Can A Contemporary Dancer or Group Ever Win World of Dance??

Or a ballroom dancer or tappers, for that matter. As I noted in my final live blog post for the season, hip hoppers have always won, either in pairs or groups.

Season 1 – Les Twins
Season 2 – The Lab
Season 3 – The Kings

The Kings describe themselves as Bolly Hop but there is little Bollywood and lots of hip hop in most of their dances. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE the Kings and I’m not disputing their win at all. Their routines were fantastic, they always got me excited, and so on. I might even go so far as to say that the other finalists’ routines didn’t quite live up to The Kings final routine.

Can any routine ever hope to live up to the excitement of a routine like The Kings final routine? As Hip Hop, or Bolly Hop, it’s always going to be high energy. Very high energy. Contemporary, most of the time, is NOT high energy.

Also need to say that this is not really a critique of the judging, per se. I think the judges, over all, do a great job in a very difficult situation.

So, what do you do to fix it, if it’s even broke?? I think I need to go back and watch the winner and runner up from each season. First up, Les Twins.

Coming in second to Les Twins was Eva Igo, followed very closely by Swing Latino. Side note, in Season 1, three finalists each danced twice. I’ve included (I think) their final performance.

Now, both of these routines are excellent. I actually loved Swing Latino and the final scores were VERY close. When you averaged the two dances together, Les Twins ended with a 93.8, Eva with a 93.7 and Swing Latino had a 93.2. A razor thin margin.

Season 2 was won by The Lab. I LOVE the Lab and I was rooting for them the whole way, no lie. But…who was the runner up?? Michael Dameski, another soloist doing contemporary. Now, I was not rooting for Michael. At the time I didn’t think he was all that and preferred either the Lab or Charity & Andres. But a pattern is emerging, ain’t it? 🙂 Here’s the Lab’s final dance:

The Lab’s choreographer is VERY smart. They took the hip hop vibe, co-opted the contemporary emotions and came up with a dance that makes me weepy to this day. And there is no arguing with the synchronicity and the style of this dance. That’s a winner. Here’s Michael’s final routine.

Another good routine. No doubt. But does it stand up against The Lab?? And if not…why not? Of course, sometimes the final routines aren’t all equal and it comes down to contemporary versus hip hop. I would argue that Michael’s final routine didn’t deserve the win, compared to The Lab. It didn’t touch me, there didn’t seem to be anything special about it when compared to contemporary in general. That’s the way it goes sometimes and it brings up another question that I will discuss below.

Now, season three just happened, but let’s re-watch the dances with a couple days distance (and maybe clearer heads in some cases – yes, I saw ya’ll tweeting Derek telling him his scoring was crap). First, The Kings:

Now, don’t just watch the faces of the dancers and the judges – look at the faces on Zack Everhart and the other Unity LA dancers. They knew IN THE MOMENT after seeing that dance that they lost. There is no question – that dance was a work of art. Theirs was as well…but how do you compete with what the Kings did as a contemporary dancer? Here is Unity LA’s final performance:

This was a beautiful dance, a Monet like one of the judges said. What was wrong with it? Not a damn thing.

So now, essentially, you have three hip hop winners and three contemporary runners up. Coincidence? Probably not.

What are the differences between the winner and the runner(s) up? Well, there are a few things that are markedly different:

  • Many times it’s a younger dancer competing against people with more life experience to influence their dance. Dance is about emotion and your emotions are (usually) richer as you age.
  • Contemporary, as typically (way too typically) done, is slower, softer, beautiful, without the uptempo to get your heart pumping and the crazy tricks to make you hold your breath.
  • Hip Hop doesn’t have RULES; ballroom and, to a lesser extent, contemporary certainly do. One wrong step in a Tango and Derek will see it. One sickly foot in contemporary and Derek AND JLo will see it for sure. In Hip Hop, you pretty much have to fall over for it to be seen as an error.
  • Props. Lots and lots of props. Ballroom doesn’t do it. Contemporary rarely does it. Hip Hop?? All. The. Time.  If you look at Les Twins final, or The Labs second to last dance…many props and used extremely well.
  • Jennifer likes to talk about narrative, and sometimes it seems that the emotion of contemporary is a substitute for a narrative. All three of the Hip Hop winners have a strong narrative or story going on.  Most of the time, I watch contemporary or ballroom and can’t see the narrative. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH NOT HAVING A STORY OR A NARRATIVE…but I do find it interesting that all three winners DO. It certainly seems to help.

