SYTYCD: Tears for Fears
This week emotions were running high on So You Think You Can Dance.The cuts were so brutal -- people we thought would definitely make it to the top 20 were sent away. People who came super-close to making it to the top 20 last year? Gone. And Iveta -- the dance champion who grew up in the Soviet Union, remember her? Gone. Yikes. And there was so much to pack into this episode, we didn't even get to see the performance that sent her home.
They pulled no punches and drove the dancers like there was no tomorrow -- and for so many, there wasn't. It seemed like they were being sent home by the bus-load.
And did we mention the crying? Everyone was crying by the end of this episode. Of course those who were cut were crying -- we're used to that. And the two injuries brought on tears as well. But this time those who made it to the next round were sobbing too, and by the end of the second day, even the judges were crying! More about all the emotion after the jump.
And what grueling rounds! At the end of a day of intense choreography from the experts, small groups were split up to choreograph their own pieces to music they were randomly assigned -- and they had to perform those pieces for the judges at 7am the next day. Some of those groups were still working on it at 2am! Crazy stuff.
Training? Who needs training?
After those performances we saw some awesome Broadway routines, a deeply spiritual contemporary routine that seemed to touch some dancers so deeply they talked about how it changed their lives -- in particular, Legecy, the b-boy who had to dance for his life last week really came out of his shell in that piece and showed us his heart. The judges said it wasn't the best execution of the choreography, but he opened up so much to them, they just had to pass him to the next round.
And then there was Russel -- the krumper we fell in love with last week. We heart him! We were so sure there was some formal training in his background, he was picking up everything so well and really shining on stage. But this week they quizzed him -- and nope, no formal training. He's just that much of a genius. And he didn't get kicked off this week! The promos with him sobbing into a phone made us very, very worried for his survival, but he was just so emotional and thankful to be getting exposure to all these new forms of dance he was a blubbering mess. And we were too! Yay Russel! We'll see you next week, and hopefully for many weeks after this.
Emotional judges
At the end of the second day, there was another round of solos. So much dancing, we mostly got it in montage form, but woah. Incredible stuff. They even pulled out the slo-mo for some of the more spectacular feats. We just sat there with our mouths agape. The judges, on the other hand, were in the enviable position of watching all the best of the best pour their hearts out on stage. We suspect some of the judges hadn't seen solos from some of the participants here at the end. Billy set the bar high. His contemporary piece brought the judges to tears and left some of them speechless. After watching an entire day of passionate performances, that's either sheer exhaustion from the judges or one hell of an effort.
Medic!
We can't end this post without mentioning the injuries. Oh, the injuries! First there was a sprained foot that started out seeming like nothing, but as the shock wore off the pain prompted the medic to send her to the hospital. And then there was -- right there on stage in graphic detail -- a dancer landing a leap wrong and falling rather horribly. We were sure she had broken a bone, and the squeamish among us couldn't even watch the replays. Then they showed how her ankle swelled up hugely and looked horrible. Turned out nothing was broken, but she had to stay off of it completely for two days -- and we thought her dancing up to that point was pretty spectacular.
Cliffhanger!
So they left us on tenterhooks. Gah! Will the injury mean she's out? She came so close last year. Who will make it to the final 20? Will the krumper and the b-boy make it all the way? Or will they be edged out by people who had more (any!) training? How in the world are they going to make the final decisions? We can't wait.