alonewiththemoon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alonewiththemoon) wrote2007-07-26 01:35 pm
alonewiththemoon) wrote2007-07-26 01:35 pm
Entry tags:
oops
It appears that I grind my teeth hard enough at night to crack my fillings--today's exam revealed a total of four broken/lost fillings. No new cavities, just old ones, which I suppose is good news in a way. The dentist redid one cavity yesterday, and then after xrays today did the one with the most decay around it. The remaining two are pretty clean so they'll get done in September. I kind of wanted to suggest that we just go for broke and fill them all at once, but I probably would have changed my mind about that halfway through so it's just as well I didn't.
I liked the concept of having everybody do the same solo in the same costume, though as Mia Michaels noted one expected the contestants to do more personalizing. I thought the more successful solos were Sara, Danny and above all Sabra--I totally believed every moment of Sabra's dancing and thought she just radiated hope and power at the end. I thought Sara gave it her trademark strength, and I liked Danny's interpretation. He's clearly pushing himself to be more outwardly focused when he's dancing and if he keeps it up he could be a legitimate winner. (though with America voting who knows how it will go) Also, if I never hear that song again it will be too soon.
The duets:
Lauren and Pasha's hip hop was better than Kameron and Lacey's, but I still didn't think they were sharp enough in their movement quality. Pretty sure I could see Pasha counting--not moving his lips, but the thought process was there in his face. Also I am sure there are plenty of b-boys in Russia, contrary to Nigel's remark that the performance probably made Pasha the best Russian hip hop dancer in the world.
Sabra and Kameron's what ever it was, contemporary I guess, to Amazing Grace. Hated the song, which made it a little hard to watch. As M remarked, Amazing Grace should only be performed with bagpipes. Sabra had one floating leap in the middle that was just breathtaking. Again, I believed her, but Kameron was just dragging the whole thing down. He is really not at the same level as the other dancers. If I saw him dancing out at a nightclub, I would think he was a good dancer, but I would never suspect he was a professional dancer.
Lacey and Danny's samba--there wasn't much connection between the two of them, and that made it look like a recital piece. Danny was pretty good; I think that Latin music and dance styles have really helped some of the guys on the show break out of their emotional boundaries and I would include him in that category. Lacey... to me, she's very calculated in what she does, it's all about the impact of her sexiness and her basic dance persona and that's the limit of her interpretation. All her performances look the same to me, regardless of style. She's a very good dancer, no denying that, but I find her very fake on stage.
Jaime and Dominic's "waltz"--their choreographer screwed them over, if you ask me. Yes, they were hammy, but what else could you be with that music? And how were they supposed to illustrate that they knew how to waltz if they were too busy flipping skirts and making macho poses to actually take three steps together? I thought they looked like they were having fun. I'll agree with the critiques of Dominic's technique, but maybe if it had been a straight waltz piece he could have concentrated more on technique and less on being the Man of La Mancha.
Neil and Sara's disco number was by far my favorite of the duets. They gave it so much sass and character and there were plenty of wow moments, I'm thinking especially of when Neil spun Sara on the floor and also when he held her leaning back and she did two snappy yet fluid undulations. That's been the only disco number of the season that looked like actual disco. Obviously the two of them had a blast and really threw themselves into the spirit of the routine. I give them an A+++!
So I don't know who will be sent home--if people aren't stupid, definitely Kameron among the guys, but I'm not sure about the girls. Neither Jaime nor Lauren impressed me very much this week, and there wasn't much to differentiate them. I would still give Lacey the benefit of the doubt for another week--maybe like Danny she will really think about what the judges said and change her approach, and if she does she'd be something really worth watching.
Gosh I wish my face would stop being numb.
I liked the concept of having everybody do the same solo in the same costume, though as Mia Michaels noted one expected the contestants to do more personalizing. I thought the more successful solos were Sara, Danny and above all Sabra--I totally believed every moment of Sabra's dancing and thought she just radiated hope and power at the end. I thought Sara gave it her trademark strength, and I liked Danny's interpretation. He's clearly pushing himself to be more outwardly focused when he's dancing and if he keeps it up he could be a legitimate winner. (though with America voting who knows how it will go) Also, if I never hear that song again it will be too soon.
The duets:
Lauren and Pasha's hip hop was better than Kameron and Lacey's, but I still didn't think they were sharp enough in their movement quality. Pretty sure I could see Pasha counting--not moving his lips, but the thought process was there in his face. Also I am sure there are plenty of b-boys in Russia, contrary to Nigel's remark that the performance probably made Pasha the best Russian hip hop dancer in the world.
Sabra and Kameron's what ever it was, contemporary I guess, to Amazing Grace. Hated the song, which made it a little hard to watch. As M remarked, Amazing Grace should only be performed with bagpipes. Sabra had one floating leap in the middle that was just breathtaking. Again, I believed her, but Kameron was just dragging the whole thing down. He is really not at the same level as the other dancers. If I saw him dancing out at a nightclub, I would think he was a good dancer, but I would never suspect he was a professional dancer.
Lacey and Danny's samba--there wasn't much connection between the two of them, and that made it look like a recital piece. Danny was pretty good; I think that Latin music and dance styles have really helped some of the guys on the show break out of their emotional boundaries and I would include him in that category. Lacey... to me, she's very calculated in what she does, it's all about the impact of her sexiness and her basic dance persona and that's the limit of her interpretation. All her performances look the same to me, regardless of style. She's a very good dancer, no denying that, but I find her very fake on stage.
Jaime and Dominic's "waltz"--their choreographer screwed them over, if you ask me. Yes, they were hammy, but what else could you be with that music? And how were they supposed to illustrate that they knew how to waltz if they were too busy flipping skirts and making macho poses to actually take three steps together? I thought they looked like they were having fun. I'll agree with the critiques of Dominic's technique, but maybe if it had been a straight waltz piece he could have concentrated more on technique and less on being the Man of La Mancha.
Neil and Sara's disco number was by far my favorite of the duets. They gave it so much sass and character and there were plenty of wow moments, I'm thinking especially of when Neil spun Sara on the floor and also when he held her leaning back and she did two snappy yet fluid undulations. That's been the only disco number of the season that looked like actual disco. Obviously the two of them had a blast and really threw themselves into the spirit of the routine. I give them an A+++!
So I don't know who will be sent home--if people aren't stupid, definitely Kameron among the guys, but I'm not sure about the girls. Neither Jaime nor Lauren impressed me very much this week, and there wasn't much to differentiate them. I would still give Lacey the benefit of the doubt for another week--maybe like Danny she will really think about what the judges said and change her approach, and if she does she'd be something really worth watching.
Gosh I wish my face would stop being numb.