# So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 auditions (spoilers)



## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Finally watched the first episode (2 hours of auditions) that recorded earlier this week.

Is anyone else watching, or are you all waiting for the actual competition to start?

I confess I am fascinated with watching the auditions. It astounds me that people wear clothes that they can't dance in, don't do any choreography and just decide to go up there and wing it, that they bad-mouth the choreographers, etc.

Then there are always one or two people who turn in fabulous auditions, like Christopher Bryant, but don't make it through because they have no training and can't learn other people's choreography fast enough. I don't want to miss those people, so I have to turn in and watch.

Bryant's routine is amazing because all his moves flow seamlessly from one to the other and the tricks come out of nowhere. Amazing stuff.

Dancers to watch for:


street dancer Musa Cooper, who auditioned for last year's show. He's been talking class in the meantime
popper Michael Kim
Travis Wool, who has ballet technique and a punk wardrobe
lyrical dancer Natalie Fotopoulos ("if it sounds like a fungus, it's Greek")

And there's one more dancer whose name I didn't catch. You'll spot him because he auditions with one bare foot and one shoe on. Does he remind you of someone? Maybe last year's winner, Nick?

There's good reason. This guy used to train with Nick. Then he hit 18, started two sew his wild oats, and ended up in the bottle for 2 years. When did he hit rock bottom? When he saw Nick win and realized that not so long ago, he and Nick had been training together.

At the time the audtions were shot, he'd been sober 60 days.

He's all rough around the edges from being away for the couple of years, but you can tell he's got the same solid foundation of technique that Nick had.

If he stays sober, the other dancers had better watch out.

Jan


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## wooh (Feb 20, 2006)

Well, I'll just say that I spent the last week exuberating the fantasticisms (after I found somewhere to put my mink of course!)


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

I have never seen this show before but watched the premiere this time. Wow, some of those people can dance! And some are just wack-jobs, like the mink guy or the cross-dresser (he was ugly as a man or woman!!


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

None of them even halfway approached the horror that was "Sex".
Or to be more specific, "Sex's" Mom.


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## JoBeth66 (Feb 15, 2002)

"Sex" was scary as hell. When I thought he was just joking, it was funny - but when you realize he was *serious*, and had trained for years as a 'dance person', well, then it just got pathetic.

Musa Cooper is a local - I'm going to be watching him. 

The recovering alcoholic was really promising - I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. 

I'm trying to think what the clogging girl was thinking. Yeah, it's clogging - where do you think you're going to GO with that?


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> None of them even halfway approached the horror that was "Sex".
> Or to be more specific, "Sex's" Mom.


Thanks for bring him up! I had successfully blocked that from my memory!


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Jobeth66 said:


> I'm trying to think what the clogging girl was thinking. Yeah, it's clogging - where do you think you're going to GO with that?


The clogging girl wasn't thinking anything beyond "I'm going to go do this, it sounds like fun." She picked out some music, and put no thought into her outfit. She said she had nothing planned, she was just going to go out there and wing it.

It's not the clogging that's the problem. It's the fact that she was totally unprepared. And mediocre, too, but the problem was that she was not taking any of it seriously -- it was just a lark to her.

I agree that many of the dance styles which I'd call "straight up and down" like last year's Irish dancer are going to have BIG problems on this show. But the choreographers know that. They are looking for the people who can bust out and surprise them.

Somebody who was good at clogging (rather than just "oh I go out and have fun with it at clubs" sorta okay at it) who also happened to be fast at picking up other styles of dance could, theoretically, do well on this show. But they'd have to start out better than this girl -- she wouldn't last a moment in the freestyle rounds.

Musa is great! :up: I'm so glad he came back.

Jan


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

markz said:


> I have never seen this show before but watched the premiere this time. Wow, some of those people can dance! And some are just wack-jobs, like the mink guy or the cross-dresser (he was ugly as a man or woman!!


The interesting thing to me is watching the choreographers, too. Nigel can rip the posers like mink guy a new one, but can be quite gentle with people who already know they aren't going to make it through but just want the chance to be seen, and are sincere in expresing themselves (at whatever level), like the TG guy.

