Let's dance!

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by Travis Cody in
8


It's on tonight! I'm way too excited.

But before we begin, I just wanted to say a word or two.

Emmy winning choreographer Mia Michaels made it abundantly clear that something bugs her about SYTYCD Top 20 finalist Brandon Bryant. I thought she was rude and unprofessional, but she's certainly entitled to voice her very strong and learned opinion. In fact, she's paid to do so. I wish she could have been specific about something in his dancing rather than focusing on a general "ick" factor, which is basically what she communicated last Thursday when the Top 20 were revealed.

See, I respect Ms Michaels' opinion about dance based on the stunning dances she has made for this show.

For example...

This is Hometown Glory, featuring season 4 finalist Katee Shean and winner Joshua Allen.

This is Time, featuring season 3 finalists Lacey Schwimmer and Neil Haskell.

This is Dreaming with a Broken Heart, featuring Kherington Payne and Twitch Boss from season 4. Twitch is a Hip Hop dancer.

This is Then You Look at Me, featuring Lauren Gottlieb and Danny Tidwell from season 3.

This is A Song for You, featuring Destini Rogers and Blake McGrath from season 1.

This is Two Princes, featuring season 3 finalists Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell.

She won an Emmy for The Bench in season 2, featuring Heidi Groskreutz and Travis Wall.

You may not like the style, but there is no question in my mind that she brings out things in dancers that they didn't know they had.

So best of luck to Brandon and the other 19 dancers should you be fortunate enough to have Ms Michaels make a dance for you. As my pal Anndi wrote to me in an email, "If he can survive a Mia choreography, he'll come out of it a better dancer."

Kobe Bryant had 17 points in the first quarter, including a 4 point play near the end of the period off a 3 point shot and a foul.

Then the Magic proceeded to shoot 75% from the floor in the first half. You'd think the rout would be on, right? Nope. The Lakers led for most of the half, until a late surge gave Orlando a 5 point lead at halftime.

75% from the floor and a 5 point lead?

Percentages even out though. You have to keep paying attention to details like getting rebounds and making the right passes and closing out on shooters. As hard as Orlando played and as well as they did a lot of that stuff, they could only extend the lead by 1 at the end of the 3rd period.

I think Orlando played as well as they can. And then Kobe made some uncharacteristic mistakes late...he missed 5 free throws in the game and turned the ball over with the Lakers down by 2 with 30 seconds to play.

You can look at it two ways, depending on who you're rooting for. You could say that the Lakers took Orlando's best shot and still nearly pulled off the win. Or you could say that the Magic answered every challenge and hung in to win a game they absolutely had to have.

I think you'd be right to say both of those things happened.

And yet, both teams have still done exactly what they have to do. They have each won on their home floor. And if that trend holds, the series will go 7 games and the Lakers will be champs.

I'm not going to look that far ahead though. The Magic won game 3, 108-104. The Lakers now lead 2 games to 1, with game 4 coming up from Orlando on Thursday.

Go Lakers!

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:

    That Mia to me is as annoying as Mary. I thought she was down right rude not only to Brandon but to others as well. I'm looking forward to tomorrow nights show.

    Sorry about your Lakers. But it makes the series more exciting if it's not a sweep.

    Aloha

  1. Anndi says:

    I think what we saw from Mia is what a lot of viewers do in their own living rooms (and on the fan boards). And maybe it's not such a bad thing for dancers to realize that this is the search for America's Favorite (ugh.. missing "u" LOL) Dancer and that many viewers who aren't knowledgeable about technique will go for the overall package.
    Granted, she's a contributor and judge, and should have measured her words (going the LiL C route) but in the real hard world of Dance, these young men and women WILL invariably give someone the ickies and they'll lose out on a job because of it. Just as they may lose votes in this competition because of it.

    Such is the life of a "working" dancer in "the jungle". This isn't school, kiddies... it's a big time competition.

    She did tell him she thought his smile was fake, and last year the judges told him he didn't show enough emotion and that's why he was kept out of the top 20. While we may think it's not constructive, it could be. I've gone back and watched segments over again and sometimes he really does have this plastic permagrin on... and it's a bit off-putting. Presentation is so very important in a visual medium.

    As I told you, he has a chance to redeem himself with both Mia and LiL C should he be fortunate enough to work with them... it's all up to him now.

    Now, on another note... will you be a Kasprzaktivist? *giggle*

  1. Marsha says:

    I wondered to exactly what it is about him she doesn't like. Her voicing dislike may simply be a challenge to him to step up his game since everyone else had stars in thier eyes for him. If everyone said 'I love you', would he have to try as hard?? He needs not to miss this opportunity and accept the challenge to work with her.

    Mia, Tabitha and Napoleon are my favorites for sure. They always keep it interesting!

  1. Anonymous says:

    Unfortunately I haven't seen "so you think you can dance". Mr. Java has the channel firmly planted on the lastest sporting event. It sounds interesting- perhaps he will fall asleep and I can pry his fingers off the remote without waking him- probably not but it's worth a try.
    -jj

  1. I was surprised at Mia's dislike and was also bothered that she never said what she did not like. Lil C did the same to Brandon.

    Should be a fun year...

  1. Thom: Just you wait. You haven't seen the really annoying Mary Murphy yet. Wait until she gives somebody a ticket on her hot tamale train. LOL!

    Ann: You can have your "u" back during SYTYCD Canada. And that was an excellent commentary.

    Drilleraa: Yeah!

    Marsha: It would have been nice to hear exactly what. Maybe she gave him a private note. Or maybe he just grates on her. And you make a good point about getting on with it despite the adversity.

    Java: I say it's time to fight for your right to watch outstanding dance.

    V: They both said their version of "Brandon doesn't impress me". I guess everyone is all out of joint because Mia was rude. But seriously, we've watched long enough to know that she says what's on her mind. We also know that she'll back up and admit if she discovers she was wrong. Whether she was wrong remains to be seen. Enjoy!

  1. Anndi says:

    I forgot to say something this morning:

    I love that you included "Time" in the linked dances... it made me cry th first time I saw it, but I've been watching it a lot in the past few weeks since Daddy died... and now it touches me in a way that very few choreographies ever have.

    You didn't include "The Tim Burton Wedding" ?? LOL

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1iaPQ1xvc

    I think it was a wonderful piece that gave us an excellent competition introduction to Chelsie Hightower and Mark Kanamura, a favourite (- ha!) of mine :)

    She gave Mark a REALLY hard time during the learning and practice stage... and in the end - MAGIC!

    Proof that if Brandon brings it, he will get the thumbs up from Mia.

    Oh.. and "Mercy" (the door dance) that Katee and Twitch performed... LOVED that one :)

    Ok.. it's just too hard to pick LOL

    Oh... the first LIVE FROM HOLLYWOOD show is about to start... WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!