DWTS 10-10-11

I don’t know about you but I LOVE Indiana Jones, Jack Sparrow, Toy Story’s cuddlies, and Alfred Hitchcock, so dances to music from those movies made this week on Dancing with the Stars doubly exciting.

Here’s this week’s dance analysis:

Chynna and Tony. Tango. My mark 7.
We all know that Chynna was voted off – basically because she blanked out. Yet, much of the time she danced beautifully. Personally, I would rather watch Chynna and Tony dance even with her blanking than some of the remaining stars. Chynna, you belong on the show, sister.

David and Kym. Paso Doble. My mark 7.
Uh oh, the same marks as Chynna and Tony. Effective beginning to this dance. David showed improvement, strength, poise. He handled the whip well. Twice at least he showed wonderful arm extensions and gestures. I can’t say he showed the greatest flow, connection and ease throughout his performance, however. In moments he was the brave hunky hero. Yet, he seemed unable to sustain all the elements that go into dancing. He sometimes failed to look like he was dancing.

How could he improve? You tell me. I can see him wearing really comfy shoes – dance sneakers made for him. There’s a reason he’s an actor and not… a dancer. 🙂

Carson and Anna. Viennese Waltz. My mark 7.
7-7-7 but not 007, alas. Carson did have some of the Pirates sensibility. There were nuances, and there was a bit of drunken Jack Sparrow about him. There is no one quite like Carson. Yet he really has little technique and as fond as I am of Anna as a dancer, alas I cannot say I saw a lot of waltzing.

What Carson does is in a league of its own since it manages to be quite entertaining. I’d like to hear that Carson has done some tai chi and Limon, gone to watch some Aikido, and most of all explored dance through Laban Effort Shape (creative dance for children in some circles). I suggest he take Anna with him so she can incorporate what she sees in his frolics in her choreography for the two of them. 🙂

Nancy and Tristan. Paso Doble. My mark 6.
Six – what? Not even Bond? James Bond? Nancy definitely had the conviction and for closeups had the expression. However… dance is a visual art form – it has requirements, physical, mental, emotional. She looks short and squat and she needs to extend and lengthen. Maybe yoga, tai chi and swimming would help her. The main thing is though that if I need a magnifying glass to see what’s going on that isn’t going to register. Nancy is a talk show host so she is a performer – just not a dancer. What she does is a form of entertainment, therefore she has presence and the ability to project, to show us something entertaining and big, and Tristan must get her to this point. Otherwise, she gets voted off – in my view of the universe. Why? Because she’s being given chance after chance and similar comments by the judges and I’m not seeing much change. Er – I’m glad she loves to dance though. That’s evident… in closeups.

Hope and Maks. Foxtrot. My mark 8.
Cute. Quite cute. Uh, Maks? What took you so long to show us foxtrot? There wasn’t enough of it and I was hungry for it.

Hope looked a bit unstable in some of the basic movements and yet most of the time that didn’t bother me too much. These two play well with each other. I was entertained and I like these two a lot, however 1) this seemed like a simple simple dance and 2) I wasn’t thrilled by the performance. As Gertrude Stein would say, “A beginner is a beginner is a beginner.” Still – waaay cute and well done.

Rob and Cheryl. Paso doble. My mark 7.
Ah in the 007 league. Some nice moves with a more sculptural look to Rob at times. Also some good strength beginning to show. I think there might be some ways to help Rob like strength training with weights, work with a male dance coach and something to help him understand that dancing is about flow, connecting movements and coming from within. I say this because he continues to walk and step at times.

Ricki and Derek. Tango. My mark 10.
Quite a challenge for these two and they danced marvelously. I felt though that Ricki might have had a more defined character. I couldn’t tell what her emotions were at times. Was she feeling fear, terror, shock? Who was she? I kept seeing a Martha Graham influence in this… in how Ricki’s hair was styled, in the beginning shadow figures, and more. The music had moments that I would’ve had trouble with – counting it alone – woo. I loved much of the choreography – the slow descent of Ricki to the floor, the all too brief fast tiptoe bit, and all the nuances from attacked staccato sharp to lyrical smooth whirling – gorgeous! The build in tension and the cloaked insanity elicited the movie Psycho on many levels.

Chaz and Lacey. Paso. My mark 6.
A paso but for me not doble. Chaz solo – doing Rocky moves – he inhabited it. But while I appreciate the attempt and Chaz’s obvious hard work, I can’t ignore the way the dance looked for most of the time since he hopped, walked and went all staccato with Lacey, and while those “sound” like the attributes of Paso, they just didn’t work that way. I think this is on her – it was the choreography.

For paso the dancers have to be pros and the choreography riveting and, there is a sense of groundedness, of earth strength and bravado. Chaz’s bulk made his performance look comical at times and Lacey (and the judges) seemed oblivious. I saw potential in Chaz’s first performance of the season… his feet were amazing. More dancing like that please… and maybe if Chaz is open to it, check out the free intention-based holographic transformative mini-session here

JR and Karina. Foxtrot. My mark 9.
So lovely and JR so enjoyed doing it. He inhabited the character and style. Charisma, flow, musicality, line. Fun too! I took Carrie Ann’s comments to mean that she would have liked to see pure foxtrot and JR’s incredible ability to move with Karina around the stage in that way. I would have liked that too and that’s a compliment. Next time?

JR “got” the foxtrot with the movie theme’s entertainment value and Karina gave him some great choreography with qualities and shadings that complemented them. His joy is contagious.

Till next week!