So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays: Alice Edition

The Royal Ballet takes on Alice.  I need one of those tutus.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays: A Return!

I've been so busy with the new photography business that I've completely neglected this blog.  I've got tons of recipes backlogged, and while it might take me a while to get to posting those, I can at the very least resurrect my favorite Sunday dance series.  And what two better videos to mark the return of Doubly Happy than these two amazing music videos choreographed by the incredible Kate Jablonski?

Enjoy!

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays: Turning Tables Edition

Same song, two different equally gorgeous interpretations:

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays: Winter Repose

I'm a little bit obsessed with the photos of the Ballerina Project.  Now they're making films.  So gorgeous!

Ballerina Project - Winter Repose from Ballerina Project on Vimeo.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

I've been sort of obsessed with Adele lately.  And Adele + Kyle Hanagami (one of my favorite hiphop choreographers) is perfection.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sunday: Puttin' On the Ritz Edition

When Broadway meets hip hop . . . .

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

Kate Jablonski might be one of my favorite contemporary choreographers.  She has an amazing capacity to choreograph for every sound.

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So You Wish You Could Dance: Mia's Sage Advice Edition

Some beautiful footage and motivational words from Mia, recorded at WGI.

I was in Winterguard in high school, but never got to do anything as amazing as this.  It makes me want to go dance with a flag RIGHT NOW.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays: Hurricane Edition

SYWYCDS is back!  Sorry for the short hiatus.  If you're on the East Coast and are staying in on account of the hurricane, here's a bit of awesomeness to keep you entertained.

I think this girl is 12 or 13 years old.  Isn't it ridiculous how mature her dancing is, and how much control she has?

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So You Wish You Could Dance: Melanie Wins! Edition

This is a very, very good week in dance land.  My absolute favorite, Melanie, won SYTYCD!

In celebration, I am posting a video of her amazing solo from two weeks ago, which I think showcases her impressive musicality, control, and flexibility.  That tour jete entournant into the triple pirouette totally blows my mind.

I wasn't thrilled with the pieces they showed on the final competition night.  Was it just me, or did the dancers seem totally exhausted and off their game?  It seems cruel to make them each do four dances + learn the routines for the finale as well.  But I did love Tessandra Chavez's piece.  Marko is brilliant in it, and the overall piece is gorgeous, even if Lauren is a bit over-the-top and histrionic (imagine how great the piece would have been with Alison!?).

I'm so sad this season is over.  I can't wait until the next one begins (with a hopefully injury-free Alex Wong as an All-star?).  Will you be seeing the tour?

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

The amazing Legion of Extraordinary Dancers were on SYTYCD this week.  With ballerinas (including former SYTYCD contestant Ashley Galvan) en pointe, no less!

I've heard that LXD relies on no special effects -- just pure dancing -- but I was kind of skeptical watching the web series that those amazing tricks are not CGI but really just humans dancing.  Then I saw this short video of LXD tricksters doing crazy aerials on a random NYC street corner . . .

Did that leave you speechless, like it did when I saw it?  These guys are legit and totally defy gravity.

I'm in awe.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

I haven't been a Sasha fan this season . . . until now.  How brilliant is Dave Scott's routine?

I love this almost as much as my all-time favorite Twitch routine.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

You know I love Melanie and Marko. But the real reason I'm obsessed with this dance is the music.

The song is "Skin and Bones" by David Roch. Apparently, his album is not coming out until end of August, so we'll have to make do with just listening to it via Youtube.  It's gorgeous.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays, New Choreographer Edition

I've mentioned previously how much I admire Justin Giles as a choreographer.  So you know I was psyched to discover that he is now a choreographer on SYTYCD.  He brought his amazing musicality, intricate moves, and smart concepts to both of the pieces he created this week.

This piece that he set on the guys was so moving. And how awesome was Marko in this?

And this dance he choreographed for Jess and Clarice was lovely. I love the unexpected sharpness of it.

Are there any choreographers you'd like to see on the show this season?

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays, SYTYCD Edition

Sigh.  I love this show.

Ok, Melanie and Marko can do no wrong in my eyes.  This piece is not as gorgeous as the statue routine -- which was just perfection -- but they still were uhmazing.

This piece with Ryan and Ricky could easily have been a disaster, but somehow they managed to let the dancing speak and to not let the prop/conceit get too much in the way.

Finally, there were these guys, who performed at the results show. Normally, I'd get super annoyed at dancers who perform tricks in lieu of dancing, but the trick lifts they performed were cray-cray. Totally worth watching.

Speaking of the results show, can someone explain to me how Miranda, who clearly performed the best solo of the night, got axed?

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays, Practice Makes Perfect Edition

I love watching professional dancers in class.  Seeing them do the exercises every single ballet dancer does -- just faster, higher, and more expressively -- inspires me to take class more often and more seriously.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays, "It's Britney, Bitch" Edition

Ok, I find this Britney song so unbearably annoying that I switch the channel whenever it comes on the radio.  The video for the song is equally ridiculous -- essentially a long series of product placements. HOWEVER, the dancing in it is brilliant, and in these behind-the-scenes videos, you an actually see how amazing the choreography is and have a sense of how fabulous the video could have been if they'd taken out the weird "giant Britney attacks the TV and herself" concept and just let the dancing speak for itself. Check out SYTYCD alums Billy Bell and Ben Susak in the contemporary section.  And Lauren Gottlieb plays Britney in the rehearsal footage.

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This is why I love SYTYCD.

Breathtaking.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays, SYTYCD Edition

The top 20 were announced this week on SYTYCD, which I'm thrilled with, since it means we can start watching the performances of people who can dance, instead of fast-forwarding through allegedly "funny," but really just sad, auditions of people who absolutely cannot dance.  In addition to Melanie Moore, two of my other favorite female dancers made it into the top 20: Miranda Maleski and Ryan Ramirez.

Here is Miranda performing alongside SYTYCD alums Ashley and Mollee.  Oh what I wouldn't give for those ridiculous extensions.

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So You Wish You Could Dance Sundays

A good message for a Sunday.

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