Saturday, September 8, 2012

Exclusive interviews with all-stars Comfort, Melanie, Marco, Benji after SYTYCD Top 6 show

Chris Trondsen interviewed 4 of the 6 all-stars who performed on the So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 show: Comfort, Melanie Moore, Benji Schwimmer, and Marco Germar. They talk about their experience returning to SYTYCD, what it was like dancing with their partners this week (and what it was like working with partners who were then eliminated), who they think should or will win, and upcoming plans. Click here to watch the interviews with Melanie, Benji, and Marco.

Latest episode of AXI V, starring Chachi - "Perchance to Dream"

ShawnWellingDance used Chachi Gonzalez (IaMmE) in their most recent episode in a beautiful but sinister dream dance sequence.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Video: Brian Puspos (Mos Wanted Crew. Architeks) - "Stuck on Stupid"

Brian Puspos is back with a solo about "a foolish hearts vs a wary mind". From  BrianPuspos Youtube.

Time to reenter our SYTYCD Winners Contest for prizes

Time to reenter our So You Think You Can Dance  Winners contest. If you think you know the boy and girl who are going to win, then prove it!  Submit the names of the 2 dancers - one male and one female -- who you think will win this season's competition.  The prize goes to the first person to get it right, based on the week they submit the answer. If more than one person submits the right answer in that same week, we'll employ a tiebreaker rule to be determined. The prize for each will be a Tshirt of your size and choice, value up to $35 or an iTunes gift certificate worth $30..

To enter: Each week, we'll publish a new post for this contest. When the weekly post is up, add a comment with the names of the 2 winners. Subsequent weeks' entries will be accepted from Thursdays/Fridays (once I put up the new contest post) until the show begins airing on the East Coast (Tuesdays at 8pm ET).   You can enter this week's contest now -- deadline for the entry: September 11, 2012.   Good luck!

IMPORTANT:
  • Create a user name you will use every week for the entire contest, and make it memorable (not just a common first name or word).
  • MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE THE WORDS SYTYCD Winners' in the comment (so I can search for them easily)
  • You can also submit by email at BloggingSYTYCD@gmail.com 

Videos: Funkdation battling and freestyling

Funkdation is another crew that appeared so briefly on America's Best Dance Crew that we didn't get a chance to see what they've got. Here's some recent work showing what we missed:
- In this video they freestyle with QMinor (from QMinorQuest Youtube)

The second video shows a whaacking battle between members Lily and Lorena, from kidsmosaicLA Youtube

Thanks for the links Greg!

Exclusive interviews with SYTYCD Top 6: Cyrus, Chehon, Cole, Eliana, Tiffany, Witney

Chris Trondsen interviewed contestants, all-stars, judges, and choreographers backstage after the So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 show. Today, we'll share the interviews with the 6 dancers:
- In the interview with Chehon Wespi-Tschopp and Eliana Girard,  Eliana talks about feeling relieved and grateful, Chehon talks about how he got confident enough to show emotion in his dance,  and their plans for the home stretch, and they both thank their fans and talk about their strict teachers. 


- In the interview with Cyrus Spencer and Tiffany Maher,  Cyrus talks about the struggles and feeling of being overwhelmed to get to this point (being sockless, shoeless and next to very experienced dancers. Tiffany talks about this getting this far as a validation and the fact that she wasn't shown on TV before the top 20 show, and they both talk about the upcoming tour.


- In the interview with Cole Horibe and Witney Carson, the dancers talk about their reactions to the eliminations, post-SYTYCD plans, how they feel about the final 4 and who they're rooting for, and what they want to do with their spare time now that they're not rehearsing.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Video: Collizion Crew - "Cashin Out"

The latest from Collizion Crew (ABDC Season 7) shows them dancing in a garage to Ca$h Out's "Cashin Out".  Think of this as ABDC alums dancing in a garage day (along with the earlier Pharside video). Any recommendations of other worthy garage videos (as opposed to garage bands?) From CollizionTV Youtube.

Video: Pharside (Academy of Villains) - "Mirrors"

Short and very sweet solo of Chris "Pharside" Jennings (founder of Academy of Villains) from his Pharside Channel

Academy of Villains Auditions

Academy of Villains sure has had one heck of a year. Here's just a quick listing of what they've accomplished so far, with video links

VIBE XVII - Second Place
Urban Street Jam - First Place
World of Dance LA - Second Place
Body Rock 2012 - Second Place
Dance2Dance - First Place 
Hip Hop International US Adults Championships - First Place
Hip Hop International World Adults Championships - Third Place
America's Got Talent - Youtube Auditions, Semifinalist

Pretty damn impressive by any standard. And now you have a chance to be a part of that. Academy of Villains is holding auditions on September 30th at 1pm at their studio - House of Mayhem in San Mateo, California. Check out more details at the Facebook Event. Good luck to all auditioning!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Our survey: what were your favorite performances during the SYTYCD Top 6 show?