That’s quite a few differences between winners and losers. The combination of them might make the difference. So, between Les Twins and Eva Igo – were the winners deserving? Well, all winners are deserving for one reason or another, but I didn’t (at the time) see Les Twins as better than Eva. Up until the finale, I had seen them as rather one-note. Eva seemed to have more range and she was many years their junior. Michael Dameski versus the Lab? Well, I thought the Lab were firing on all cylinders all season long – I think that win was clear cut. Much more clear cut than Season 1. Unity LA versus The Kings?? Again, I thought the Kings had the better finale dance…but if Unity LA had done their divisional final dance on the final would it have been closer? Probably. But they might not have won their division.

When thinking about the final routines and how it can make or break a competitor…should everything hinge on the finale night, or should there be more attention paid to the work they did across the whole season?? Did they grow and evolve? Were they fantastic on night one and then fade away? Should there be a scoring category that takes into account growth or lack thereof?? Or should the scores of the entire season be averaged?

It’s hard to ignore that hip hop has won all three seasons, and really, season 1 is the only time I take issue with that. So what can be done? What more can they do to level the playing field? Will contemporary EVER win?? For the love of god, Ballroom is the hardest and gets no love – not fair, IMO. Most of the time, I get the impression that Jennifer, at least, prefers contemporary to most other styles. And Derek is going to go tougher on his specialty while Ne-Yo and Jennifer are relatively clueless on ballroom/latin. So, what do you think? What can be done? And does the show REALLY need fixing or did it work out the right way every time??

May 8, 2019 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

The Finale of World of Dance Season 2! Live Blog!!

Just a few more minutes until we start the finale. Who do you think is going to win?? I’m no longer sure of anything. I think I would like to see the Lab win.

Love to see the judges dance on TV…remember, what was shown on TV was a short version of the full dance you can see online.

Each group or dancer dances twice – once to a song picked by their mentor and once to a song of their choice.

Love that shot from the LA museum with Charity and Andres, where all the lamp posts are. So cool. They’re up first with Derek as a mentor.

Derek picks “Ain’t No Sunshine” which is a remix of the original. Love when he gets in there and dances with them.

Love the start, with her in silhouette, and then they turn up the heat. This is very good – contempofusion style dance which I appreciate. I don’ know if it’s enough to win it all but they’re damn good.

Derek stands for them, loves the partner work, loves the silhouette. Asks the how they feel being this close, they are grateful. Ne-Yo mentions the broken toe again – the big toe which she did all those crazy spins on. Jennifer loves how the compliment each other, says it was a great routine, but there were moments where they had nerves. Read more..

September 12, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 14 Live Blog!! Divisional Finals!!

Well, let’s see if I like this week more than I liked last week. Maybe Misty Copeland will even things about a bit…although she’s a notoriously tough scorer. This week is the divisional finals where we whittle it down to one team/dancer per division. Ugh. Super hard. Thanks to WoD twitter for summing up the groups in once nice tweet. 🙂

Who do I want to go through? Having a tough time with that one. I sure do love The Lab, but the Fabulous Sisters are great too. Juniors? I think Charity and Andres. Upper – Karen y Ricardo or there is no justice in this world. We don’t need another contemporary dancer. Although I do think Ashley and Zach bring something new to that style. Upper Team? I still like S-Rank although Poreotics could take it. I think the Ruggeds were a fluke last week. We’ll see!!

