WoD Week 7 Recap and VOTE – Who Should Win the Upper Team Division?? (Poll)

Whew!! Busy week. I haven’t had a chance to think about the winners of this past week. I thought about those who lost and if any of them got robbed. πŸ™‚ Since it’s been several days, let’s take a look at who won their duels:

Now, just looking at that table, I have to say my favorite are Unity LA…followed by The Kings. Personally, I think the only reason that Unity LA are lower than the Kings is because JLo had some weird beef with their song selection. That was just…weird. Anyway, let’s take another look at the dances. First up, the redemption winner,Β  Exiles – first their duel performance, followed by the redemption round.

Exiles come in at 0.56

Going from lowest score to highest, next we have Fuego Dance Crew. Love how this one started out with the very cool, gravity defying move.

Radiance…they’re the shared video of the week meaning that their video is paired with their competition, Main Guys. I loved this routine for its prowling, stalking feel. Excellent.

Up next, the Heima – B-boys who seem to have it going on, but they’re not actually in my top three for this group, I don’t think.

Okay, changed my mind. I think I actually like them better than the Kings. Kinda funny what happens when you rewatch the dances after the first time.

Next up…my favorites, Unity LA.

It’s funny, because they’re listed as contemporary, but they’re so much more interesting than your average contemporary dancer these days. So much, going on, so layered and complicated – I love it. And how much do I love Zack Everheart?? Very, very much. Have I mentioned he started out as a tapper on SYTYCD??? πŸ˜‰

And the dance of the night (for the judges anyway)….The Kings. I totally get the complaint that some had about it seeming like an elite cheerleading squat…but we call professional cheerleaders who show up on DWTS ringers for a reason. πŸ™‚ These guys are quite awesome.

So, you have a pretty good idea of my top three….who are your top three. Vote below.

I ended up going with Radiance, Unity LA and the Heima, with Kings nearly tied with them. Who did you vote for??

April 12, 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. :-)

WoD Season 3 Contestant Profiles – Unity LA

Love, love, love Unity LA!! They made it to the Cut on Sunday night and two of their members have been my favorites since they toured with Derek and Julianne Hough a couple years ago. Zack and Ashley, that is – the two focal points for the group. This group is also choreographed by Tessandra Chavez who also does a lot of work for Derek, and won an Emmy with Derek and Julianne…two years ago?? Fairly recently.

Anyway, Zack started out as a tapper on So You Think You Can Dance back in 2015…

Then, as all good dancers do, the morphed into a man of many styles, including contemporary dancer…a really good one. He toured with Derek and Julianne Hough in 2017, along with Ashley

Zack and Ashley apparently teamed up after that to go after the WoD Crown. Zack and Ashley on last season of WoD:

WOD Magazine says that Unity LA has been a thing since 1994 and have been lead/choreographed by Tessandra Chavez dince it’s inception. Here is Tessandra’s Emmy award winning routine she did with Derek and Julianne Hough.

The most recent thing I can find for a Unity LA dance company that is not WoD related is dated 2010.

Social Media:
Unity LA Twitter
Unity LA InstagramUnity LA Website
Tessandra Chavez Twitter
Zack Everhart Twitter
Zack Everhart Instagram
Ashley Gonzalez Instagram
Ashley Gonzales Youtube

April 9, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, WEEK 7 – The Duels LIVE BLOG

The final night of the duels is upon us. Tonight it’s the Upper Team Division!! I’m about five minutes behind show time so it will be a few before I catch up. Nice weather = me drinking wine outside. πŸ™‚

First, Judges looking fiiinnnneee. πŸ™‚

Next, Fuego Dance Crew chooses Siudy Flamenco – hard to say who all they had to choose from since they were the number for team and presumable, three other teams chose before them.

Rooting for Flamenco. I don’t like extreme arrogance.

Fuego going first. First move is excellent. But their sync isn’t as impressive as some of the junior teams. Not a particularly difficult routine, kinda simple, IMO. But well danced. Read more..

April 7, 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. :-)

World of Dance Season 3, Week 3 – LIVE BLOG!!

Wow, we’re into week three already, and the qualifiers apparently end tonight. Interestingly, there are relatively few of the acts listed that haven’t made it though with the new, “tougher” qualifiers score of 85. The talent is incredible, but I don’t know that it’s that much better than last season. I guess we’ll see tonight if they have even more to offer!! I do appreciate that they’ve gone to two hours, which means there are fewer acts that just get hosed on screen time. πŸ™‚

MKAM appears to be up first, they’re a large high school team from California. That green hair with the purple jackets is eye catching. WTF with the commercial ALREADY??? Without even seeing a dance?? Perhaps we should cut some of the recap from last week and the teasing for tonight because that was ridiculous.