And now that we're in Season 2, I have the standard Season 2 question I want to ask ALL the sad-sack auditioners:

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you watch Season 1?"

For season one, nobody knew what they were being asked to do, so I could have more sympathy with people like the belly dancer who didn't make it through (in Season 1) who whined about how all they wanted were Western-trained dancers.

But now, it's like: okay, you think you can dance as good as the winner of season 1? Riiiiight.

Jan


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## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

Yay, Jan, I knew I could count on you to start this thread.  

I hate the "pathetic loser" part of the auditions where they make fun of people, but otherwise just love this show!!

You named all of my favorites, including Musa (thank you for the name), the popper, and the recovering alcoholic. I also really liked the Russian/Ukrainian couple.

I was a bit surprised the 18 year old super-skinny cheerleader type got through. She was a bit stiff, but I guess interesting enough. I predict she and her "down-home" boyfriend won't make it through this season.


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## Magister (Oct 17, 2004)

What happens to the winner? Is there such a thing as a famous dancer... Besides K-fed?

Can they even make good money?


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I have to say I LOLed when they say the winner wins a job in Vegas at "the hottest show in town: Celine Dion"!


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

tivotvaddict said:


> I was a bit surprised the 18 year old super-skinny cheerleader type got through. She was a bit stiff, but I guess interesting enough. I predict she and her "down-home" boyfriend won't make it through this season.


She was marginal, yes. Her own choreography was not that great but she has some technique. She has nice flexibility and nice line, but she is very, very, very young. So the question is, how quickly can she learn, how adaptable will she be with other people's choreography?

Given the rest of the talent they're assembling, I don't think she will make it very far, but it should be a good learning experience for her.

Jan


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## Chunky (Feb 10, 2006)

Are you guys serious?


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

Magister said:


> What happens to the winner? Is there such a thing as a famous dancer... Besides K-fed?
> 
> Can they even make good money?


What about J-Lo?

What about Paula Abdul?

Weren't they both dancers before hitting it big?

And then there's Fred Astaire!


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## Magister (Oct 17, 2004)

markz said:


> What about J-Lo?
> 
> What about Paula Abdul?
> 
> ...


Paula Abdul was a dancer in the 80's, J-Lo from the 90's and Astaire from the 50's or so.

One from each decade?!?

Who cares about the dancers in the background. Just end up being one of the idiots on the side in a hip-hop live (eheh) performance.


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## dvdapex (Nov 13, 2002)

markz said:


> What about J-Lo?
> 
> What about Paula Abdul?
> 
> ...


Neither Paula or J-Lo were famous dancers. They became famous as singers (and in J-Lo's case because she was hot and bat-sh*t crazy).

Fred doesn't really count because it was a much different time and (I'm just guessing here) he was more famous because he was in the talkies than because he was a dancer (Even though he danced in most/all of the moving pictures he was in.).


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## dvdapex (Nov 13, 2002)

When the midget was talking after he got the boot, he was asked how long he'd been dancing. He replied, "ever since I was little." I thought he had a great sense of humor and was joking around. Then, I realized it was a serious comment. Too bad as he had me roaring.

My 2 yo son loved watching the show last year and dancing along with the dancers. He liked the ribbon guy and the Groovaloos (or whatever their names are) from the season finale. We've already replayed S2E1 3 times as he can't get enough. Unfortunately, he copied that one girl who took down her pants to show her underwear. He also copied "Sex"'s little jump splits too (and did it much better). I guess I should be glad he didn't copy the Jewish hip-hopper that slammed his face on the ground!


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## Granny (Mar 29, 2005)

Missed this show last year and was determined not to make the same mistake twice. Great auditions. I totally agree about the clothing. What are people thinking when they are dancing with long scragly hair and floppy, flappy jackets on? 

"Sex" - a good example of what happens when you lie to your kid and let them win at everything. 

That popper was fantastic.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

dvdapex said:


> Neither Paula or J-Lo were famous dancers. They became famous as singers (and in J-Lo's case because she was hot and bat-sh*t crazy).
> 
> Fred doesn't really count because it was a much different time and (I'm just guessing here) he was more famous because he was in the talkies than because he was a dancer (Even though he danced in most/all of the moving pictures he was in.).


