So You Think You Can Dance

I just went over to YouTube, hoping to find a video of tonight's show. No dice, so the pretty British host will have to suffice. It cracks me up how she says, "Los AngelEEZ"...

I love this show. I took a lot of dance lessons as a kid, and loved it. I won a swing dance contest once, but only because my partner was so good. (Swing is unaffected by feminism. The man leads, period.).

The "poppers" are fun, but what really moves me is grace and beauty. The human body is just incredible. I find it distracting when contestants wear anything baggy. Let me see the body, see the lines, how they move, the muscles, the proportions. Aesthetically, this is really important. You can laugh all you want at men in tights, but there's a reason for it.

On the teaser for tonight's episode, I had seen a guy in the yellow Finishing the Game jumpsuit, and my reaction was, "FORE!" Obviously, I could not miss the show. The guy in the suit was Phuc Dat Nguyen. You can only imagine the ribbing he's taken over his name. He had a really original, fun routine, and connected with the judges and the audience. He also had a moving backstory of being picked on a lot as a kid. The choreography did not go as well; I was sad to see him eliminated. I'll keep an eye peeled for him--maybe he'll be on Kollaboration or something. But if someone puts up a video of him, I'll upload it here. Wonder how he got the jumpsuit?

One more thought on SYTYCD--some people are very confused about what a dance competition really is. You can bust a move at a club, or your cousin's wedding reception, and it's all good. OK, you have the chutzpah to put yourself out there. Great. But it's not choreography--it's not competitive dancing. And when the judges call you on it, giving a solilloquy on how you feel good about yourself is really beside the point. Feel good about yourself doing something else, and leave the dance to the people who excel at it. Because I really enjoy watching the people who do excel, who are using their bodies to make an artistic statement.