Here we go….
Read more..

September 5, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 13 Live Blog!! THE CUTS, Part 2!!

Ten more minutes until the second round of THE CUT!! I already discussed my hopes for tonight – we’ll see how right (or wrong) I was.

Tonight – Upper Team and Junior Divisions! Let’s go!!

Upper Team is going first with mentors Paula Abdul and Jenna Dewan. Desi Hoppers are going first – I love them. All are starstruck by Paula.

They can’t understand her…don’t feel bad, most humans can’t. 🙂

They’re all in white with gold trim. Wow, what a formation!! Love the bollywood feel and the great formations. It makes them unique. But they don’t seem quite as tight as normal.

Ending was awesome. Elephant. 🙂

Jennifer says she loves watching them – traditional and modern at the same time. Respect for the culture. Derek loves the opening picture and all the shapes, all unique moves. Ne-Yo loves how they represent where they’re from, they’re going to be remembered. Says it had everything.

Score: 92, 90, 90 for an average of 90.7. A bit on the low side for the first act – not a great sign. We will see.

Embodiment is up next. Paula tells them there are a few things the need to work on. Queen of Clean. She thinks they bring something special.

Time to dance…another very cool opening. There are so many of them that when they are in sync it is something to behold. And this is really something, but I feel it might have been too calm, with not as much Pow. Beautiful though. Hmmmm….were they edited??

Derek says it was so beautiful and powerful, they filled out the music with their rhythms. Derek loves it. Ne-Yo loves that they’re the perfect blend of elegant and masculinity. Ne-Yo says almost tooo much movement in parts. Jennifer says they need quite moments, stick to the story. Says they danced it well and it was clean but not to over-choreograph.

Scores: 89, 91, 93 for an average of 91 – thanks to Derek they’ll take number 1, for now. Scared for my Desi Hoppers.

Lock and LOL Crew, highly edited and no package, they get an 86.7. They aren’t long for this world.

The Bradas DO get a package with mentoring. Serious critiques from Paula. Again, they are highly edited, we don’t see even most of the dance and just bits of the judging. They score a 90, 88, 89 for an average of 89, so they bump Lock and LOL Crew.

Connection up next! They explain the story of their dance to Paula and Jenna, about their country. The ladies love them.

Let’s dance…Nice heartbeat move but it’s been done a lot. It’s a pretty tight routine.Starting out a little too much like a cheerleading team for me, I think. Love that huge spring move. And the ending is very effective.

Jennifer calls it amazing, of course – didn’t think it was THAT great. She calls it their best. Derek says their name suits them, they are one, says they did really, really good. Ne-Yo says he underestimated them, cleanest they’ve seen them. Sounded like consolation scores??

Scores: 94, 91, 89, for an average of 91.3 which moves them into first place – no agreement from me on that one. Derek was on the right track.

Poreotics are up next. They’re talking about how their dance took a while to get there. They say they’re going to take his notes. No more jelly donuts – their whole dance isa bout that with donuts in the background – very cute. The whole routine is quite good, but no sign of Paula and Jenna so that makes me wonder if they’re going to make it. That was a very funny, great dance.

Derek loved that they burned him, says they are so creative and it made him happy. Ne-Yo says he loves the pictures, that it was humorous – darn near perfect. Jennifer says it was so creative and innovative and fun – one of their best.

Scores: 93, 91, 91 for an average of 91.7. Poor Desi Hoppers just got the boot. 🙁

Poreotics are guaranteed a spot. Next up are The Ruggeds. Paula likes the different tricks but their roll offs – off on the timing. Very short package.

Quiet start. Might be too much going on. and not clean enough. Their roll offs have improved and they do have some good tricks. It definitely tightens up towards the middle.