In J-Lo's case, I used to watch her a lot, but didn't realize it, since she was a Fly Girl on In Living Color.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

markz said:


> In J-Lo's case, I used to watch her a lot, but didn't realize it, since she was a Fly Girl on In Living Color.


yup. She wasn't famous as a "Fly Girl". She became famous as a singer, and then when you saw the background on her story (as a singer), you would find out she was one of them.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Watched the auditions from LA tonight.

OH MY GOD -- so horrible!

And yet, there were a few -- a few -- so fantastic!

Remember Ryan, from Season One?

His crew all turned up and auditioned again. And they are even better than they were last year.

You know how Dan Karaty, when he sees something he really really likes, says "that's ridiculous"? (And the other fun thing about the auditions last time, when he sees something he likes, you can hear him yell.)

Well, I was really really sorry that Dan wasn't sitting at the table this time. Because with one of Ryan's buddies, Dan would have had to find a new word. His 'that's ridiculous' wouldn't have even started to cover it. No blinking way.

This kid did stuff that I am used to seeing in martial arts films with wirework.

Yet, there were no wires.

He did this thing sort of like a somersault where you jump up and spin in the air, only instead of doing a tuck or layout position, he RAN around the circle, as if there were some invisible track and it was no big deal to run around in the air upside down. 

It made up for the earlier part of the show, which was one really wretched audition after another, including yet another clueless guy who asked if he could have another go at it since they didn't like what he had done the first time around.

It's an audition, dude. You are supposed to bring your best stuff, and right away. You're supposed to be showing what you can do -- what do you think an audtion is for? 

Then there was the guy from the small ballet company who did some lyrical piece that was supposed to convey the suffering of a dancer who gets injured and can't do it anymore or some such idea. The fleeting life of the pro dancer etc.

I was watching his piece thinking "Is this good or not?" Of course if you have to ask, the answer is NO, it's bad. Because with the good dancers, the piece grabs you by the throat and you are compelled to watch, and you say WOW and yell and say "that's amazing" (or if you're Dan Karaty, "that's ridiculous") afterwards. Whereas with this guy, I was thinking, oh, my, this is unfortunate.

So before they cut his music off, I decided, this guy might be salvageable with a real choreographer to work with him, but what he is showing at that moment was bad -- in particular it violated my #1 rule, never ever never ever choreograph stuff that looks like a mistake (unless of course it's a comedy routine and it is supposed to be a mistake). [This guy was not doing comedy, he explained to us before it was supposed to be all serious and angsty.]

Brian and Mary agreed with me, and came down on the guy like a ton of bricks, Brian in particular saying that his technique was horrible. And poor Nigel, all bewildered, said that he would have said "yes". Oy.

Tomorrow night's show is supposed to be 2 hours according to what Fox said (the Chicago auditions) and yet as of tonight my Guide Data was still showing 1 hour. So if you are watching the auditions, be warned!

P.S. Please Nigel, pretty please: have a checkbox on the form which the people fill out which says "have you also tried out for American Idol?" And if they check the box which says "YES" please please please just show them the door right then. Do not put on a number, do not clutter up the stage, do not get airtime, just GO straight out the theatre door.

I'd much rather see the audition of someone who can really dance but doesn't make it through the choreography or partnering round, than the hopeless hapless wannabees who are just trying to get on TV, no matter what.

Jan


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## stargazer21 (May 22, 2002)

> Travis Wool, who has ballet technique and a punk wardrobe


Is this the guy who has the blonde, kinda faux-hawk hair? Wearing the camo pants? If so, he completely blew us away! I don't think either of us expected that passionate and beautiful a dance out of what we had tagged as a punker. 

The Kiddo and one of the girls he dances with got an offer from their studio to go to NYC and audition. Sadly, all they could pay for was the hotel. Neither of us could afford the airfare on such short notice.  Now, I'm not saying I think my son would win it all...but I know that they would both go straight to the competition and give it a helluva run. The Kiddo has taken a couple of workshops from one of the judges (don't remember which one...I'm a lousy stage mom!) Hopefully, they will hold auditions for Season 3 closer to home, and I can let him give it a shot.

