Dance inspiration from the summer dance shows

My summer addiction is now So You Think You Can Dance AND America's Best Dance Crew. Since I dont' get MTV I'm really glad the ABDC show provides complete episodes on its website. I'm getting a hip hop education, and a kind commenter provided me with a link to an incredible hip hop dance documentary called The Freshest Kids, that puts hip hop dance into historical perspective.

Quick SYTYCD round-up: We now have the top ten dancers out of the twenty contestants. They are Mark and Chelsie, Joshua and Katee, Twitch and Kherrington, Will and Jessica. I'm very happy with this group, although there were some talented and entertaining dacers among those who were cut. The top ten are the dancers who will go on tour after the winner is announced. Since this show is a reality show, and really is "America's favorite dancer" and not necessarily "the best dancer of the bunch," the show relies on a combination of truly entertaining and sometimes even brilliant dancing, and the manufactured narratives that pit the audience against the Judges: are the critiques really about the judges expertise, or are they (also) trying to influence fans with more crass, commercial motives? Half the fun for some viewers seems to be arguing about conspiracy theories, while the other half involves the pleasures of the dance itself, the attractive contestants and the possibility of sharing the love with other fans.
Here's Gev's solo:

Here's Will's solo

Josh and Katee's contemporary:



After dancing with the same partner for the last several weeks, now the dancers will be paired with different partners, and have a chance to show us what they can do with new partnerships in the various styles. The voting will now be viewers only ("Americker") and not the judges, so there is a different dynamic, more about the individuals and less about the couples.

For some of the best recaps--creative, funny, smart, snarky-- I've been following Leee! over at Television! You Black Emperor, Matt at Ranting Details (he's a dancer and a whiz with Photoshop), BeckyLooo at If a TV Falls in the Woods (also a dancer), the threads at TWoP, and, of course, the great crew of Ted, Natalie and SueB over at BloggingSYTYCD, who kindly provide a roundup of news, videos, and live open threads during performances. It's fun to get different perspectives on the performances, especially from those with dance background. I really appreciate their recaps and song lists as well.

Now that my shoulders have healed enough so that I can get back to dancing myself, I have rejoined the Y, started taking stretch classes and will work my way up to going back dancing. I don't want to jump right in, because I am so out of shape that if I overdo it right away, it will through me into a fibromyalgia flare-up, so I figure I'll see how I do after a couple of weeks with dance stretch and water aerobic cardio. Then I'm going to make the rounds: cajun/zydeco at the Half Time Rec on Sundays, salsa at Babalu, late night Swing over at Tapestry on Thursday where I am sure to find the lindy hoppers, and some ballroom studio parties where I can get back in the swing of my favorite dances.