Derek says it was unbelievable and I have to wonder what he’s smoking. Perhaps it’s just better in person. He’s seriously raving. I do think it was very good but this level of raving I don’t quite get. Ne-Yo says the choreo was smart, says they do things others can’t do. Jennifer says this is their first full, complete routine. She’s giddy. They pushed the envelope.

Scores: 92, 92, 94 for an average of 92.7. Poor Rudy was crying even before the scores were read. 🙁 But dude, you work for both Derek and Jennifer – chin up, dude.

Now, will it be Connection or S-Rank. I called S-Rank a sure thing earlier in the week and I certainly didn’t think that the Ruggeds would knock out Embodiment.

S-Rank has been on top the whole time…are we going to get a surprise here? Paula loves them, calls them smart and clever. Says they need one more “moment”.

Time to dance! Great opening move with with the creepy girl. Dang there is a lot of them. That girl is the focus and it works. This dance is excellent, possibly the best of the night. Not sure what it is, but it has a real musicality and it’s exciting. Super clean. And that girl is dope.

Totally disagree with Jennifer, who says she likes the choreographer up front. Petty. Derek loves it – says they are a musicality clinic. This I agree with. Ne-Yo says they are the cleanest team in the competition. Says they are great. I wonder who Jennifer is pulling for and if she’ll get her way again.

Scores: 91, 93, 93 for an average of 92.3 putting them in second place, knocking out Connection. Low scores for some of these teams – don’t get it.

The Junior Division is next with Ne-Yo and Mel B – both are singers more than dancers, so I guess they go together.

First performance goes to Josh and Taylor. I remember this duo, but…not sure that I cared about them.

Some interesting moves in this dance, but it seems a bit simple. It definitely improves past the half way point. I don’t get the whole date thing. It was just all right.

Jennifer calls it a “great little routine” – not a good sign when she adds the word “little”. Comments on the LED and calls it new. She wants to know if it’s good enough for the cut. Ne-Yo says it’s quality work and that they shouldn’t relay so much on the stage, says when they were separated they lost some of the magic. Derek says he loves them, that there were a lot of cool moments, that the added drums didn’t match their choreography. But great job.

Scores: 86, 83, 87 for an average of 85.3 – very low but I agree with that. They are highly unlikely to last.

Victoria Caban up next – here is another one that I don’t know about. She is EXCELLENT, but her style is pretty narrow, which makes it hard to show something new….and I was right. She gets neither a package nor mentoring shown which is never a good sign.

She got tripped up on the skirt, but the audience loves it. She only got an 85.3 – another score unlikely to last.

Jonas and Ruby up next. Being mentored by two people who wouldn’t know ballroom from a hole in the ground. But both mentors seem to get it. Comment on Jonas’ face. Ne-yo says he forgets they’re juniors. That’s ballroom for you, especially.

The dance….Nice bicycle move. Very sharp – making ballroom pretty contemporary so it’s stands up with the other styles on excitement. Matrix move was super cool. Lifts were great. Holy crap, that was an excellent dance. Best of the night, perhaps.

Derek says they always come to play. They always attack, loved all the different styles, says they brought their A-game. Ne-Yo got the matrix inspiration. loved the concept, great job. Jennifer says they smashed it, they were perfectly in sync, really innovative. Jennifer says they stand out from the Ballroom routines – diss, they stand out from all.

Scores: 85, 89, 91 for an average of 88.3 which is an absolute joke. I’m sorry, who are you holding the scores down for?? Jaxon? I’m kinda pissed right now because that was the hardest routine of the night and they got fucked over for more heavy contemporary. BOO.

The next girl has serious potential, Madison Brown, but she gets heavily edited so she’s not long for the competition.

Next up is Sean and Kaycee. They’re cute and Sean is a very good choreographer for his age. The mentors spend all their time shipping but man get over it. Talking about relating to the song.

The dance: The fog machine got into over drive, but I like all the lights Kayce walks through. this is not contemporary or hip hop but a nice combination, very cute dance. They are not in sync in one part, but not sure they’re supposed to be. They step it up towards the end and it’s quite good.

