Trav's Thoughts

As promised, I have a few outstanding encores from Wednesday night's performances.

Coming on strong are Chelsie & Mark, who are getting better every week. This week they took on a jazz routine from Mandy Moore and then a beautiful Fox Trot from Edward Simons. The jazz dance was great, but I'm sharing the Fox Trot today because I think it shows that if you're a dancer, you take the steps and the concept from the choreographer and you give them life, no matter the style.


Mia Michaels is a genius. She gave Katee & Joshua more than a dance...she gave them a moment, and they did what dancers do. They brought the vision to life.


And then, when we thought that we had seen the moment of the season, Mia did it again. In the same show, less than an hour later, Kherington & Twitch brought to life yet another extraordinary vision.


Great stuff on Wednesday.

The Top 14 group dance is a fantastic Broadway routine choreographed by Tyce Diorio, to Money Money from Cabaret. Youtube search it y'all...it's great!

First up for review are Kherington & Twitch and Katee & Joshua. Cat teased us by making us think that one pair was in the bottom three...HA! They are all four of them safe, of course!

Now three couples are up. Kourtni & Matt are in the bottom three again, and they are joined by Courtney & Gev. That puts Chelsea & Mark through to next week.

Last two couples...Comfort & Thayne are the final pair in the bottom three, which means Jessica & Will are safe.

The most excellent popper from auditions danced last night. He's amazing at what he does, and the judges put him straight through to Vegas after his audition. We wondered at the time why they didn't ask him to do choreography. And we think that curiosity was born out when the young man decided to quit in Vegas rather than try any of the choreography.

But for what he does, he is truly outstanding. His name is Robert Muraine.


Don't get me wrong...I'm not slamming break dancers. Twitch, Joshua, Gev, and Comfort are all outstanding freestyle hip hop/breakers. And they each do choreography so very well. But none of them were put straight through to Vegas on the strength of their break dancing alone. All of them are dedicated to the entire craft and art of dance, and they had to prove it before they got a ticket to Vegas.

Mr Muraine is an outstanding popper. But the judges should have required him to go to the choreography round and given him a spot in Vegas. Suppose there was another dancer who had the commitment to work hard for the place, but he or she didn't get a chance.

I'll climb off that soap box now.

Ahem.

So we called the bottom three pairs. And the solos...

Kourtni - very nice, but she needs a different partner if she makes it through
Matt - wonderful soloist, but not getting it done in the choreography
Courtney - such energy and joy
Gev - great solo, and that was missing from his hip hop dance on Wednesday
Comfort - she's more versatile than we thought, but that solo wasn't good
Thayne - unimpressive

Now we have a musical interlude from One Republic while the judges decide who to save, and who must go. We say for the guys, it should be Thayne but it could be Matt. And for the gals, we say Kourtni despite her wonderful solo.

Nigel tells the gals that he cares more for these dancers than any other season, and that this decision was one of the more difficult and is not unanimous. Courtney is safe. Comfort is safe, which means Kourtni is out.

Nigel tells Gev he was fantastic and will stay. Nigel tells Matt that he came in at a high level and hasn't grown, and he is asked to leave. So Thayne will continue.

It only gets tougher each week. The remaining dancers are all outstanding. Next week, it's the Top 12 in the second most difficult elimination. The Top 10 go on the tour.

Have a terrific holiday weekend!