York Community Trust, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, Nina W. Werblow Charitable Trust, The Shubert Foundation, Theater Development Fund, Trust for Mutual Understanding. For more information, visit www.parsonsdance.org.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

I'm back!

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:55:00 +0000

After an all too long hiatus, Dance Outlook is back for good. Once I get back in the swing of blogging (and reading the more than 300 Google Reader items waiting for me!), posts should be on a regular basis as before. Thanks a lot for all the support from readers I got while not able to post for the past couple months. A lot has happened since then, and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm really glad to be back.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance Outlook Hiatus

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Because of personal and security reasons, Dance Outlook will be taking a hiatus for the next few months. I do not know when I will be posting again, but it will not be for a while. Thank you all for your continuous support during the time that this blog was being updated regularly.

Selly

NYCDA St. Louis, Ailey II, and loads of other stuff.

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:15:00 +0000

I haven't posted very much lately, but I have some very legitimate reasons: Two workshops, two performances (one my own, one I saw), a dress rehearsal, and the face that Google Reader hates me so I can't read any of the blog posts I normally do without using Internet Explorer.

So, if I'm going in chronological order, New York City Dance Alliance, St. Louis:
Classes were amazing, as always with this convention. It's cheesy and it's the same every year, but I still love Joe Lanteri's speech before scholarship auditions. Our teachers for the weekend were Joe Lanteri for Jazz; Mike Schulster for Tap; Jason Parsons, aka Bonnie Pink Bonnet for Contemporary; Jaimie Goodwin for GirlFrenzy; Lauren Adams (now Adams-Spinetti, I think, but it still just says Adams on the NYCDA site) for Lyrical; Scott Jovovich for Ballet; AC Ciualla for Fusion; and Dana Wilson for Hip Hop.

My favorite classes this year were Lauden Adams's and Joe Lanteri's which, coincidentally, I sort of hated last year. I think the difference is me, though. I loved the way both of them explained everything; it made total sense in my body, and I understood it. These, along with Jason Parsons's class were the highlights of my weekend.

Unfortunately, I thought the ballet and tap sort of sucked. The ballet guy was more concerned about us doing 12 (yes, TWELVE) "ice skater turns" and six fouettes pulling in to a quintuple pirouette than technique or maybe actual ballet. It was really disappointing. The tap was just sort of mediocre and boring. You could tell he was teaching to the girls in the back that don't take tap but spend lots and lots of money on competition entry fees. It wasn't horrible, and I took the class, but I definitely won't be seeking out another tap class from this teacher.

Even though there are a large number of bra/booty short costumed pieces at this convention, I really enjoyed watching the competition Saturday night. The type of competition studios at NYCDA are generally the type that have some legitimately good strong dancers that are more than 6 pirouettes and pitch kicks. Some of the props got to the point where the setting up was longer than the dance itself, and then the prop is never used, which wastes time and angers me. The only other thing that bothered me was the screaming. There was a certain studio there that screamed through every single one of their dances and talked through everyone else's. That's not annoying.

Even though I was exhausted and badly bruised at the end of the weekend, Dance Alliance continued to be my favorite workshop aside from The Pulse, whose faculty is simply amazing.

Ailey II:
I didn't take notes, and I had just driven 2 hours from NYCDA to get there on time. Even though I loved it, I was afraid I would fall asleep about 3 times. That's how tired I was. The dancers were top notch, only slightly less technically and artistically mind-blowing as the ones in AAADT. I appreciated Revelations much, much more after having taken a Horton class for the past few months. The whole evening was quite enjoyable.

Hopefully, having these things over, and only a few workshops left this season, I'll have time to post a lot more than I have been recently.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

SYTYCD Canada Tour set list

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Once again, SYTYCDism has provided an extremely thorough set list, this time for the first SYTYCDC tour, complete with videos and spoilers. Also, Reality Raver reviewed/recapped the auditions for SYTYCD Australia's 2nd season.