Jennifer says they move her. Ne-yo says the boy is a genius. Kaycee tells what the dance is about to a big audience “awwww”. Jennifer says it is “cut worth”. Derek says they are masters at “action – reaction” – subtle but effective. Ne-Yo says his choreography has his signature.

Scores: 88, 94, 94 for an average of 92 – can’t complain about that! Victoria AND Josh/Taylor both get the boot because both were tied at the bottom.

Avery and Marcus are up next. The kids who knocked out Eva Igo. Ne-yo says they need to add power, Mel says she likes it when they’re together.

Very balletic as usual. But I think they are too..and the dance was edited I think.

Derek says this is a ballet that he would go to watch. Overall a great performance. Ne-Yo says the music is big and the dance was too pretty for the power of the music. Jennifer says the end was sooo good but it started slow.

Scores: 85, 86, 85 for an average of 85.3 which means they don’t make the Cut.

Charity and Andres up next. Another contemporary couple. Quite tired of contemporary. Why do the judges – even the ballroom expert who is trained in other areas as well – default to loving contemporary?? Are they that susceptible to the sob story??

Anyway, Ne-yo gives them some critique but Mel B loves it.

Extremely typical beginning, nothing new. Still nothing new. Okay his flip was good. they synchronized cup was lovely. That lift was rather unsteady. I liked it when it sped up more. Audience loved it but I’m a bit ambivalent.

Jennifer calls them exceptional. She then says they’re awesome, don’t let your head get in your way. Ne-Yo says get out of your head, show your greatness. Ne-Yo says it was amazing. Derek says he didn’t like it…he loved it. Dude – cheesy cliche. He proceeds to rave. He’s annoying me tonight and I love him. He does think they should follow the drums a bit more. Over all he loves them.

Scores: 89, 93, 96 for an average of 92.7 which puts them temporarily in first place. Derek’s score is on crack, I’m with Ne-yo.

Now it’s Jaxon Willard versus Jonas and Ruby and I’m already pissed off. Seriously, we’re going to have all contemporary dancers in the divisional finals?? Christ. Give me a break.

More of the same from Jaxon. Dude is a great dancer but all of his dances are very, very similar. Mel and Ne-yo are raving, trying to give him confidence. I appreciate Ne-Yo’s efforts with Jaxson, he does need the help and the confidence. This part of him touches me, but his dances all look the same. But he’s just a baby yet, so there’s that.

Side Note…what the hell is Mel wearing? Damn.

Jaxon – Okay, great opening. Not a sob story, just strength and toughness. Much better!! Extremely strong as usual. But you can see the confidence as well. He’s got some swag in this one. Not a fan of the gymnastic moves disguised as contemporary though.

Ne-Yo is on his feet. It was markedly improved in terms of personality. Ne-Yo goes to hug him, he’s so great. Jennifer says it’s beautiful thing to watch and a tremendous well of emotion. She wants the routines to mean something to him. Derek raves, says he believes him, his movements, his intentions. Says he’s a beautiful artist, beautiful dancer.

Scores: 90, 90, 92 for an average of 90.7, beating Jonas and Ruby.

You know, Jaxon did a great job, but the judges ridiculously underscored Jonas and Ruby. Now the Juniors division is uniformly contemporary with a bit of hip hop thrown in by Sean and Kaycee. This is the first time I’ve called bullshit on this show. I’m annoyed. Most difficult style routinely getting the shaft even from Derek. Come on, dude.

August 29, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance Season 2 – What’s Coming Up on Week 2 of the CUT

Paula’s getting feisty, that’s what. 🙂 And the commercial makes it appear that she’s getting feisty with Rudy Abreu and his troupe.

