So You Think You Can Dance: Beantown Gets Down

It’s the birthplace of The Revolution!!! We’re in Boston, home of the Red Sox, the long A, John Krasinski and New Kids on the Block. Having one So You Think You Can Dance per week really frees up time for me to have a social life, but I find I really do miss it. The week never goes by fast enough. Even so, dance is back, along with our judges and the talented Mr. Tyce Diorio.

THE GOOD
Teddy Tedholm is the kind of guy who doesn’t look like he has a single rythmic bone in his body. Not to mention he came wearing checkered pants and a bowtie and calling himself whimsical. But I was captivated the moment he started moving to the music. There were no jumps or flips or crazy spins but he was unique and beautiful. He could make a small movement look huge and that’s special. I can’t wait to see if he can do other styles in Las Vegas.

Jean Lloret started out with some slow and boring Latin moves, but once he busted out his true B-boy flare there was no denying that this boy needed a plane tickets. The fact that the beginning of his routine was another style and utterly boring might prove that he won’t last in the competition long, but he pulled out some moves that I have never seen in  my six years of SYTYCD and ABDC viewing combined.

Kimara Wood is a little frantic, but from the few seconds devoted to the dreadlocked hottie, he looked powerful and, hello, those abs! Apparently the judges got to see more than we were shown because I can’t imagine he got a ticket based on two seconds.

Russell Ferguson really got me excited. A crumper has never made it to Vegas, but his choice of music, resembling something tribal, just had me going. Tyce called him one of his favorite auditions in Boston and then proceeded to kick his legs in the air and accidentally let one rip which is why I love him, while Nigel just isn’t into crump unless it’s a huge group number. I thought it was wicked cool, as they say in B-Town, and he proves to Nigel he can perform other styles well enough to continue to get a ticket to Vegas.

Speaking of great partners, Karen and Matthew Hauer are such a cute married couple, I want to gag. However, I was expecting more from them, more technique, more flair and more fire. Maybe it was because they just look so hot. I actually though Matt was better than Karen, but the judges decide to keep them together and send the first married couple ever to Vegas.

THE ORDINARY
Channing Cooke is the type of dancer Nigel dreams about. She’s young and beautiful and flexible. Okay maybe she’s the kind of girl all boys dream about. Methinks she’s the type of goofy and fun tomboy I could chill with, but I thought she was completely emotionless and a little pose 1, 2, 3, when she danced. Luckily the judges agreed with me and thought they needed to see her in choreography. Channing does enough there, though, to move on.

Ryan Casey is a 18-year old giant. I mean, you see something new everyday, and I had never see a 6’ 8” tapper. To me he just looked awkward and flaily, but apparently he has “educated ankles,” according to Nigel. And it’s off to choreography for him, where he just doesn’t look less gangly and in control to be put through.

Gene Bersten call his Latin moves the sexy dance. I guess that would be true, but there’s nothing sexy about his facial ticks when he dances. I appreciate that he danced by himself and picked a contemporary pop song, but I agreed with judges that he needs to show that he could control his face during the choreography round. Overall though, he had great technique, and it doesn’t hurt that choreography this year at the auditions is all about the Latin style so it’s enough to get him through.

Kevin “K’Bex” Hunt isn’t the best hip hopper I’ve ever seen, but he’s a good performer. He auditioned during Season Three and is back to prove himself. I’m not over the moon but sending  him to choreography is appropriate. Tyce is already an angry man by the time someone who isn’t actually bad comes in front of him. K’Bex says he trained in contemporary while he’s been off the SYTYCD radar, but we saw none of that, and Tyce isn’t to happy that he’s didn’t bring out the big guns. In the end, he agrees what he did in his style was great, but gearing someone say “It’s great” in an angry manner is a little off putting. He flexes his stuff, though, in choreography and it’s “great” enough to get to Vegas.

THE UTTERLY HORRIBLE
Fabrizio “Breeze” Jenkins was a big, fat baby (his omission) and now he’s a big, fat and boring dancer. He fell over in the middle of the dance, which was the most entertaining part of it all, but at least he got up and kept moving, even giving the judges a little wink. Nigel sends him through to choreography which makes me wonder how bad you have to be to just get straight cut. He doesn’t even end up performing because that fall really messed up his ankle, and he thinks his partner deserves better than a gimp.

Forty-six year old Paul Magliato created a movement and is also the first to wear tight, blue spandex. I couldn’t even begin to discern what is involved in that movement since he never really explained it, but it includes a lot of poorly executed spins. Nigel’s look of shock when he stops the music is hysterical. Insert thought bubble saying, “What? Stop me? The consummate performer?!” Cleary, he’s too old for the competition, but when he danced, he reminded me of what little kids do when they interpret every word in the song they are dancing to. Kind of sad really, but at least he left with his head held high.

Luckily, Paul is the only exceptionally awful dancer we saw and  saved from having to sit through bad auditions.  But I thoroughly enjoyed watching Tyce’s clip reel where he berates all the horrible dancers. He even gets a new nickname: Dr. Evil!

WRAP IT UP
So goodbye, Boston. I am hoping that they’re not planning one week of showcasing great dancing and then the next week is spotlight on the pitiful because so far that’s been the scheme. I’m starting to see the value of drawn out auditions because we really have gotten to see more great dancers instead of cramming two cities into one night during the summer. All in all, Boston totally beat Phoenix and gave Los Angeles a run for its money. 33 dancers get though coveted plane tickets.

I wonder what Atlanta will show us next week!

Season 6, Episodes 3: Audition Show #3 (originally aired September 23, 2009)

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