Anyway…wow, this team is tight, and you can do a lot with all those people, including throwing each other around. That was really good – it might have been edited though because it seemed short.

Ne-Yo thought it lost steam towards the end? Nah. JLo seems to love them, says they were so clean. Ne-Yo says the choreography might be too simple – that I might agree with. He does add that because there’s so many of them that it makes them look more intricate. Derek says it was fire, and mathematical – oddly I know what he means. πŸ™‚

Scores: 88, 89, 92 for an average of 89.7 – through to the duels easily.

Love the judges playing with each other tonight. πŸ™‚

Denise and Josh are contemporary dancers from Canada – and Denise is studying. Girl. πŸ™‚

Anyway, they choreographed their own stuff – that impresses me more than some of the acts. Anyway, they are in the Upper Division, I believe. And her we go…

Most of you who know me know I’m burnt out on contemporary dancing – but I really loved that routine. It wasn’t TOO clean and it had emotion – so many of them are empty feeling. Agreeing with Derek’s comment’s wholeheartedly. And a cute bit with Jlo there. πŸ™‚ Ne-Yo summed it up – rehearsed emotion versus real emotion – theirs was real. Jennifer loves it as well.

Scores: 90, 91, 92 (Ne-Yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 91!!

The Main Guys are from Oslo, Norway – and they’re not the stereotype. πŸ™‚ But first we see Invictus – a young ballroom couple – miss the mark with 82. Then we see a very colorful group The Rookies (an Upper Team) get told they’re too elementary. They also don’t make it through.

Back to the Main Guys. πŸ™‚ This is kinda crazy looking…boneless. Loving it. Great sync. Love the choreo and they have a bit of a story through line, to me.

Derek says they crushed it. Love their outfits as well – the jewel tone jackets/sweaters. Derek talking about their precision movements. Ne-Yo imitating Derek is hilarious. Ne-Yo says they are more than just hip hop, JLo agrees and calls them swaggy.

Scores: 89, 89, 91 for an average of 89.7. I think these guys might be one of my favorites. Very cool.

Oh yay, Zack is back!! Zack and Ashley. πŸ™‚ And the little flamenco girl joined Kosmic Edge – she was SO awesome last season. KE up first. They’re having some sync issues right off the bat. And their transitions aren’t great. I was not impressed with that routine.

Ne-Yo points out the flamenco soloist – he was not pleased with the whole team. JLo says it wasn’t intricate enough, didn’t have he seasoning of a group that’s been together for a while

They only score an 83, so they are out. Sad to say I saw that one coming.

Zack and Ashley are back with Unity LA – I really liked them together. Note: They’ve both danced with Derek on tour before. Zack is a particular favorite of mine. So cute. THAT WAS FANTASTIC!! They might be might be my favorites. I don’t even know what to say!! It wasn’t true contemporary, it wasn’t hip hop, it was cool, edgy different. Excellent.

Jennifer loved it and said the musicality was great, an amazing performance. Ne-Yo says they were clean and sharp with no beats. Derek says he’s dying to talk, says the routine was everything and more, it was so dynamic and so artistic. They are a force to be reckoned with.

Scores: 95, 94, 97 (Derek, Jennifer Ne-Yo) for an average of 95.3. YAY!! My new favorites!! Ne-Yo standing up and clapping is a fairly rare thing… πŸ™‚

Love the all girl team swooning over the all boy team. How Cute. The girl team is from a very small town in Oklahoma. The boys are Battle Droids Crew from Belgium – and they think American girls are amazing. But they’re here to win. πŸ™‚ But first in a very confusing jump cut, we see Str8jackets – who JLo criticizes. And they don’t make it through.

Battle Droids Crew is up for real this time and they are very excited. πŸ™‚ And they actually drop someone right in the opening moment. Can they redeem themselves? they aren’t very sharp after that. Not sure why one guy is in white. Is he a mad scientist? They definitely pick it up toward the end, and Derek loves the no hands head spin.

Jennifer says there were a couple things that were really good. But she thinks they have a bit of work to do. Derek is feeling that they didn’t nail the move. Derek has them show us how it was supposed to go. Ne-Yo appreciated that they kept going.

Scores: 85, 87, 89 for an average of 87 – they just made it and the girls are happy. πŸ™‚

The girls, “Intention,” are up next. A junior team from Oklahoma. After all that showmance I hope they make it.

