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A Closer Look at So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD)

December 3, 2013 by 4dancers

by Gigi Berardi

The week before the SYTYCD 2013 Seattle performance, I had the opportunity to interview the competition’s winners: Fik-Shun Stegall and Amy Yakima. Equally exciting was an interview, too, with Tucker Knox.

I must admit that my questions were a little more personal perhaps than most – I had seen all the shows throughout the summer, from the regional auditions through to the televised finale. This helped mightily in my appreciation for virtually every aspect of the show (with the exception of the “judging,” and the whipping-off the stage of runners-up Aaron Turner and Jasmine Harper (were those really bouncers on Stage?)).

At any rate, the interviews were quite stimulating and the performance itself  (November 19), fascinating. However, I must admit, there’s something about the up-front-and-personal camera angle (for the televised shows) that allows you to see every drop of sweat, every expression, which is oddly interesting.

Tucker Knox

tuckersd_19-tucker-p#583EF8
Tucker Knox, Photo courtesy of SYTYCD

Tucker Knox was virtually a professional dancer before auditioning for SYTYCD. He worked with River North Chicago Dance Company, leaving Nashville when he was 16 (before that he had trained as both gymnast and dancer). During his tenure in Chicago, he had pieces set on him as the artistic director (Mauro Astolfi) of Spellbound (from Rome, Italy), and many other choreographers were in residence in Chicago.

The 23-year old has had more than his fair share of catastrophes and personal triumphs, but nothing harder than a life-threatening automobile accident (he was not driving), which fractured his spine and broke his sternum and ribs. Says Knox, “I was 20 at the time and I had to remain in a body cast with full bed rest for months and months.”

That experience though, resulted in Travis Wall choreographing a duet, Medicine, for Knox and for former SYTYCD all-star Robert Roldan, who himself had suffered a near-catastrophic accident earlier). The fact that they were both still dancing was remarkable, and Wall profiled that will and skill in Medicine. Says Knox, “This was the hardest dance to dance, by far. It required total honesty. It just was very hard emotionally to let everyone see me that vulnerable – I wasn’t portraying a character, it was all about me and I felt very exposed.”

Mr. Knox aspires to work in a contemporary ballet company, such as the Nederlands Dans Theater — which, for my money, would be a perfect home for this exceptionally lithe, flexible, and emotive dancer. However acting, commercials, movies, television, also are part of his dreams, all that, as well as working as a back-up dancer for any recording artist.

Mr. Knox excels in the contemporary pieces, more than any other single dancer on the show “I just create and feel the story with my partner, and then we live it on stage”), yet finds dance forms a little foreign to him the most fun. Says Knox,  “Hip hop is maybe not my best style, but it is the most fun — I just crank it out and it’s fun up there whatever we do. Also, ballroom for me feels surprisingly natural. Even though I may not perform it that well, it comes more easily than I thought it would.”

The modest Knox needs only look at a video or two to see how impressive his command of any style is.

Fik-Shun, photo courtesy of SYTYCD
Fik-Shun, photo courtesy of SYTYCD

Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall

Interviewing Fik-Shun Stegall, male winner of the SYTYCD 2013 competition, is an exercise in facing idealism head-on. Today, Fik-Shun looks forward to work in commercials and movies, and plenty of auditions in the coming year.

Every step of the way, from regional try-outs to the television grand finale, Fik-Shun has had an exceptionally positive attitude and outlook. Says Fik-Shun: “You just have to give it your all. You need to be aware of your body and what it can and can’t do, and be happy with that.”

Fik-Shun was injured only once on the show –- a  twisted ankle, but he soldiered on. The pay-offs were too inviting to the 18-year old dancer –- a duet with tWitch (“an awesome person, everything comes so natural to him”), a bell-hop routine (Let’s Get It On, choreographed by Christopher Scott) with his season partner, Amy Yakima, that took top accolades.

