Dancing with the Stars -- Vote for Kristi!

[julietvalcouer]

What Len's looking for isn't the shaking and shimmies, he's looking for Cuban hip action and the VERY distinctive samba hip action that it has to have or it's just not samba. That's generated a lot by foot and knee action. Shannon didn't have any. She's very, very upright and stiff, and especially on steps like bota fogos and stationary walks it shows. REALLY badly. She's just in general better at the ballroom stuff and unfortunately of all the Latin dances samba is the one that will really bite you. It was a very lackluster samba--while Marissa's wasn't technically better by much it had more character.

Honestly, they probably should have had Johnathan go in for Derek after all (he was learning the dance that afternoon in case he had to.) Not only was some of the low energy probably Derek not feeling great, Johnathan's a better pro-am dancer and while he couldn't have fixed her hips, he could have helped her more.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Good post,Juliet. I do not think many caucasions, except maybe those from Spain, France and Italy understand the Latin dances. It's the steps themselves that should move the hips naturally and shaking them is strictly hollywood.

Yes, Johnathan is a text book dancer. Not a showoff. Anyone wanting to learn the Latin dances, should try to get him as a teacher. I believe he coaches contestants with his Russian wife who is also a fine dancer.

Joe

 

[hrmsk8ngnutt]

Latest Blogs

Here are links to Kristi's latest blog entries:

http://www.okmagazine.com/blog/view/3/Guest-Celebrity-Blogger

http://www.kristiyamaguchi.com/blog/index.html

She and Mark will dance the jive next week - GO KRISTI!!!!

ETA: If you go further down to the prior posts on the OK blog, she says that Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton may be in the audience in the coming weeks following Peggy Fleming and Evan Lysacek!! IIRC, I saw Tai and Randy the first week.

 

[Tonichelle]

yay for skaters in the audience!



*thinks Kurt would be a good skater to actually be a contestant on the show, but alas he is Canadian and probably would not be asked onto the American show lol*

 

[Pixie Cut]

she says that Brian Boitano and Scott Hamilton may be in the audience in the coming weeks following Peggy Fleming and Evan Lysacek!! IIRC, I saw Tai and Randy the first week.

Evan Lysacek was in the audience the second week, when she did the mambo, and Peggy Fleming was there either the third or fourth week.

Karina Smirnoff article on Icenetwork:
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080417&content_id=47800&vkey=ice_news

 

[Tonichelle]

I missed seeing EVAN? *drama queen moment*

 

[Wolfgang]

France, Spain & Italy?
Ahem....
Judging by what I see in the real world, you're better off learning the 'latin' dances from a Russian or Brit........

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

France, Spain & Italy?
Ahem....
Judging by what I see in the real world, you're better off learning the 'latin' dances from a Russian or Brit........

But only if you want Theatrical Dancing - not the real thing.

Joe

 

[julietvalcouer]

The best Latin couple in the world at the moment are from Poland. And my pro is British. Honestly, you need an Eastern European pro or a British pro to get the best possible grounding if you want to be competitive. (Between the two it's a question of style and teaching method--I happen to learn better from the English style, in my limited experience. And if you tell my Hungarian Smooth/Standard instructor that, I shall denounce you for the terrible liar that you are.) It's not a cultural matter, it's a matter of understanding where the hip action is generated from--the foot--and how stretch through the body works with the hips to create the action. The best of the best actually cheat a bit because they are SO good they can get on balance and into position without rlling through the hip the whole way. To do that requires a lot of control. However, to see a top (possibly THE top female Latin dancer in the pro ranks) Latin lady who uses every last move of her hip, check out Yulia Zagoryuchenko. Best hips in the business.

As far as dancesport is concerned, that's the real thing. That's why I get tired of comments on youtube from salsa dancers and people from Latin America grousing about videos not being samba or mambo or whatever. What people do in the streets isn't relevant. This is a quantified sport with highly stylized versions of what used to be street/social dances. (Except paso doble. That's sort of Latin meets flamenco and has basically never been a social dance. And bolero is kind of bastardized in origin as well.)

I will say I would not go to Johnathan for Latin in particular, but because he and Tony do something the other DWTS pros do not--they compete in the pro-am division. They're used to dancing in a competitive situation with a student who is significantly less experienced than they are. That's a whole different skill set from competing as a pro oneself. This is the division I do (at the bronze level) and having a pro who's good at pro-am can make all the difference.

 

[SeaniBu]

Kristi can shake her "thing" I am absoultly dumbfounded. The charictor she "got into." WOW!!!!!!! Is Bret ever right - "bringing out something he has never seen..." ...well I never thought she would get that aspect of the dance but I have been happily corrected. Way to be the best Kristi.

 

[Mathman]

10! 10!! 10!!!

 

[heyang]

GOOOOO, KRISTI!!!!!!


BTW, did you see Roz in the audience? She was sitting next to Kristi's husband Brett.

 

[Tonichelle]

did see Roz... it's good when you can see her without having to hear her

Kristi totally nailed that program and I got that SOI vibe from her... that's the Kristi I know!

 

[CB1AB2]

she was AWESOME = so was Mark == perfect score = they deserved it

 

[Tonichelle]

Mark is a total showman... I LOVE him... he and Derek are definitely my favorite pros!

anyone thinking Mark will be in Kristi's next ice show (whenever/ifever the next one comes)

 

[demarinis5]

Fred and Ginger oops I mean Kristi and Mark were fantastic. What makes this couple so much better than the others is that they dance with each other and they have great unison not to mention talent . With some of the other couples I find myself watching the professional dancer more than their partner not with Kristi and Mark. They deserved the perfect score last night.

 

[purplecat]

I saw Roz too! I love seeing all the different skaters who come to support Kristi. I'm still hoping to see Scott and Brian B. at some point! What can I say about Kristi and Mark's jive? It was wonderful and I completely enjoyed it. I thought the group dance was a lot of fun - I enjoyed the rehearsal footage of it the most! Tiny Kristi and the very tall Jason staring each other down was too funny!

 

[heyang]

With some of the other couples I find myself watching the professional dancer more than their partner not with Kristi and Mark.

I agree, especially when the celebrity is the male.
I really felt that Edyta was pulling out her tricks and using Jason as a prop last night. I know the male is supposed to feature the female, but they do have to be careful about totally overshadowing the celebrity dancer on DWTS. I've also noticed that pro's Max's and Tony's choreography sometimes overshadow their ladies, instead of presenting them.

Forgot to mention that Kristi is following the standard development path for artistic sports. First comes the technique and then the build up of the performance factor once the confidence with the basics are established and muscle memory kicks in.

 

[anya_angie]

I'm really sad to see Marlee go, she had a lot of joie de vivre. I am really starting to dislike Shannon LOL, her whining in the video tonight REALLY got to me.

 

[CB1AB2]

Marlee's time ran out = when Tom said her name I teared up and when he said he was proud of her the tears flowed == lately I'm not liking Cheryl and Christian, he is to smug and Shannon hips don't move = she should watch the tapes and see what the judges are saying is true