America's Ballroom Challenge, part I
Did you remember to watch America's Ballroom Challenge last night? It was great to finally see professionals dancing with professionals. I haven't seen much of that since I started ballroom, and I was having trouble picturing what a lot of moves should look like. Now I have lots of examples! And I didn't have to pay $100 for a video!
I have to admit that I wasn't all that enthralled by the American dances. In some of the styles you could barely tell which dance they were doing because of all the flourishes and poses. I'm also going to take a moment to kvetch about the ladies' dresses, particularly the Smooth ones. The current fashion is to bare as much midriff as possible while keeping the illusion of a dress. This has led to tortuous cutouts that spoil the dancers' lines. You can be sexy and still be elegant, but this isn't the way to do it. I realize that I may come across as an old fuddy-duddy on this point, but for one thing I'm a traditionalist by nature, and for another, the costumes are blurring the line between ballroom dancer and Vegas showgirl. Dance isn't about showing skin, it's about dancing!
Costumes and choreography aside, the dancers were quite good. I mean, you'd kind of hope so, right? It was exciting to see Viktoria Belova and Eddie Stutts in the Standard final, since I see Ms. Belova teaching all the time. I even saw her and Eddie having a lesson of their own last Saturday. Everyone in the Standard final looked quite elegant (yea, no weird cutouts), and I felt very inspired by their performances. There were quite a few collisions in that group, but it makes sense given that it was the most progressive style.
My mom was paying more attention than I was; Tony Dovolani, one of the top finishers in the Smooth finals, is Stacey's partner on DWTS.
I have to admit that I wasn't all that enthralled by the American dances. In some of the styles you could barely tell which dance they were doing because of all the flourishes and poses. I'm also going to take a moment to kvetch about the ladies' dresses, particularly the Smooth ones. The current fashion is to bare as much midriff as possible while keeping the illusion of a dress. This has led to tortuous cutouts that spoil the dancers' lines. You can be sexy and still be elegant, but this isn't the way to do it. I realize that I may come across as an old fuddy-duddy on this point, but for one thing I'm a traditionalist by nature, and for another, the costumes are blurring the line between ballroom dancer and Vegas showgirl. Dance isn't about showing skin, it's about dancing!
Costumes and choreography aside, the dancers were quite good. I mean, you'd kind of hope so, right? It was exciting to see Viktoria Belova and Eddie Stutts in the Standard final, since I see Ms. Belova teaching all the time. I even saw her and Eddie having a lesson of their own last Saturday. Everyone in the Standard final looked quite elegant (yea, no weird cutouts), and I felt very inspired by their performances. There were quite a few collisions in that group, but it makes sense given that it was the most progressive style.
My mom was paying more attention than I was; Tony Dovolani, one of the top finishers in the Smooth finals, is Stacey's partner on DWTS.
Labels: TV
posted by Silvershoes @ 6:37 PM
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