In the meantime, we love watching it, both of us acting all catty towards the bad ones, and him stealing moves from the good ones. 

BTW, I don't think the dancers are looking to be big stars like the AI folks. That's simply not a dancers goal. They typically want to be able to pay the bills with gigs, and have some socked away for between gigs or to open their own studio. They want to be able to make a living doing what they love. Of all the young dancers I've been around for years (including my son), I've never heard one state any illusions of being "famous" to everyday people. They want to be recognized and known in the dance world, but the all recognize that most households can't pick the late Gregory Hines out of a lineup, so what chance do they have?  They just want to be one of the few that doesn't have to wait table to support their habit.

(and I'm gonna say this now, get it out there, and hopefully not go back to it...I can't stand hiphop, popping, or any variation of. The Kiddo has to be functional in it because, well, you just have to today. But we don't like it.  )


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Anyone who tries out for any "reality" type show needs to have watched a couple of episodes of said show first to scope out the competition and get a feel for things.
That Asian girl with the red hair last night was so darn clueless, and yet so wounded when she was cut loose. Did she not realize that she couldn't dance, not even a little?

The stalking tap dancer was super creepy, but I did feel a tad bad when they kept replaying her face just staring, and staring, and staring. I just know her students are going to be replaying and laughing themselves silly.

And that last burlesque girl? Can I hire her for the husbands birthday party?


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## stargazer21 (May 22, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> And that last burlesque girl? Can I hire her for the husbands birthday party?


Ya mean the one with the sweaty, um...everything?  

That was freaking nasty.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

stargazer21 said:


> Ya mean the one with the sweaty, um...everything?
> 
> That was freaking nasty.


Different clothes would have gone a LONG way in helping her! As you said, she just looked nasty in that outfit with all the sweat and what not!


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## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

murgatroyd said:


> Then there was the guy from the small ballet company who did some lyrical piece that was supposed to convey the suffering of a dancer who gets injured and can't do it anymore or some such idea. The fleeting life of the pro dancer etc.
> 
> I was watching his piece thinking "Is this good or not?" Of course if you have to ask, the answer is NO, it's bad. Because with the good dancers, the piece grabs you by the throat and you are compelled to watch, and you say WOW and yell and say "that's amazing" (or if you're Dan Karaty, "that's ridiculous") afterwards. Whereas with this guy, I was thinking, oh, my, this is unfortunate.
> 
> ...


That guy was HORRIBLE! Note: one is NOT supposed to wobble while standing on one leg. Also note: one is not supposed to stare like a mad scientist throughout the whole thing! ROFL! Nigel was being completely facetious - he only said he would have said yes to pretend to be the good guy, much like Simon does sometimes on AI. He knew the guy was horrible. That's why Brian called him an *(&(*&( right after that. 

Loved Ryan's crew guys. Man, I don't know how they do that!

Loved Donyelle - she will be one of the finalists, methinks. She did the incredible lyrical/jazz thing. She was the one saying she works from 7 in the morning until 10 at night every day.

Poor Mary has had more plastic surgery (don't they have limits?) but I've gotta say that it has improved her looks a bit. I don't know what she had done, but it looks better, even if she can't move the top 1/3 of her face.


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## Ntombi (Mar 17, 2004)

Yeah, Nigel was kidding, just giving the other judges a hard time, because that guy was AWFUL! I knew, as soon as they showed him going on and on about the meaning behind his dance, that he wasn't going to be good, but I didn't know it would be as bad as it was. :down::down::down: How on earth was this guy in ANY professional ballet company? His technique was horrid, and his hands looked like claws.

Donyelle was immediately breathtaking, and the guy who was born addicted to PCP was also really good. I can't wait until all the embarassing auditions are over, and we can see more of the real dancers.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Ntombi said:


> How on earth was this guy in ANY professional ballet company? His technique was horrid, and his hands looked like claws.


Well- if it was a smaller local company, and if they needed men, and if his mother was the seamstress...

He was creepy. Like too much plastic surgery creepy.


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## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

tivotvaddict said:


> Poor Mary has had more plastic surgery (don't they have limits?) but I've gotta say that it has improved her looks a bit. I don't know what she had done, but it looks better, even if she can't move the top 1/3 of her face.


