i was watching a so you think you can dance season 2 rerun a few nights ago and i've got a beef with benji.
benji is an incredible performer but i don't think he should have won and i think america was duped. because when benji dances he performs for the person in the very last row with the crappy seat practically behind a pillar. he's so very "on" and giving his all that you, the audience, cannot forget for a moment that he is on and giving it his all. every single kick ball change is telegraphed and tap danced across your brain. bam. bam. bam. jazz hands!
maybe my years of ballet have spoiled me a bit. ballet is all about hard work looking absolutely effortless. there is nothing effortless about benji. travis, the runner up dude, moves with a grace and fluidity that is effortless. watching him, you are entranced by his body, swept away by his movements. what travis does is infinitely harder than benji because he is making it look easy. like, hey i can do that! nothing benji does looks easy. and granted it is not, there's no way i could move like he does. but every move of his performance reminds me of that fact. whereas travis, now travis can dance.
this concludes my beef.
4 comments:
After a week of vacay, I can't even remember what night the show is on! :-(
While I can't comment on season two itself, and am the furthest thing for any sort of expert on the subject, I can only say that as a big fan of dance, I very much know what you're talking about when distinguishing the styles of Benji and Travis (whoever they are). The je ne sais quoi, purity of movement, or something.
I once saw Evelyn Hart dance with the RWB, and before the show I was skeptical of the hype surrounding her performance. But the way she danced was transcendent compared to other principal dancers I'd seen (not many!) before that. I can't explain it but it was obvious and moving.
I think the same phenom happens in writing too - the best writers ensure you don't even notice you're reading, they simply sweep you away (except for the occasional moment that they throw to purposely take your breath away - Ondaatje, Munro!).
Er, is it a mere coincidence that we mention SYTYCN? in our blogs on the same day?
i think it is on wednesdays. ;)
and yeah, funny that we both wrote about it today.
i agree with you about good writing.
2 cents...
I somewhat agree with your beef. My beef with Travis however, is that I detest lyrical - and that's mainly what he is good at. No matter how skilled he is, and how amazing he can be, all I can think about are the dumb lyrical dances where he is basically just slow running back and forth and making praying arms to the sky.
I have a soft spot for ridiculous tapping too, so my bias is double.
hee! becky! funny! i admit that i didn't watch a whole lot of season two so i missed travis' praying arms. was he dancing for his life? maybe he needed those prayers.
*jazz hands*
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