Last week we got the Upper Division and the Junior Team Division. The dancers moving to the Division Finals are:

Upper Division
Karen y Ricardo
Michael Dameski
Ashley and Zach

Junior Team Division
Fabulous Sisters
The Lab
The Rock Company

I think that it’s Karen y Ricardo’s to lose in the Upper Division, but the Junior Team Division is mind boggling. I love all three groups with a special fondness for the first two. I would like to see both the Fabulous Sisters and The Lab win for different reasons. That’s going to be the hardest division, for me.

As for the next dancers to face The CUT?? Read more..

August 26, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 12 Live Blog!! THE CUTS!!

You may or may not have notices our absence last week – I was on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and my cohorts didn’t get my message to cover for me until it was too late!! Anyway, I’m back in my house with a glass of wine and I’m ready to see who makes the cut! According to Derek’s insta story, we’re going to see his sister Julianne tonight as well!! As a redhead! She’s since gone back to blonde, as I recall.

Just a few more minutes!!

Okay here we go…

30 remaining acts are fighting for three spots in each division. Eeep!!

Each judge and Jenna are mentoring. We have Savion Glover for Jennifer and Julianne Hough with Derek.

Two divisions tonight…and they are Junior teams with Jennifer and Savion and Derek with….

Up first is Flip. There are 7 dancers in each division fighting for three spots. Each dance is 90 seconds, per Jennifer.

Red gloves are a very good, effective touch. Derek is grooving, Ne-Yo is loving it. This group is pretty stellar. Very clean. Like it or not, everyone in the same outfit with those red gloves is very effective. Excellent routine!!

Derek is pointing out everything I just did. 🙂 Ne-Yo loves the energy. Jennifer says they’ve come up 100% since she saw it.

Scores: 87, 88, 90 (in order) for an average of 88.3 – seems too low to me. We’ll see. I don’t remember them from the earlier rounds. If we didn’t see them or if they were edited, it doesn’t bode well for them.

Based on the preview, Derek is mentoring the Upper division. I wonder if the fact that JLo is mentoring junior teams is indicative of who’s going to win the whole thing. We’ll revisit that in a few weeks, I’m sure. 🙂

Expressionz are up next…these girls I remember. Read more..

August 22, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 9 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

Looking forward to what tonight’s duels will bring. They sure are bragging on it on the internets. 🙂

Read more..

August 1, 2018 I Written By

I'm a nerd and proud of it. Two degrees in geology also means I love BEER. :-) I'm also a Derek lover - proud of that too. So don't scream at those of us on this site and call us a bunch of "biased Derek-lovers" - it's just ME. :-) It may sound like I hate DWTS at times, but really, I'm just a snarky nitpicker from way back. And I'm cynical and jaded too. But I do love DWTS. :-)

Pure World of Dance, Season 2, Week 2 (Qualifiers) – Court’s Thoughts: The Good, The Bad, & the WTF???

So we got to see six more acts throwing their hat in the ring last night, and I think we’re starting to see the competition really take shape: seems like it’s going to be a strong season for ballroom duos, between Karen y Ricardo, Pasha & Daniela, returning season 1 acts DNA and Luka & Jenalyn, plus the other Castro sibling – SYTYCD finalist Ruby – and her partner Jonas.  I think we’re probably also going to see some tough competition among hip-hop teams – particularly those who do animation/robotics, as I see both Poreotics (from ABDC) and Dragon House (which includes SYTYCD alum Cyrus) on the roster. I wish I could say I was excited to see Eva Igo back, but given that I was not always impressed with her brand of contemporary flailing last season (and would have rather seen The Lab advance over her), I’m skeptical of whether or not they’re going to send her to the finals of her division again. But shall we focus on last night’s acts? 🙂

The OTHER Ones To Beat (Maybe): Charity & Andres. This is about the only act I could see giving Karen y Ricardo a run for their money so far – these kids are THAT GOOD, and in the grand tradition of most of the Utah dancers, they appear to be cross-trained in contemporary, ballet, ballroom, and gymnastics, which gives them a serious edge since they can fuse together multiple styles.  That’s probably why I enjoyed this routine so much – it was contemporary-heavy, but there were enough lifts, attention to technique, and partnering to round out the routine that I wasn’t left going “Christ, here we go again with the flailing & flipping.” However, I will say that Karen y Ricardo have Charity & Andres beat in terms of chemistry – and it’s not just because the former is an actual couple; Charity & Andres give me a bit of that “uber-polished & trained” competition vibe, which can come across a bit too perfect and a tad robotic at times…hope they can show us a bit more vulnerability in the coming weeks.