Wow, super cool opening moves. This is bizarro contemporary and it’s great. Wow, I really loved that. Hope the judges did.

Jennifer says it was subtle and touching, loved the roll offs in the beginning. Derek says they’re likable, the routine was perfectly together. Ne-Yo says it was crystal clear and it was very in sync.

Scores: 87, 88, 88 for an average of 87.7…and the boys are happy. πŸ™‚

Nice little aside from Derek, to set up Derek Piquette, the guy who needs a double hip replacement. He’s a Cirque dancer!! Derek, you’ll still be able to dance, you’ll just have to do it differently. He’s only 21 – that extreme flexibility may go, but there are other forms of dance, dude, don’t give up.

In the meantime, a ballet couple don’t make it through, didn’t catch their names. So now it’s his turn.

Back to Derek P. – he’s an extraordinary contemporary dancers, but the moves don’t seem new or different. It’s contemporary. He does seem authentic though.

Derek the judge says it was stunning and effortless, he made it look simple. Derek asks him why WoD and he explains that he has to have a double hip replacement. Ne-yo loved it all but the very end. πŸ™‚ Jennifer tells him to push the creativity.

Scores: 90, 91, 93 for an average of 91.3. And he’s on to the duels.

I do love seeing all the dancers get along so well. Whoa, tappers who are goooood.

Mia and Audrey are up next – a Krump duo!! Wow, really good!! It’s more fascinating because they don’t look like a Krump duo. Great sync, hitting it hard.

Derek loves it, Jennifer says they look like the Disney channel. Ne-Yo needs more intensity. they get an 86.3, so they will be on to the next round. the editing doesn’t bode well for them though.

House of Tap are up next…I don’t think these two are who I profiled early on!! Two young girls, awesome. They were rivals, and now they’re partners.

They have a bit of contemporary movement in the opening seconds before they go into hard core tap. They slow it down a bit toward the end. Don’t know how that’s going to fly.

Ne-Yo loves the personality and sync – but his problem with tap is that there’s too much music. I would agree. He says it’s quality work though. Derek agrees with him, but he says they are very strong tap duo. Jennifer agrees and says they have a stylized upper body – yep.

Scores: 86, 86, 85 for an average of 85.7 – so they make it through. I do wonder if they will listen to the critiques??

DD Flection won WoD Thailand so I expect them to do well here. They are an upper, contemporary duo. Wow, very good. Great opening bars. Great tricks too! That was very good. I loved that.

Ne-Yo loved it, asked where they are from. Derek now says there’s an expectation, but he loves the partnership, the fluidity, the chemistry. Derek wants to see even more the next round. Ne-yo talking AGAIN – how many turns does he need? Jennifer says it was a very difficult routine, but they made it look easy.

Scores: 90, 91, 95 (Ne-yo, Derek, Jennifer) for an average of 92. Excellent.

Ah, they showed one of Derek’s routine from his tour – one of the best. Yum. He started dancing to be part of a team.

And we have more male teams flirting with the female teams. Style and Grace is an all hip hop team from Vancouver. Love their outfits. Break for Siudy Flamenco a female team – they get good comments, but the editing is not a good sign. They make it through, but I don’t think they’ll beat the duels.

Next up is Apprentice – also edited – all female group. They don’t quite make it through. That leads back to Style and Grace – an upper team, by the way. Still love the outfits. πŸ™‚

They have a fall in the opening but beyond that they are quite awesome. They need to bring up the intensity. They are recovering nicely though from their mistake. I ended up really liking that in spite of the fall. Ne-yo likes that they kept going. Jennifer raves – she thinks they have potential. Ne-Yo talking AGAIN…dude, please. He wants more intensity. Derek felt a bit of nerves in the performance.

Scores: 85, 83, 87 for an average of 85 – they just make it. I hope they step it up for the next round. Derek was the low score, surprisingly.

Radiance is a girl team from California…I think they are an Upper Team. Love the outfits – harem pants?? Not sure. This is their first performance as a team?? Not a good sign, I don’t think.

Wow…that was really lovely. I enjoyed it very much. Ne-Yo loves the name, wants to know the narrative. They have their own stories. Jennifer loves the large group of strong women. She wants to know what the lift is about, wants the story. Derek respects that they told her that. Jennifer is confusing story with audience impact – I think Derek is more right than Jennifer. I think Jennifer is flat wrong, actually. Ne-yo always talks twice. Why?

Did Jennifer just diss ballroom??? Beyotch. Who is the trained, champion dancer? That would be Derek.

Scores: 87, 87, 90 for an average of 88. Yay!! Good for them.

March 10, 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. :-)