So I'm not going crazy!!! She must've had some oral surgery done because last season she had a huuuge horse mouth/face. I thought she looked much softer and prettier now. She did bug me though, when she was laughing so loud. I think it was one of Ryan's friends. I know she was having a good time, but she sounded like a crackling hen.

Ryan's crew, yeah, love that stuff. The kid gets all excited when he sees dancing like that and then he tries to do it on the trampoline.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Great post, stargazer21 -- and best of luck to the Kiddo for a future audition. 

Yes, Travis Wool is the guy with the punk hair and cammo pants.

The funny thing is, before I watched this show, I said, "Oh, crap, I don't want to watch hip-hop / popping / krumping (however it is spelled)" but they have won me over. Especially Shane's choreography in the main show. Blew me away.

Meanwhile, on last year's show, I was completely underwhelmed by the lyrical routines (sorry, Mia!), even though they are doing some of the same kind of movement I sometimes see in figure skating -- usually in exhibitions, since there are rules in competition now forbidding 'dying on the ice'. I suppose this means that Mia is no Christopher Dean. 

But god bless Mia for supporting dancers with non-traditional body types. :up:

I also find the raggy costumes in lyrical extremely off-putting, since IMHO it takes away from the body lines of the dancers. 

The other thing I've found is that if I'm familiar with something, I can cherry-pick the good moves and say, 'well, this person needs polish, but they did X quite well'. But if I don't like a particular style of dance, the performance has to be absolutely mind-blowing before it seems watchable. YMMV.

Jan


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> That Asian girl with the red hair last night was so darn clueless, and yet so wounded when she was cut loose. Did she not realize that she couldn't dance, not even a little?


Now you know why they named the show "So You Think You Can Dance". 

Jan


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> Tomorrow night's show is supposed to be 2 hours according to what Fox said (the Chicago auditions) and yet as of tonight my Guide Data was still showing 1 hour. So if you are watching the auditions, be warned!


Just wanted to mention that the details are in my thread in the Season Pass Alerts, but my Guide Data this morning is still showing 2 eps of That 70s Show from 8-9 PM. I've set up a manual recording from 8-10 PM on my second TiVo.

Burn in hell, FOX and Tribune.

Jan


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## Bill Reeves (Jul 18, 2002)

The online schedule at fox.com (may they burn in hell) shows the episode from 8-9 PM is a repeat of last night's episode with the auditions from LA. It does have a note to say "The episodes of THAT 70s SHOW previously announced for 8:00 PM and 8:30 PM are preempted this night." The episode from 9-10 PM is new, with the auditions from Chicago.

So you *should* be OK if you don't get a chance to update your Tivo to record manually from 8-10 PM, but that assumes that Fox (BiH) isn't lying to us in their online schedule.


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## tivotvaddict (Aug 11, 2005)

Bill Reeves said:


> The online schedule at fox.com (may they burn in hell) shows the episode from 8-9 PM is a repeat of last night's episode with the auditions from LA. It does have a note to say "The episodes of THAT 70s SHOW previously announced for 8:00 PM and 8:30 PM are preempted this night." The episode from 9-10 PM is new, with the auditions from Chicago.
> 
> So you *should* be OK if you don't get a chance to update your Tivo to record manually from 8-10 PM, but that assumes that Fox (BiH) isn't lying to us in their online schedule.


Anyone know if that's really what happened? I missed the first hour, but obviously I did see it yesterday.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

tivotvaddict said:


> Anyone know if that's really what happened? I missed the first hour, but obviously I did see it yesterday.


Yes, the first hour was last night's ep. The second hour was new.


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## bluenoise (Jun 10, 2000)

This is looking like it will be a good show. Having seen what they're competing for, it seems more than half of the auditioners can be eliminated without them needing to take the stage. They should be asking them, "So you think you'd look good in a unitard on stage with Celine Dion?"


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

So where do all these people get the idea that they can teach dance if they can't do it themselves?

I can watch figure skating and tell you who is good and who is bad and who is in between, but since I'm not a skater there are things I miss. And even so, being a judge is a very different task than teaching someone how to do something in the first place.

