Dancing With The Stars-GO Dorothy! | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Dancing With The Stars-GO Dorothy!

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I pretty much agree with RallyCairn. Zendaya has been wonderful. Aly has grown. Kellie is good, but has kind of stalled. Jacoby is fun to watch even though he lacks technique- he definitely has flair!

Derek usually choreographs to enhance what his partner does well. However, I think he's ready to branch out more and might be finding DWTS to be restrictive. IMHO, Mark will try to hide his partner's flaws instead of drawing out their positives. I think the ladies do this a lot, too, with weaker partners - thus, sometimes the male star stands there a lot while the pro dances circles around them.

I've actually been somewhat disinterested this season for whatever reasons. I guess no one has been as stellar across the board as compared to previous seasons - i.e. Still love JR Martinez, Kristi Yamaguchi and Shawn Johnson. Great dancers as related to technique and performance and great personalities.
 

ManyCairns

Medalist
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Country
United-States
I, too, agree with Len....I think Derek just about lost it. Who was the choreography for .... Kellie or to show the pros off???

Zendaya is amazing, I hope she is in the finals; I think she deserves to be there. Val's choreography shows her off splendidly unlike Deriek & Mark who like to show off themselves. Just my opinion.

I agree completely -- Zendaya IS amazing. Not just her dancing but also her personality. I am decades older than she and I look up to her! lol -- at least in her attitude and enthusiasm and zest. Not one whiff of spoiled adolescent star in her actions. And it must be hard for her to work with all these "old" people, yet she relates in a friendly and relaxed but not disrespectful way. That must be a hard balance to achieve! I honestly have had an impulse to write to her parents and thank them for raising such a wonderful, grounded young woman. I hope she is able to continue to lead a sparkling, blessed life.

Zendaya's trio dance was just exuberant but controlled and fun. Liked Aly's too (just uber cool in a jazz age kind of way), and I also enjoyed Ingo's (very cute -- liked the cinema theme) and Jacoby's (always like to see Cheryl getting to shine, and I thought it had real flair and attack. Costuming was amazing -- the black trim accents on the yellow really emphasized their lines and moves).

@heyang: very interesting thoughts about choreographing to hide weaknesses vs. to accentuate strengths!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I, too, agree with Len....I think Derek just about lost it. Who was the choreography for .... Kellie or to show the pros off???

Zendaya is amazing, I hope she is in the finals; I think she deserves to be there. Val's choreography shows her off splendidly unlike Deriek & Mark who like to show off themselves. Just my opinion.

I am both inexperienced and gullible: I loved Kellie's dance. What do I know? Anyway, I agree that Zendaya is amazing, and Aly has grown by (gymnastics pun alert here) leaps and bounds. I love Kellie also, and I love to watch her and Derek. I think you're probably right, Rallycairn, that Jacoby will make the finals, along with two of the ladies, but I'm glad we've had so many weeks to watch all three of the girls do so many varied dances. Zendaya is definitely someone to watch in the future; I wish someone would come up with a real dance musical (not hip hop) that she could star in!
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I honestly have had an impulse to write to her parents and thank them for raising such a wonderful, grounded young woman. I hope she is able to continue to lead a sparkling, blessed life.

I think you should write her parents...I think that would be a wonderful way to celebrate their daughter. I don't know if you remember the night she commented she has to study...she said both of my parents are teachers. I know what you mean about looking up to her...she seems very respectful of Val and listens to what he says.

There are few young-uns that will listen. When I was young some of my best friends were older 50's & 60's. I love asking them questions and presenting what I thought were problems and listening to their advice.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I, too, agree with Len....I think Derek just about lost it. Who was the choreography for .... Kellie or to show the pros off???

Zendaya is amazing, I hope she is in the finals; I think she deserves to be there. Val's choreography shows her off splendidly unlike Deriek & Mark who like to show off themselves. Just my opinion.

Bingo. Mark especially always puts the spotlight on himself rather than on his partner. Even when he had Kristi Yamaguchi it always seemed like he was trying to out-dance her instead of presenting her.

The contrast with Zendaya's trio was stark. As Len said, kudos to the two men for putting their own talent on the back burner so that Zendaya could shine like a star. I agree with rallycairn that Aly is the most improved. I wonder if she has a big gymnastics fan base behind her, like Shawn Johnson.

To me, Zendaya is miles ahead of the field.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Did anyone see the "Dancing on the Ceiling" routine that Derek did with his partner tonight? I know how they do the basic trick, with a movable room, but even that didn't explain some of the moves those two did. How could one of them move one way while the other moved another way? I was going out of my mind watching it. There wasn't any gravity in that room!
 

Scrufflet

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Did anyone see the "Dancing on the Ceiling" routine that Derek did with his partner tonight? I know how they do the basic trick, with a movable room, but even that didn't explain some of the moves those two did. How could one of them move one way while the other moved another way? I was going out of my mind watching it. There wasn't any gravity in that room!

Shades of Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding, right? Some have been a bit dismissive of it but I loved it. Kudos to Derek for doing so many different things on this how. In so doing, I feel that he brings in creative aspects of dance that we saw in SYTYCD and SYTYCDCanada, things you could never do with a star partner. Wish we'd been in the audience to see it done!
I'm finding Val's emergence as a choreographer quite interesting! Hidden depths to that man!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I gather the judges thought highly of Mark and Aly's Afro-jazz dance, but when I saw those costumes and headdresses, all I could think of was Domnina and Shabalin's aboriginal routine. In his inimitable style, Tom Bergeron referred to their "crabgrass headdresses." Is that really, truly the way to do Afro-jazz? It didn't look very jazzy.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I gather the judges thought highly of Mark and Aly's Afro-jazz dance,
Did Aly do good? I was so distracted by Mark that I never watched Aly's performance. Mark kept jumping around and then getting in front of the camera too.