What were your favorite performances during the So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 show? Please pick one solo and one pairing.

Our survey: What were your least favorite performances during SYTYCD's Top 6 show?

Please pick one solo and one pairing for our survey on you least favorite performances during the So You Think You Can Dance's Top 6 show.

Join us now for SYTYCD Top 6 Show Play-by-play!

The Play-Play for tonight's So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 episode  is now open! Tonight, it's the Top 6. Two more dancers will go home tonight.   Join me for play-by-play, if you can't watch live or just want some other opinions. The Play-by-Play will be in the comments section of this post.

And, let us know what you think about the show.  Were the right people sent home tonight?  How would you compare this to other seasons?  This is your party -- humor,  conspiracy theory, nostalgia and almost everything else (except obscenity and abject disrespect) are expected and welcome!  

Must-see Jabbawockeez Video at Hip Hop International - Full routine + rehearsals and interviews

thewockeez Youtube just released a long video of the Jabbawockeez time at the 2012 Hip Hop International where they received the Living Legends of Hip Hop Award. The video shows the crew working on the routine, talking about their preparation, and then culminates in the full routine that they presented on the final night of HHI

Mrs. Song (ft Mike Song) | Umma Gangam Style

Mike Song may be one of the most talented dancers out there right now, but did you ever wonder where he got all his natural talent from? Turns out Mrs. Song is rather the awesome dancer herself.

Dance Hero JP - Season 4 Episode 1 Recap

DanceHeroJP is one of my favorite dance shows and with good reason. For those of you who don't follow it, it's similar to ABDC in that crews compete to win by doing a choreographed routine. However, unlike ABDC, routines are longer (generally a full two minutes), wtihout any restriction to challenge, song, or artist. The camera angles are also pretty decent, and no one gets eliminated, they only get points (from the judges, the audience, and Youtube views) to be ranked at the end (which means more dancing for us!)

Anyway, we're now in the fourth season of the show (each season being 3 episodes), so here's my recap of the routines this week.

Area Rock Styler (58 points) is a crew that has been in three of the past four seasons - if anything you can say they're persistent. I've always found them a creative, energetic, and fairly talented all styles crew. Over the past four seasons they've definitely cleaned up, and it shows in this routine. Hopefully their persistence pays off for them.

Tokyo Beat Surf (51 points) Another veteran crew (though I believe from Season 2 onwards), again, their growth is pretty clear, with better illnes and blocking all around, and tigher choreography. This season should be pretty close between them and Area Rock Stylers. They show good foundation in different styles, and hopefully they retain their creativity from past seasons.

Memorable Moment (41 points) The top performer of the new crews, this is pretty interesting. They seem to be somewhere between ballet, jazz, and contemporary, with just a touch of military march perhaps? Definitly good for something interesting, though if they'll branch out and do different things remains to be seen.

Triqstar (39 points) is back from last season. They were pretty focused on production value year, but seem to have simplified it down a bit to focus on more energetic, though no less precise popping. I feel like they could clean up a bit some of the lines, but their control otherwise is phenomenal, second only Time Machine, winners of season one.

Nada Panio (39 points) is a new group this season. They bring a new style,  a cross between broadway and contemporary. It's slower tempoed than a lot of the other dancers no less engaging. If they could get a really really big moment in their routines (which comes from music selection), that might help for them.

Big Dogss (38 points) is another new group this season. They come across as a lot more a street crew in their presentation, with a lot of foundation in street styles (though still with adding their own flavor in. In a lot of ways, they're like Area Rock Styler was at the start of their run. Even if they don't win this season, I'm looking forward to seeing them return in the next season.

Inner Beauty (34 points) - While not as techincally skilled as other routines (with regard to being clean lined, foundation, etc), it was very very very interesting concept wise. For a full half of the routine, they were dancing down, and then started some "shirt-ography," which is really weird to think about, but ends up working really well on purpose and ended up being my favorite moment of the whole night.

Macho Pirates Opera Company (31 points) - Well... They're baaaaack. Not quite as bizarre as last season, but still pretty out there in terms of concepts and execution. My own words will be insufficient to describe this and do it justice, so watch it yourself.

In addition to these routines, we have two guest performances by both Beat Buddy Boi and Twiggz Fam, winners of the second and third seasons of this show respectively. These are both longer routines than normally seen on this show, Beat Buddy Boi's at 12 minutes, and Twiggz Fam's at 6 minutes. We can't embed them, so click on their names above for the routines!



Join us tonight & tomorrow for SYTYCD play-by-play, polls, contests, interviews!

Join us tonight to watch and react to the So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 show.

- Starting just before 8M ET, we'll have Play-by-play, in case you want to find out what happens as it happens.  Feel freee to comment along with me!
- Tomorrow we'll have surveys on the favorite and least favorite performances of the night.
- We'll have the next round of our contest with prizes -- Predict the two winners.
- We're planning to interview the eliminated dancers and the choreographers at tonight's taping and will have interviews posted in the next few days 

So, please join us!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Feng Videos - If I Die Tomorrow and Bad

Feng from Quest Crew has a couple of videos that are definitely worth checking out. Both show off his unique style of dancing that's totally and entirely his own.