I really wish we got either (or both) of these shows in the U.S. From the little bits I've seen on YouTube, the dancing seems just as good as that on the original version, and it would be nice to have a dance show to watch during SYTYCD's off-season other than ABDC or DWTS.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

First performance of "Peter", Pilobolus, new pointe shoes, and Legally Blonde the Musical

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:39:00 +0000

Peter and The Wolf
We performed PATW for the first time on Thursday after only a few months of rehearsing once a week. Yikes. Luckily it was for little kids, the majority of whom wouldn't know the difference anyway. It went well in the long run, there were just some annoying little things that happened that definitely could have been worked out in rehearsals that were longer, more intense, and more often.

I had fun, and I think the audiences did too, so that's the important part. We perform again this week before premiering it at a local theatre as our "real" performance later this season. I'm sort of nervous that I'll mess up the solo I learned less than a week ago, even though it's pretty simple and easy to fake even if I do. This is, however, not something I particularly look forward to. Four months till Nutcracker auditions!

Pilobolus
Last night I attended Pilobolus Dance Theater's Dance St. Louis performance. They performed 5 pieces: Lanterna Magica, Pseudopodia, Darkness and Light, Ocellus, and Megawatt.

After the first two pieces, I was really impressed. The company manages to use partnering in groups and duos without looking like cheerleaders or an orgy. The can use props without them getting in the way and they actually help move the dance forward, both artistically and literally. It was gymnastic and acrobatic without losing its choreographic and "dance-y" quality.

And then came Darkness And Light. Now, I'm not exactly sure what this was. Not only did I not understand it, I didn't understand how the images came to appear on the screen at the front of the stage that hid all action taking place behind it. They either projected things on to the screen on shown lights behind then screen while using their bodies to make shapes. The symbolism and images were also hard to understand. I've compiled a list of things this piece might have shown/been about:

Jellyfish
Genitalia
Wasps
Aurora Borealis
Electric currents
Creatures devouring their young
Evolution
Birth
Mutants
Butterflies
Stoplights
A vortex of some sort
Black holes
Puppetry
Shadow monsters

I'm honestly not sure what it was meant to mean or symbolize, all I know is that it was much longer than I would have liked.

Ocellus was really good at showing off the strength and control of the male dancers in the company. But, however immature this is, I was still distracted by the whole "They're dancing in thongs and nothing else and that guy has his face on the other guys crotch" aspect of the dance. It was a really cool historic piece, but also sort of awkward.

My favorite of the night was Megawatt. It was the type of spazzy and weird that I like. Not too overly spazzy and weird in a pretentious artistic way, more in a fun eclectic way. They threw themselves on the floor, crawled around on their backs, had convulsions, and did some crazy crazy partnering and lifts. My one complaint was that there were so many really awesome things going on at the same time that I wasn't sure where to look. The standouts (and the people that I finally settled on watching) were Jenny Mendez and Christopher Whitney, who did some amazing partnering. This piece was almost reminiscent on Cedar Lake's DECADANCE, only on speed. It was sort of psycho and really strange, and I loved it.

All in all, it was a great show, and it got me really excited for Dance St. Louis's '09-'10 season, which includes Complexions (WOO HOO!), Joffrey, River North Chicago, Aszure Barton, Ballet Folklorico, and Moscow Festival ballet.

New Pointe Shoes
Today I got new shoes. Again. This time my fitting only lasted a little less than an hour and a half, so that's more than an hour shorter than my last one.

After trying on 3 or 4 size/width/shank combinations of Capezio Glisses, Grishko Elites, Grishko 2007s, Gaynors and Fuzis, along with Celia Kerches, Sanshas, Freeds, other Grishkos, various Blochs, and probably 3 or 4 other shoes, I finally decided on Capezio Glisses in a 10 M.

They're really soft (which I like) but the boxes are sort of more... resilient(?)... than other softer (and fast dying) shoes that I've tried on. The shanks are really nicely molding to my feet without me doing anything to them whatsoever, and even though the vamp is just a tiny little bit longer than I would normally like, but because they're so soft, I don't think I'll have and trouble getting over the box or rolling through demi-pointe. This is all good, but I'm sort of chronically pessimistic about new pointe shoes just because so, so many pairs have not worked for me in the past. Eventually I will find something. I hope.