The sad thing is that these teacher-wannabes are probably going to be teaching people who are just starting out. How much bad technique are they going to teach, stuff that their students will just have to unlearn later?

So, so sad.

Jan


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## stargazer21 (May 22, 2002)

Jan, I can see what you're saying, and can agree to a point. Since I don't really know anything about the techniques of dance, I've often watched the Kiddo during lessons and wondered if the instructor was really as good as I thought they were. (I've even thought about it when the Kiddo started teaching his classes, although his classes are for little kids (5-7 years old) and are aimed more at introducing them to musical theatre in a hiphop world.)

But last night I was having a real problem with how brutal Nigel was being. I missed the first half of last season (we were busy being snobs! LOL!), but is he always that harsh? I just can't imagine any dancer actually encouraging someone to quit dancing!  Yeah, maybe they ought not be teaching...but who's to say who the perfect qualified dance instructor is? I guess it makes for good TV, but I just cringe when he's ripping into a young, overweight girl and simply humiliating her (you can get your point across without being an a-hole). 

It kind of reminds me of a show that the Kiddo did about a dancer who was training in classical dance. Bless his heart, he couldn't get some of the basics such as a turnout done properly, so he developed his own style of dance that no one had ever seen before. I'm glad Nigel wasn't around in those days to tell Bob Fosse how bad he sucked.  

Anyway, let the real dancing begin! :up:


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## Jesda (Feb 12, 2005)

Just wanted to see my signature in action.


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## jehma (Jan 22, 2003)

stargazer21 said:


> Jan, I can see what you're saying, and can agree to a point. Since I don't really know anything about the techniques of dance, I've often watched the Kiddo during lessons and wondered if the instructor was really as good as I thought they were. (I've even thought about it when the Kiddo started teaching his classes, although his classes are for little kids (5-7 years old) and are aimed more at introducing them to musical theatre in a hiphop world.)
> 
> But last night I was having a real problem with how brutal Nigel was being. I missed the first half of last season (we were busy being snobs! LOL!), but is he always that harsh? I just can't imagine any dancer actually encouraging someone to quit dancing!  Yeah, maybe they ought not be teaching...but who's to say who the perfect qualified dance instructor is? I guess it makes for good TV, but I just cringe when he's ripping into a young, overweight girl and simply humiliating her (you can get your point across without being an a-hole).
> 
> ...


Yes, Nigel was being really brutal. Even Simon at his worst isn't that mean.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

stargazer21 said:


> It kind of reminds me of a show that the Kiddo did about a dancer who was training in classical dance. Bless his heart, he couldn't get some of the basics such as a turnout done properly, so he developed his own style of dance that no one had ever seen before. I'm glad Nigel wasn't around in those days to tell Bob Fosse how bad he sucked.


I don't think Nigel would have told Bob Fosse how bad he sucked. Fosse would have been one of those dancers who had musicality and (presumably) would have been a good performer, things Nigel would have recognized and praised.

Nigel is not shy about recognizing talent. He is quick to tell someone he thinks their work is fabulous but not right for that particular show. I suspect that the choreographers would have told Fosse that he was a great performer but classical dance was not the place for him, and he should do another kind of dance.

Jan


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## Ntombi (Mar 17, 2004)

I'm with Nigel.

I grew up in the dance world: mom was a professional dancer for years, dad was a musician for dancers, and then they opened a very successful school for twenty years that sent many people to world-renowned companies. The number of people who called themselves "trained," and then became teachers, but had absolutely no technique or talent was astounding. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves. _Their_ teachers, not them, because they've been bamboozled!

It's hard, because parents with no dance knowledge (or common sense) are paying good money for their kids to be taught, and the kids grow up thinking they're doing something, performing in wretched recitals and entering those ridiculous contests.

One of my mother's favorite students came to her when he was 18, after having had years of lessons. He came wanted to fine-tune a piece for an audition for Alvin Ailey (years ago), and my mother had to tell him that he had no technique, but he had something that could be really great if he wanted to start over. He went off to audition in a huff, but then cried like a baby when he realized she was right. He came back and took classes with her for years, and ended up having a dance career after all, but he had to start almost from scratch.


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