The first is a choreo to Far East Movement's "If I Die Tomorrow" at the new Movement Lifestyle studio. He's joined by Ellen Kim, Mike Fallorina and George Anzaldo.


The second is a freestyle to Afrojack's "Bad" around San Francisco when he was in town to judge World of Dance Bay Area.
 

World Order | Change Your Life

I'm a bit late here, but our favorite MMA fighter turned dancer/singer has a new video out. Genki Sudo returns with his group World Order in the music video for his new song "Change Your Life." It's a bit different than their other videos (with a change in wardrobe), and a bit of acting. The same signature robotic synchronization is still present though. Watch for the Dragon Ball references! Reminds me of another video... 

Video: Charles Nguyen (Poreotics) &, Anthony Lee + Poreotics & Quest members - "Bonfire"

"Bonfire", the latest collaboration between Anthony Lee (Kinjaz) and Charles Nguyen (ABDC5's Poreotics) also features Poreotics members Chad Mayate and Laurence Devera as well as Ryan Feng (member of ABDC3's Quest Crew. From PoreoticsHD Youtube. Thanks for the tip Greg!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Video: 8 Flavahz dance to Tony Tzar choreo at Carnival: Choreographers Ball

In June 2012, Tony Tzar choreographed this routine performed by 8 Flavahz (ABDC Season 7) at the Carnival: Choreographers Ball. On Twitter, the girls call it "still one of their most exciting performances of all time."

Tony Tzar Feat. 8 Flavahz - The Carnival : Choreographers Ball in June 2012 from Tony Tzar on Vimeo.

Video: Alonzo Williams (Rhythm City) workshop - "Burn"

Alonzo Williams (leader of ABDC4's Rhythm City) taught a class at BDC Broadway Dance Center NYC. The videos shows his solo work and dancing by class members. From CallmeZo1 Youtube. You can find out more about his classes and current projects at Rhythmcityent.com

Exclusive SYTYCD interviews: Choreographers Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, Christopher Scott & more

Chris Trondsen interviewed several of the So You Think You Can Dance choreographers after the taping of the Top 8 show. Click on the names to watch: 

- Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo talk about the judges' reactions to their tango for Chehon and the process of working with dancers for the show
- Mandy Moore talks about choreographing to "The Power of Love",  what it's like for the choreographers when their dancers are in the bottom, and her work on the SYTYCD tour.
- Sonya Tayeh talks about working with Cole and Lindsay this week, her connection to the competitors, the diversity of the dancers this season, and her outside projects including a potential for a Broadway show.
- Christopher Scott talks about choreographing Baltimore club dancing for Will, his connection to the dancer, his sadness for any of them going home, the skills of all the contestants this season, and his current projects including his Emmy nomination, his Lifestyle Dance Channel on DS2dio

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Concept video from Pharside and Krystal Meraz (Academy of Villains) - "100"

Christopher 'Pharside' Jennings and Krystal Meraz -- the directors and choreographers for Academy of Villains -- created a concept video to "100" just after the crew left America's Got Talent. The Youtube description says it all: "This video is a shout out to everyone in the industry that has never changed and always kept it 100% real with people. I've learned and experienced first hand how fake people can get in this industry, and wanted to show that i can dance just like you, but i don't choose to. Appreciate every one's art form and dance, and make sure you always keep it 100% real with people... or there is no friendship or trust. Thank you for watching." From  pharside Youtube

3 videos by IaMmE members (plus some IaMmE love from Twitch)

IaMmE (ABDC6 winners) continue to make outstanding videos in all combinations -- individual dancers, subsets, and the full group. No wonder that Twitch (So You Think You Can Dance all-star) told us that IaMmE was his favorite Youtube performer (click here to watch the interview).
First: Emilio Dosal solos to B.o.B's "Out of My Mind" on IaMEmiliodosal Youtube.

Next, Phillip 'Pacman' Chbeeb and Jaja Vankova dance a story about a second date to Aaliyah's "I care for you" on JaJAvankova Youtube. Thanks for the links,  Oluponle! 


Finally, here's a DanceOn video with Pacman, Jaja, and Brandon Harrell called "Dreaming Big"

Exclusive interviews with SYTYCD judges Nigel Lythgoe & Mary Murphy after Top 8 Show talk about who might win

Chris Trondsen interviewed judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy after the So You Think You Can Dance Top 8 show. Nigel talks about  Lindsay and Witney (two longterm friends) competing against each other in the bottom 2, how dancers have to be used to competition and rejection, how this is the most diverse season ever, and who he thinks who will win.


Mary talks about her enjoyment of the week's show, her sense of how viewers might vote, how amazing choreography and magical moments will determine the winners, and her admiration for Chehon during this episode.