For Fik-Shun, the show has been an amazing success, “more people know who I am now, and I think they appreciate that I just gave it my all.” The choreography, especially ballroom, was especially demanding each week (“I don’t do choreography”). Nevertheless, Fik-Shun mastered the effortlessness of ballroom and the emotional grittiness of contemporary, easily becoming America’s favorite dancer.

Amy Yakima

Amy Yakima and Fik-Shun, photo courtesy of SYTYCD
Amy Yakima and Fik-Shun, photo courtesy of SYTYCD

To see Amy Yakima dance is to see both a highly technical dancer, as well as a strikingly emotional one. Besides being America’s favorite female dancer, she might also be the most humble. Next year, she plans to audition, but also is very committed to starting a dance school and teaching children.

Really, this from the competition’s winner? A dance school at the age of 19? Says Yakima: “I guess I just want to do everything because my body wont keep up forever,  a dance school makes sense.”

Being on the show was a life-changing event for the young dancer. Says Yakima: “Being on the show changed the way I dance, it opened me up to what I wanted to become.”

Whatever that is, it looks like she’s almost there – a powerful gymnast, a courageous hip hop artist, a melt-your-heart contemporary wonder, as in the duet, “Wicked Game,” choreographed and danced by the matchless Travis Wall, she is both workhorse and powerhouse. A stunningly beautiful dancer, with amazing capacity, her work remains one of the strongest memories of SYTYCD Season 10.

Her parents are physicians, as well as her staunchest supporters (her dad even danced on stage when she was first auditioning on SYTYCD), it’s no wonder Yakima remains injury-free, “I know how to take care of myself.”

Moral support also is strong, although Yakima admits that the voting was very stressful, “Really, we are all so driven. But the favoritism, the voting is so difficult – it comes down to our different personalities, to a certain look, what people like, and don’t. How different we look. Then we realize we are all on TV, and this is the way reality TV works.”

Right, but the dancer is still interminably cheerful.

“I know I’m cheery,” says Yakima. “But it’s the way I was brought up. In dance, you just have to get used to rejection, and not take it personally. It’s the only way you can dance.”

Gigi Berardi
Gigi Berardi

Gigi Berardi holds a MA in dance from UCLA. Her academic background and performing experience allow her to combine her interests in the natural and social sciences with her passion for dance, as both critic and writer. Over 150 articles and reviews by Ms. Berardi have appeared in Dance Magazine, Dance International, the Los Angeles Times, the Anchorage Daily News, The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald, and scientific journals such as BioScience, Human Organization, and Ethics, Place, and Environment. Her total work numbers over 400 print and media pieces.

Her public radio features (for KSKA, Anchorage) have been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists.  She has served on the Board of Directors of the Dance Critics Association, and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, as well as Book Review editor for The Journal of Dance Medicine & Science.  A professor at Western Washington University, she received the university’s Diversity Achievement Award in 2004.  Her fifth book, Finding Balance: Fitness and Training for a Lifetime in Dance, is in its second printing. Her current book project is titled A Cultivated Life.

Email: Gigi.Berardi@wwu.ed<mailto:Gigi.Berardi@wwu.edu>u

Website: http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~gberardi and http://www.gigiberardi.com/

Blogs: http://blog.gigiberardi.com/ and http://resilientfarmsnourishingfoods.blogspot.com/

Filed Under: Editorial, SYTYCD Tagged With: amy yakima, dance competition, fik-shun, gigi berardi, So You Think You Can Dance, sytycd, tucker knox

A Chance To Dance = A Chance To Win

September 6, 2012 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

You may have noticed by now that Nichelle from Dance Advantage and I are helping to promote Ovation TV’s show, A Chance To Dance. What you may not know is that we are also giving away free swag and holding a contest for dance bloggers. Interested? Here’s the rundown on how to get involved:

1. Trivia Swag Giveaway – win some swag by answering the weekly trivia question on Twitter (search #actdtrivia and check the date).