The Excuse to Get the Judges Arguing: Pasha & Daniela. Last week, the judges were pretty warm & fuzzy and generally in agreement about the acts they saw; this was the first time we saw them split pretty noticeably with their opinions on the act.  Ne-Yo seemed altogether unimpressed; J-Lo gushed about how much she loved it; and Derek fell somewhere in the middle, complimenting their technique but cautioning them about their choreography.  I tend  to side with Derek on this one – their technique and chemistry really was impressive, but I think they did waste a bit too much time stretching out their moves and probably could have benefited from using a song with more potential for musicality. They kind of have the opposite problem as DNA (ballroom act from last season, who also appear to be back this season): DNA got called out for trying to cram too much into their routines, while Pasha & Daniela maybe didn’t have enough. I like Pasha & Daniela – I remember Pasha when he was competing in pro 10-dance with onetime DWTS pro Inna Brayer, and I remember watching Daniela perform a showcase at the Ohio Star Ball when she was dancing youth Latin like 12 years ago – but I’m not sure I love them, and I’ll be interested to see how they hold up against some of the other ballroom acts this season.

Dey Aight: Connection. I don’t have a problem with this hip-hop group, other than the fact that I just simply don’t find them to be as memorable or unique as the other hip-hop groups we’ve seen so far this season (Desi Hoppers, S-Rank).  They were pleasant to watch, but I didn’t find myself wildly impressed – thought they could have been a bit cleaner, and their choreography more…distinct.  I know Jennifer threw out the term “hip hop with Latin flare”, but where I see Desi Hoppers really making an effort to combine traditional Indian dancing with their hip-hop, I don’t think that the effort was as apparent with Connection trying to really combine Latin dance with hip-hop…I have a feeling they’ll probably get ousted in the duels, especially if they’re up against ABDC champs like Poreotics.

WTF Did I Just Watch?!, Redux: Fabulous Sisters. Where as I was saying “WTF?!” in a bad way with Flip last week, I found myself saying it in a positive sense this week – ’cause Fabulous Sisters were everything that Flip was trying to be: they had the fusion of dance styles, the drama, the bold costuming, and the right staging & coordination. I’m not quite sure what to call the style they were doing – it was part modern/contemporary, with almost a paso doble-like feel and a little bit of waacking thrown in – but I was buying what they were selling, and found myself wanting more. Probably my favorite act of the night.

You Mighta Picked Wrong, Jenna: Bdash & Konkrete. I didn’t even really watch SYTYCD with any sort of regularity last season, but I did make an effort to watch some of the clips of Jenna – and I still find myself shaking my head in disappointment that she brought Konkrete all the way to the final cut before doing the predictable thing and picking Kiki, the ballroom dancer with about as much personality as a wall, over the much more interesting and unpredictable krumper, Konkrete. Well it looks like Konkrete is getting the last laugh, because he seems to have found a pretty nice niche for himself on WOD – he & his partner, Bdash, were giving me Les Twins vibes, without the swaggering arrogance that I found so off-putting in the latter.  Thought their choreo was fun and interesting, and they sold it well – hope they can hold their own in the upper division.

