Has the hour time cap forced So You Think You Can Dance‘s producers to tighten focus for Season 14 — highlighting both talent and stylistic diversity on a weekly basis, giving viewers less of the most conventional contemporary auditions and more ballroom, more varied hip hop, and a smattering of specialty styles? While the competitive round may mean a return to form, the auditions have proven a breath of fresh air, and Monday’s concluding installment was no exception.
While contemporary dancer Lex Ishimoto has, not unreasonably, won much of the social media buzz, we were most drawn to the traditional styles on display. Accomplished Latin competitors Magda Fialek and Kiki Nyemchek delivered the real stuff, taking a more purist approach than some of the other couples in this audition cycle:
But it was ballerina Claire Rathbun, who’s danced with the Washington Ballet and most recently performed in Broadway’s Cats, who drew the bulk of our interest, delivering some fine pointe technique and Balanchine-styled shaping:
Worth a watch, too, is Indian dancer Ramita Ravi, who offered up a clever fusion of cultural dance with a lyrical bent.
Alas, NBC’s World of Dance continued its more disappointing offerings, with DNA — Antonina Skobina and Denys Drozdyuk — losing their duel round to ballroom cabaret duo Jenalyn Saraza-Pacheco and Luka Milacic-Perusina. The latter were openly scored on the merit of their tricks — lifts and spins that were, indeed, well executed, but connected by few real dance transitions. DNA’s tango/paso fusion was quite a bit messier than their real experience and capabilities should have allowed in this setting, a fact that no doubt hurt them here — but it was also jam-packed with complex changes of hold, demanding tempo, and stylistic intricacy.
Unfortunately, the show’s official channel has not uploaded their performance, but we’ve uploaded it to our Dailymotion channel, thanks to a reader’s helpful contribution:
In a dance showdown, difficulty of content should earn some substantial consideration, even if not full precedence, but World of Dance has made it clear from day one that technical dance evaluation, especially in so diverse a field, has little place on its stage and judges’ panel.