Look for our trivia question starting today by searching #actdtrivia on Twitter! We’ll be doing a different giveaway each week based on the upcoming episode, so this week it will be for Friday’s episode at 10 pm ET.

2. Dance Blogger Contest – Yes–we’ve extended this fun contest to give more people the chance to answer! Enter to win a $25 gift card. Watch the upcoming episode and write a blog post about it. (Details here.) We’ll choose a random winner from the entries and promote your answer on our social media accounts–think publicity!

If you haven’t yet seen the show, I’ve included a bit of video below for you, along with a blurb about the overall idea. In terms of tuning in for the next episode, there are 3 ways to watch:

1.  Got Ovation?  Watch it on TV.

Find Ovation In Your Area.

2)  Also available On Demand as part of your paid TV subscription.

Here are the listings.

3)  Watch on Facebook.  Rent it Now!

About A Chance To Dance:

A Chance To Dance is an original Ovation TV series by the creators of SYTYCD. It follows Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, two of the UK’s most prominent contemporary dancers and choreographers, in their quest to create a new dance company for Nigel Lythgoe in just 28 days.

They have auditioned dancers from dance schools in Washington D.C.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Austin, TX. The competition and the pressure have become intense as the final group heads to the dance mecca of Jacob’s Pillow, MA, where they must eliminate half the dancers and form a company for the grand finale: an original performance in New York. A Chance To Dance airs Fridays at 10PM ET/7PM PT on Ovation.

Here’s a quick peek at the last episode to catch you up, and a preview of the next:

Preview:

Even though I have a strong ballet background, Shepherd is my favorite character on this show. He was chosen because he had some stylin’ hip hop moves and because he showed commitment by getting time off from work to get to the audition. I just think he seems like a cool guy that is really passionate about dance. After all, in the last episode, he took a ballet class and simply struggled with it the entire time. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like–but it couldn’t have been good…he’s got guts!

This show is really one of the better ones out there in terms of dance–and I’m not just saying that because I’m helping to promote it. I really think it is well-crafted, and it raises some interesting points about having ballet as a foundation for dance in general. I’d like to toss that question out to readers…

Do you think it is necessary (or at least, preferable) to have a ballet background if you want to be a dancer?

I really do. But I’m also going to pull hard for Shepherd in this next episode! After all, everybody deserves a break in life…right?

A chance…to dance.

Disclosure-4dancers receives compensation from Ovation TV for promotion of A Chance to Dance.

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: a chance to dance, Ballet, ballet training, billy trevitt, choreographer, contemporary dancers, dance advantage, jacob's pillow, michael nunn, nigel lythgoe, ovation tv, sytycd

Musings: Every Body Dances

April 4, 2012 by Kimberly Peterson

by Kimberly Peterson

When I first began college at Texas Woman’s University, there was a slogan – a motto of sorts for the department: Every Body Dances.

Not everybody dances, but Every Body Dances. The distinction is important – because it necessarily includes every body: type, shape, size, age, and ability. This belief is so integral to TWU’s Department of Dance, that it radically changed how I approached movement, creativity, my body and my journey as a dance artist.

Ability is something most dancers pride themselves on: the ability to execute movement well, the ability to perform, the ability to manipulate their bodies to do as they desire. However, ability is a spectrum – and the loss of an ability need not negate the ability of an entire body. And it certainly does not consume the identity of the person.

Adaptive dance seeks to allow for differences in ability while creating high caliber performances. In essence, it treats all dancers, regardless of ability, as dancers and works within whatever levels of technique, skills, performance they bring with them. It is a deceptively simple concept – and marvelous to behold!

Two fascinating examples of great work come from DV8 Physical Theater and AXIS Dance Company.

DV8 Physical Theater is a UK based movement troupe. The clips below are from their Film The Cost of Living and feature David Toole, who is a remarkable mover and actor.