Delighted that Zendaya will dance in the finals. It would be wonderful if she won.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I gather the judges thought highly of Mark and Aly's Afro-jazz dance, but when I saw those costumes and headdresses, all I could think of was Domnina and Shabalin's aboriginal routine. In his inimitable style, Tom Bergeron referred to their "crabgrass headdresses." Is that really, truly the way to do Afro-jazz? It didn't look very jazzy.

For me, the routine reminded me of the one performed by Shawn Johnson, Derek and Mark during last year's all-star season.

Yes, the costumes were over the top, but I believe the rythym and movements were appropriate.

Glad that Ingo was the one eliminated. He definitely didn't deserve to be in the top 3 as related to his skills and performance quality. I'm very pleased with the top 4 and only wish the finale could be a top 4, instead of 3 this season. I'd hate to miss the freestyle from any of the 4 stars.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yes, I agree about the top 4, Heyang. Though Jacoby is probably the least accomplished dancer of the four, he has a lot of musicality and is able to radiate personality as he dances. He could also charm the birds out of the trees--he's so funny and witty.You can see how hard he works, but he also moves with such ease that it doesn't look labored.

Aly has grown on me. You can see her pleasure at coming into her own. Thanks for your evaluation of the Afro-jazz dance: I was so flummoxed by the costumes that I was unable to judge the dance. Somehow I think of jazz as having more elegance. I preferred the hip hop that Zendaya and Val did. I loved the way Zendaya was so smug about teaching Val this time around. I've really come to like the possibilities of hip hop after watching So You Think You Can Dance.

Kellie is so different from what I remember on American Idol. There she seemed sweet and rather ditsy. There's nothing ditsy about her on this show. She dances with power and grace.

This is one of those years where I honestly can't choose whom I'm rooting for the most intensely. I'm torn between Kellie and Zendaya, with Aly a close third. Any of the top four could win, and I'd be fine with it. The nice thing about DWTS is that the stakes aren't very high. There's no prize money. The stars who do well get a career boost whether they win or come in second or third. I mean, look at Mario Lopez, Stacey Kiebler, Kirstie Alley, and all the young Disney kids. So if one person wins instead of another, no one suffers. This is one reason I like the show so much. After the desperation of other contest shows, it's relaxing.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
. I've really come to like the possibilities of hip hop after watching So You Think You Can Dance.

Have you watched the 2 audition episodes for this summer's SYTYCD? There were some pretty amazing dancers featured already.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
OK, Kelly dominated the final round. That was a work of art. :love:

I agree the dance was beautiful and I appreciate that Derek showed her off instead of dominating the dance. I think of all 4, I didn't get Aly's dance at all.
 

ManyCairns

Medalist
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Country
United-States
Aly's and Mark's was my favorite (dance of the night, that is)! Had an almost masquerade quality, or like Bruno said, exotic and futuristic. Loved all the dances tonight, though, really. However, I just don't emotionally connect with all the posing Kellie and Derek do, though I can see that it is quite amazing athletically. It was entertaining but I wasn't moved to tears as so many were. Jacoby and Karina were a little lost in the shuffle but it was still great fun. Val and Zen did better at using their adorable troupe but not being overshadowed by it. Great, great show. Hope Zendaya wins the Mirror Ball, but regardless of who wins, it was a really good season, I thought.

Sad about the horrible tornadoes in OK.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I didn't get Aly's dance either. I loved both Kelly and Zendaya and thought Jacoby's dance was heaps of fun, though he's just less accomplished than the three ladies. Aly and Mark seemed to be moving in a frenzied, disconnected way that the extreme lighting didn't help. It's just not to my taste, though I admire Mark's basic idea of using a kind of apparatus to show off Aly's physical strength. The costume and all the extra movements were too fussy and hectic for me.

I am honestly torn between Kellie and Zendaya. Zendaya is probably a bit more versatile, but Kellie radiates emotion so well. They're just about equally amazing to me.
 

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
For me, Kellie & Derek's Quickstep and contemporary FD was by far the best this evening and they should win the trophy but who knows how the public will vote. Zendaya is 16 and certainly can dance, but has the emotional temperament of a typical teenager. Aly dances with great athleticism but that's about it.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
For me, Aly's the most improved, especially from a performance perspective. She seems to be reserved in personality; so, it was a learning curve for her to be more than athletic.

Jacoby is always fun to watch, but he's definitely lacking the refinement of the other 3.

I think Kelli's dancing has become 'warmer' as the seasons progressed. Thought she did a great job last night.

Zendaya was terrific, as always. Her youthful exuberance really shines through. There's less gravitas to her dancing because of her youth. Sometimes it is like watching a kid play at being grownup on the dance floor.

For me, that could be the dividing line between Kelli vs Zendaya. I'll be ok if either wins.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
I'll be ok if either wins.

Me too.

I think I would be upset if either Jacoby or Aly won. I think if there is any votes based on the pro, it would be for Val. He showed off his partner the best he could and had great choreography. I also thought Val handled the fact that Zendaya was taller than he.
 
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