So, will these be the magical pointe shoes of wonder that finally work on Selly's feet? Will she ultimately regret buying a completely new pair of shoes a day before she has to perform on pointe? Stay tuned for these answers, and more!

Legally Blonde
I walked in to Legally Blonde with Omigod You Guys already stuck in my head. I walked out not being able to stop thinking about the "Today for you, tomorrow for me" song from RENT. How does that work again?

I really loved this show. I was sort of hoping I would get to see Laura Bell Bundy perform today, just for the star factor, since the actress normally playing Elle broke her toe and is still recovering. Instead, we got MTV's Search For The New Elle Woods contestant Lauren Ashley Zakrin. I actually liked her performance a lot.

The music and dancing were great, even while slightly off at times. I'm a huge fan of the story and the witty/snarky dialogue and lyrics, which the cast successfully pulled off. I was also hugely impressed that both dogs in the show were rescued from shelters and trained to "act" (can dogs act?) in the musical instead of being "hired".

Overall the show was very cutesy and entertaining. The dancing was awesome, especially from some of the guys. You can definitely who's taken ballet before, though. It was fun and I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance On The Internet Update

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:39:00 +0000

I know, I'm bad, I haven't posted in over a week. I really have no excuse. Anyhow, here's what some other dance bloggers have been up to while I've been on hiatus:

According to Tonya, Superstars of Dance has gotten worse. Although I haven't watched it again, I have to agree simply based upon all the negative feedback I've seen about the show. It seems that virtually no one likes it. I'm surprised it hasn't been canceled.
Nina Amir blogs about she and her son's troubles finding an appropriate and affordable Summer Intensive.
Nichelle at Dance Advantage discusses the impact of negativity, perfectionism, and the word "can't" in dance.
SYTYCDism is now available on Twitter. You can see their page and follow them here.
I recently discovered a fairly new dance blog, This Dance Is a Cliche. The site is filled with hilarious and witty cliches of the dance world, like fouette turns in competition pieces of any style, lingerie as dance costumes, lip syncing to musical theater numbers... the list goes on. Readers can submit their own dance pet peeves to be posted on the site.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Two weeks without dancing + classes resuming + rehearsals = OUCH!

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:33:00 +0000

This past week was my first time dancing after a two week break. It was quite eventful, and quite painful.

Classes started back up again in our new facility. Since the studio moved, some of my classes got changed, so I'm at the studio longer and later than I'm used to.
We finally have a contemporary class. It's pretty freaking awesome. I didn't have any expectations for the teacher at all. She seemed way too much the classical ballerina type to teach something like that, but luckily, that assumption was oh so wrong. I can't wait till next week.
The aforementioned teacher also subbed for our modern class (which is usually very strict, and sometimes that horrible combination of hard but boring Horton). We all loved it, and then in turn started to feel bad that we liked it so much only because it was so much like our class we had last year with the teacher that we adored who moved away. So modern will probably feel dreadful this upcoming week in comparison.
Marley is very slick when new. That is all.
My pointe shoes went from "Broken In, Sort Of" to "Virtually Dead, YIPEE!" in 2 classes or less. I expect them to last for maybe part of next week,
Right when I need it (see #5), I realize that I'm not sure where my Jet Glue is.
Once again today, I failed to convince our director that I really need to learn this solo I'm supposed to be performing in 3 weeks if I'm actually going to be performing it in 3 weeks. Since there is no understudy and no one has learned the part, I assume that I am still performing it in three weeks, yet I have not even heard the music yet.
My knees are bruised, I'm sore all over, it's probably time to go to bed and then get used to my new schedule (which does not yet include my tap class that I've been taking since July that I still consider "new" or any rehearsals for that studio.). Yikes.

