On last night's So You Think You Can Dance, Melissa and Ade performed a Tyce Diorio contemporary piece inspired by breast cancer. Read the full post.
Jul 23
2009
04:46 PM ET
'SYTYCD': Was Melissa and Ade's 'cancer dance' overpraised?
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First off: watching something in person is typically always more moving than watching from a TV. So if you moved in any way from home, imagine watching it front row. Second: for us it’s a tv show – weekly entertainment. For the the judges and choreographers, this is their career – some of who have devoted their entire adult lives to it and then some. When you’re that passionate about something, you’re obviously more emotionally invested and therefore going to take more than the broad audience. Just giving some things to chew on for those that think the judges got carried away in their emotional praises.
Damn American Idol and the cynics it’s turned us into! We’ve caught on to AI’s game: the winner gets a record contract and the show’s producer gets all the $$$ from it. No wonder we’re ever so scrupulous when we see the SYTYCD judges reap loaded praises on some performances. But remember, the winning dancer doesn’t receive any contracts, any deals. Just prize money and a title that may get them some “in’s” in the industry. I’m sure the producers get some cut in whatever stints they may get-but generally speaking the stakes and profits aren’t as high for dancers as they are for recording artists. It’s because of this that I can strip away some of my own cynicism when I see something like last night’s performance. These judges don’t really “bash” anyone like in AI. They’re very encouraging even when the performances aren’t great. So when they’re moved to tears, I think it’s sincere: no pandering. Just being proud of seeing these kids grow.
Who cares if they told us beforehand that this piece was about breast cancer? If we didn’t know Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother” was centered around the Great Depression, we’d probably think it was just a picture of a woman having a bad day. If we didn’t know Warhol was commenting on mass consumerism, we’d think his “Campbell’s Soup Cans” was just cheap poster line up. You look at Picasso’s “Guernica” and think its just a bunch of odd shaped figured. You learn its about the bombing of Guernica and those shapes elicit a far more powerful response. That was his intent. Art has become more and more about well an image – or in this case, movement – represents an idea. You judge the piece on how well it executes the concept it’s trying to convey. In this sense, knowing the concept – the background – is essential to the piece. You can’t have one without the other.
To Stef: Thank you! That is a really good point. It is not like breast cancer is something no one talks about. How did that number shine more light on it? To let the rest of us know…..that women are sick out there? I think most of us are pretty up on that fact, mostly from personal experience unfortunately! And, yes, Nigel wants to be “proud” that his show was able to do that (what, exactly?), but couldn’t even be bothered putting up a number for donations or information. Cheezy.
I had no idea what teh act was about … as a matter of fact I do not even watch the show. I just ran across the video by chance … and I can tell you that the dance did touch me profoundly!
I felt her pain in the dance and her confidence/hope in her partner…
It was only after listening to the judges and reading the comments, that I found out what was behind the act … regardless if the judges influenced peoples opinion or not … BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!
Bravo for the act
Bravo for being brave enough to portrait it!
Bravo for the show to bring such an important matter in a way it was never brought up before!
Again … BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!
It has been said, it has been campaigned, it has been sung .. and for the first time it was DANCED!!!!
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was the most embarassing moment on TV I’ve seen in quite a long time…all the fake crying…we know these people care so much about cancer because they cried, I guess. I also guess we know it’s about Cancer because she’s wearing a shmatte on her head. If the word cancer was not mentioned, nobody would have known at all that’s what it was supposed to be about. By the way these people carried on, you would have thought those two dancers found the freaking cure for it. These people are so ridiculous.
The dancers are in constant motion, the lifts are extraordinary and in some inexplicable way the piece managed to convey what it feels like when you hope against hope that someone you love is going to live, if only you could lift them up just a little bit higher with all your strength, then they will live. Or maybe if you get them this treatment or that treatment, or if you could just love them more they will live. And the person wants you to lift them up, find that treatment, or medicine or love, so they can heal and live. Yet there is another side of all this, where you are both so tired and hurt and afraid. Well I could go on and still never be able to express what we go through when someone we love becomes so ill that,,,,
The choreographer has clearly been there. Perhaps the routine looked simple, but it wasn’t – so perhaps that is what the nay-sayers are reacting to.
This was an extraordinary piece of choreography – a classic pas de deux. It will haunt me.
i think the dance was beautifully performed, especially by melissa. tyce was the one who was overpraised. more here . . .
http://www.downstairsthreads.com/downstairs-threads-dirty-laundry.html
The thing that is most frustrating for me is that they got mad votes because of the cancer theme. I thought Melissa and Ade both deserved to be in the bottom. Instead, everyone’s all weepy, and the routine gets votes instead of the dancing, and Janette gets sent home. Travesty.
It was incredibly overpraised!!!! A very “okay” dance with a scarf and a song that everybody cries to…that’s it. Makes me mad that Janette is gone when it should have been Melissa. Sorry, she’s fine but Janette was incredible and I feel the way that dance was blubbered over by the judges was so manipulating. Arrggggghh.
what is wrong with this writer. It was very memorable and it ranks right up there with the Bench piece and the addiction piece. It was pure genius of Tyce Diorio and beautifully danced by Melissa and Ade. One of my favorite performances and of course it hit home for me , this past March 7 I lost my sister to cancer and it hit close to home. I enjoyed it , those who are being such total asses abot it maybe they haven’t had a loved one losing to this horrible disease that killed my sister.It was soulful and moving piece.
It was everything art should be: Beautiful conception, danced emotionally, freely, and understated, and it connected with most of us. 2 years later I still watch it. Memorable for me.
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