Reunited And it Feels So Good: The Lab.  These kids are both adorable AND wildly talented – it broke my heart to see them get eliminated last season, so I’m glad to see them back this time, and with the added protection of the junior division getting split into teams and individuals, so they won’t be up against junior finalist Eva Igo again. Loved their routine – the colorful outfits reminded me of individual bags of chips that my mom used to put in my lunch when I was a kid (not complaining!); and I feel like all of the kids in that group just have such strong, confident personalities even at their young age – loved all the faces they were pulling, particularly the two little boys who were up front for most of the time.  Also loved that we had a girl doing b-boy moves 🙂 And I what I find most impressive is that these kids are actually cleaner and more synchronized in their choreo than most of the adults in this competition – which is harder, considering that you’ve got a ton of kids of varying heights and builds, trying to do the exact same moves, and having them look identical onstage. Really hoping they can take the junior team division this year 🙂

That’s a Cute Top…Wait, No It’s Not: So yeah, J-Lo’s ruffly sequined top I was admiring last week? It has a price tag of $2200.  Either I need to sell a kidney on the black market, or starting learning my way around a sewing machine, if I ever wish to possess it…

Shante, I Hope This Stays: Just a general observation – I feel like we’re starting to see a lot more waacking and voguing moves thrown into other styles of dance this season, and I’m not mad about it.  Love seeing the hip-hoppers do death drops, and the jazz dancers doing waacking moves.  Worlds colliding for me – Rupaul’s Drag Race and WOD 😎

Favorites from tonight’s acts? Any thoughts on how the divisions are shaping up so far?

June 6, 2018 I Written By

Medical device sales by day, reality TV blogger by night. Makeup artist, baker, hair model, and wannabe DIY-er when time permits, and a potty-mouth 24/7. Read more of me at puredwts.com, and follow me on Twitter & Instagram: @putuincespence

‘World Of Dance’ Season 2, Week Two Qualifiers – The Performance Videos

If you missed episode two of World Of Dance, here are the performances that qualified. The Fabulous Sisters were my fave of the night!

June 5, 2018 I Written By

Just a music and dancing fan here ....and a lover of life, nature, animals, and spending as much time as possible camping all over in our travel trailer. Favorite Quote at the moment: "Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth." ~ William Purkey. Follow me at: Voguerista Twitter & Voguerista Soundcloud. To view my photography site, see Lisa Kay Photography.

Pure World of Dance Season 2, Week 2 (Qualifiers) – Music from Tonight’s Show

Here it is – the music from tonight’s episode, in chronological order. I’ve included a description of when in the episode it played in parentheses.

“No Limits” by Zayde Wolf (intro)

“Warrior” by Raphael Lake & Thomas Collins (The Lab intro)

“Take It To Da House” by Trick Daddy (The Lab performance)

“Lullaby” by Sigala & Paloma Faith (The Lab scores)

“One Night” by Daniel Ryan Murphy & Anthony Sanudo & Jared Palomar (Pasha & Daniela intro)

“Limit to Your Love” by James Blake (Pasha & Daniela performance)

“I Lived” by OneRepublic (Pasha & Daniela scores)

“Hay Que Luchar” by Ruben Nez (Connection intro)

“Mi Gente” by J Balvin & Willy William (Connection performance)

“Brother” by Needtobreathe (Connection scores)

“I Like Me Better” by Lauv (Charity & Andres intro)

“Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur (Charity & Andres performance)

“Break Free” by Ariana Grande & Zedd (Charity & Andres performance)

“GDFR” by Flo Rida feat. Sage the Gemini & Lookas (BDash & Konkrete intro)

“Moves” by Big Sean (BDash & Konkrete performance)

“These Days” by Rudimental feat. Jess Glynne, Macklemore, & Dan Caplen (BDash & Konkrete scores)

“Beethoven Scherzo” by David Garrett (Fabulous Sisters performance)

“Believer” by Lea Michele (Fabulous Sisters scores)

I Written By

Medical device sales by day, reality TV blogger by night. Makeup artist, baker, hair model, and wannabe DIY-er when time permits, and a potty-mouth 24/7. Read more of me at puredwts.com, and follow me on Twitter & Instagram: @putuincespence