So, this week has been good, just not what I'm used too. Hopefully, all will return to normal soon.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

More SYTYCD5 Audition Dates

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Just when we all thought Fox might never release the dates for audition cities other than NYC, they were finally announced. The judges will travel to Miami, LA, Denver, Memphis, and Seattle this year in search of contestants for the 5th season of So You Think You Can Dance. The dates are as follows:

Feb. 3 Miami, FL

Feb. 12 Los Angeles, CA

Mar. 12 Denver, CO

Mar. 16 Memphis, TN

Mar. 28 Seattle, WA

More information can be found on the Fox website. Good luck to anyone who auditions!

Stay on your toes,

Selly

"Superstars" a total flop

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Now, I did not expect much of Superstars of Dance, NBC's newest show, but I surely didn't expect it to be as dreadfully bad as it was.

Instead of trying to explain to you why I didn't like it (which I very much did not), I've chosen to post some opinions of Dance Outlook readers about the show.

Todd- This show may have hit new lows in vulgarity. Where was the "dancing"? This was more like a gymnastics talent show staged in Las Vegas. The "Russian" couple is about as Russian as I am. More likely they're from Bensonhurst. The "Indian" girls are probably from New Jersey. This show is unwatchable and, with any luck, it will be off the air mercifully soon. If you want to see real dancing, with class, artistry, grace and beauty -- and on ice skates! -- check out Russia's "Lednikovyi period". I can't wait for "Dancing with the Stars" to return, which puts this show to shame.

Belinda- Having such cultural diversity in dance on one show was great. Hard to compare head-to-head though - some of the more culturally-grounded pieces involved more non-dance skills than dance, but were visually appealing and had good performance quality.

What really bugged me was the camera angles and choices of cameras that the show's director chose. Do these people even understand dance and the importance of seeing the body movement more than Pasha's chest hair or the wide angle shot of the set with the dancers looking like ants? The harsh jumps between angles and the lack of proper filters for lighting glare was vertigo-inducing and amateurish. I get better footage sitting in the audience with my camcorder than we saw on network television.

I hope Nigel throws a fit and gets some dance-savvy camera folks working by tonight. Very disappointing technical showing by NBC.

Nichelle @ Dance Advantage- I must admit I did not watch closely last night - was multitasking. I did DVR it though and will probably try to watch again so that I can make a fair assessment. My initial thoughts:

I appreciate the idea of showcasing talent from other countries. I appreciate the showcasing of professional talent/companies. The competition aspect seems silly though. How do you compare apples to oranges, especially if (as professionals) the dancing quality should be pretty high anyway? From what I saw, all of the scores given were within the range of 4 points (7-10). Seems pointless to me.

I guess I don't get this obsession with competition shows (or this obsession with producing competition shows). Why not just have a show that showcases the MANY spectacular dance artists from all over the world instead of turning it into a meaningless competition? I don't think its the competition that necessarily gets people to watch (particularly if it's lame). I think if the quality on all fronts is there, people will want to tune in. Stop underestimating and patronizing audiences!

Katrina- Belinda, Nigel hasn't had any dance savvy camera people ever. No granted I don't mind seeing Pasha's chest LOL but in general I agree.

Todd... just because someone is technically not from the country doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to compete for that country. It happens ALL the time in the Olympics: Tanith Belbin is from Canada but recently got her citizenship so she could be allowed to compete for the US. That's just one example, there are lots more.

Just because they're from a different country, doesn't mean they're "in tune" with their culture. I'm American but I know how to do the Polka (part of my German heritage) and I know how to cook many German foods. It's all how you're raised.

My main issue with this show, was the scoring... just did not make sense...I should know better than to watch any show Nigel produces.

One thing that I really dislike about the show is the judging. Everything is either absolutely amazing (none of it is) or dreadful, yet the lowest score given has been a 7. I hated that Dormeshia was booted so early. I mean, you just don't get better at tap then she is. There is no next level.

The general consensus, at least my interpretation of it? Weird format and show, generally mediocre dancing, incorrect scoring and judging. I predict it will get canceled very very soon.

A Time To Dance, Dancing A La Mode, and Swan Lake Samba Girl have all blogged about the show, among many others.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Superstars of Dance Update

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Panya! Dormeshia! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!