What I find most engaging is that David Toole makes full use of his abilities. He’s not attempting to look like he has legs, he simply moves without them – furthering the creative development of movement within the pieces he dances in. I find the perspective shot from David’s level to be highly interesting, and find the movement his body attains extremely engaging. The perspective of these shots highlight the relationship between the dancers’ bodies and space which, in some instances, is much more interesting to me than the actual movement. (Video 2) David displays a level of physicality and commitment to his movement that is equally impressive!

AXIS Dance Company, who you may remember as a guest performance from So You Think You Can Dance, has stunning work involving a wheelchair.

The fantastic movement made with the bodies they have, highlights their ability rather than the differences between them. The movement varies in tempo and intensity, dynamically pushing the limits of what is “safe” into realms that are both interesting and captivating. I was especially excited to see that they utilized the full range of possibilities with the chair: using the chair off balance (1:27, 1:31, 2:16), utilizing weight sharing (:45-:51) from both partners (3:15), both physically initiating (1:14) and receiving partnering (1:20), and was especially excited to witness the chair in use for counter-balance (1:00) and the initiation of bodily momentum (3:00). The choreographer, Alex Ketley, really utilized Rodney Bell and engaged his whole body, which includes the use of a wheelchair.

However, there is no condescension, no “inspirational” tone. There are just artists, doing what they cannot help but do – dance beautifully. However, this lack of “inspiration” is important. While it is always enlightening and exhilarating to see amazing work, we do the dancers a disservice if we only focus on what ails them – or what makes them different. What is most important in a dance work, has to be what the work is saying to you, the communication and dialogue happening between you, the dancers and the choreographer. We take away the beauty and magic of that moment by reducing the whole to the sum of their parts.

Accepting that no body is the same, that no mind thinks alike, that no one interpretation of movement can encompass the whole of the experience – this is what makes our medium a lived art, an experience rather than a stagnant piece.

Every Body Dances.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Editorial, Musings Tagged With: axis dance company, dance, dancing, david toole, dv8 physical theater, So You Think You Can Dance, sytycd

So You Think You Can Dance? Audition!

December 5, 2011 by 4dancers

If you’ve always wanted to be on So You Think You Can Dance, you might want to check this out…

Auditions for this popular show are going to take place for season 9, starting in Atlanta, GA, January 5th at the historic FOX Theatre. They will continue on Friday, Jan. 13 at the McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, TX; Monday, Jan. 23 at the Manhattan Center in New York, NY; Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, UT; and Friday, March 2 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.

Those who shine during auditions are given a ticket to Las Vegas for callbacks, where they will work with top choreographers to learn and then be judged on multiple styles of dance. For more details on auditions for Season Nine, as well as eligibility requirements, go to www.fox.com/dance.

Here are the details: [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, SYTYCD Tagged With: auditions, So You Think You Can Dance, sytycd

Dance In The UK: Dance Shows Boost Popularity?

November 26, 2011 by 4dancers

by Jessica Wilson

Jessica Wilson

Having seen a huge influx of dance-related TV shows throughout 2011, a recent survey conducted by YouGov has revealed that just over 1 in 5 British adults (21%) have become interested in dancing as a result of shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance. The survey was completed in the prelude to the Dance Proms, a new festival which took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday 13th November of this year. The Dance Proms featured twenty-four acts selected from a competition held to find the UK’s most talented dance students and representing all genres of dance. Dance Proms, a celebration of dance in all its forms, is organised by UK’s leading dance organisations: the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA), Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD); and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD).

The YouGov survey also revealed that roughly the same number of adults (1 in 5) currently participate in some form of dance, stretching across a vast range of styles, with just over 1 in 8 adults (13%) having taken part in a dance class in the last five years. This is sure to grow in the future, with the introduction of extremely popular “dance-fit” activities such as Zumba, the latest dance craze to sweep the US and Europe, and favoured among many celebrities including Wayne Rooney, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dance in the UK, SYTYCD Tagged With: dance in the uk, dance proms, imperial society of teachers of dancing, international dance teachers association, royal academy of dance, So You Think You Can Dance, strictly come dancing, sytycd

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