Ahem. Excuse that. I got an email about Superstars of Dance revealing its contestants about a week ago and, out of laziness, never clicked on the link. Then, an article from SYTYCDism showed up in my GoogleReader feed today confirming Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis (of SYTYCD3) as contestants on the show. Finally, I found that link, and to my surprise, I find that the "solo tap dancer" for the USA team is none other than Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards!

Teams from Argentina, Australia, China, Ireland, India, Russia, South Africa, and the United States will compete for the grand prize. The panel of judges will be composed of one judge from the home country of each team, but no judge will be allowed to submit a score for the team from their country.

The show airs on NBC starting this Sunday, January 4th, at 9/8 Central. I think I'm, going to have to watch this...

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dancing in to 2009!

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:53:00 +0000

It's a new year, meaning for the dance world a new semester of classes, a new season of performances. Competition season has officially begun, and studios across the country are starting to set pieces for spring recitals. Let's look back at dance in 2008. DISCLAIMER: These are in no particular order; they are also all my opinion. If you don't agree with something, deal.

Top 5 Dance Outlook Posts of 2008:
Fox's NYE Ball Drop Event
Review: Center Stage 2: Turn It Up (I forced myself to watch it)
Next stop on Selly's pointe shoe adventure
Update on Center Stage 2: Turn It Up
NBC Unveils "Superstars Of Dance"

My Favorite Dance Blogs of 2008:
Notes From Upstage Left
Dance Advantage
A Time To Dance
Danciti
jPointe
Swan Lake Samba Girl
The Dance Mom

Top 5 Dance Performances of 2008 (that I saw):
Dance St. Louis's Spring To Dance Festival
Paul Taylor Dance Company's Beloved Renegade
Misnomer Dance Theater's Being Together, broadcast live online
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's Revelations
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet's DECADANCE

That's all I've come up with so far. If anyone has a suggestion for a category, feel free to comment.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Review: A Beautiful Tragedy

danceoutlook@gmail.com (Selly) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Today, I was finally able to see A Beautiful Tragedy, a film by Norwegian director David Kinsella documenting Mariinsky Theatre dancer, Oksana Skorik's training at the Perm State Choreographic Institute.

The opening scene narrated how Oksana ended up at the ballet school: after her birth, Oksana's mother realized that she was adequately proportioned for ballet and began stretching her daughter's feet and legs. When she was 4 years old, her mother attempted to "give" her to the ballet school, but she was not accepted until a year later because of her age. Three things about Oksana, then 15, become immediately apparent: her talent, her desire to leave the Perm school, and her skewed sense of reality.

Much of the story is told through Oksana's diary entries, which describe her emotional struggles with food/eating, her strict and sometimes flat out cruel teachers, and her troubles relating to and befriending other students at the school, specifically with golden girl Masha Menshikova. At times, her anorexia and self loathing overcome her; she goes days without food before her end of semester exams and then worries about what her scores will be, assuming that she will get the lowest grades in her class. She receives a 4+, which I understand to be the highest score one can earn in this type of exam, along with a harsh criticism from Sacharova, the main classical ballet teacher at Perm.

Despite her teachers' and mother's encouragement to eat, Oksana struggles with the constant pressure to be a "perfect" thin dancer. She repeatedly denies her talent and thinness, thinking of herself as fat and a horrible dancer.

At times, her mood changes: she is hopeful, finds joy in dancing and rehearsing, and realizes her tremendous grace and talent. Eventually, in the epilogue of the film, Oksana is shown in her final year at the Perm State Choreographic institute. She is happy again, has overcome her anorexia, is awarded the lead role in her class's graduation performance, and is offered a job at the Mariinsky Theatre, where she is currently dancing in the corps de ballet.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I thought the media I had seen about it was a little misleading. The film is much, much more focused on Oksana's weight and social problems than it is on her dancing, which I would have liked to see more of, especially in the classroom scenes, which were portrayed, I'm sure intentionally, as a place more for scoldings and criticism than for learning to dance.

All in all, A Beautiful Tragedy was definitely worthwhile and provides much insight, somewhat biased as it may be, in to the lives of the young kids at the Perm school. I highly recommend it to any ballet lover.

Stay on your toes,

Selly