Megan's Top Routines of All Time (Currently ranking: Contemporary/Modern Routines)

[totes4totes]

Lord Finn/Virginia - Hip-Hop (Luther Brown) - The kind of fun thing while watching a Luther brown routine when you have one partner that is so obviously better than the other is that you get to see what Luther Brown envisioned when he choreographed the routine. Lord Finn is clearly in his element. Virginia isn't awful but she's not great. She's like that meme where it's like "what you ordered online" vs "when it arrives at your house" or rather when that white dancer went on that late night show to demonstrate viral TikTok dances and then you watched the black women who choreographed them. She's post-dance cult KO. Anyway, I'd like to see more of him. I could take or leave her. I know they like arbitrarily choose the dancers who are leaving to pit against the dancers who are staying at the Green Mile but I can guarantee I would have liked this routine more with Juicy solely because she has the confidence to go by JUICY.

 

Waverly/Jordan - Contemporary (Mandy & Elizabeth) - I went to Jordan's instagram and she's followed by faves like Ariana Debose and Anneke Gheysens and Koko Iwasaki so I might stan her I've decided. Also she's 24 which makes her the oldest woman on the show so another reason. She follows Cincinnati hero Joe Burrow on IG (@elliott). She is also clearly a casual Bachelor fan so she's hashtag relatable to me. She also might be a bit basic so you know. Anyway, this was lovely but I don't know that I'll necessarily remember it after the season is over. They are two early favorites for sure and hopefully they get something a bit more standout.

 

Anna/Beau - Jazz (Al Blackstone) - UGH THIS CLIP STARTED WITH JESSE TYLER FERGUSON. AN ENEMY. Anna looks like. An influencer. IDK somebody. A young Julianne Hough? You know what is disappointing? When you hear that a routine is going to be to "Dancing in the Dark" and it's Frank Sinatra and NOT Bruce Springsteen. This was fine and perfectly forgettable in the way that literally every single Al Blackstone and generally Broadway routine has been on this show.

 

Essence/Thiago - Contemporary (Tessandra Chavez) - Did Tessandra decide she had to fill in the Mandy Moore contemporary slot this week? This contemporary actively makes Jordan/Waverly look better. Not that it's bad but more that it leaves absolutely ZERO impression.

 

Ralyn/Carter - Jive (Alan Bersten) - Alan is such a smart choice for choreography (tbqh all the DWTS pros are) because he knows how to choreograph a routine that's going to look passably full of technique but make it so that it actively doesn't hurt a dancer who has never done a ballroom routine. In this I think Ralyn fell into the perfect situation because just as there were parts where I thought she was getting a bit lost in the actual jive it moved to another trick. Carter was good but Carter is maybe bland.

 

Keaton/Alexis - Contemporary (Talia Favia) - I watched ALL of The Ultimatum and now when I see a white man in a cowboy hat I just get flashbacks to the emotionally stunted Colby. This man even looks like Colby with that hairstyle. I will hopefully never have to see a cowboy hat or hear that he's from a small town ever again once I figure out how to just watch the routines. Anyway, this was the clear standout of the night. Talia Favia rarely lets us down and this was no exception. Just lovely.

 

Top 12 Hip-Hop (Luther Brown) - Incredible. Luther is so good at doing group routines.

[Erestor]

On 6/20/2022 at 10:42 PM, totes4totes said:

Lord Finn/Virginia - Hip-Hop (Luther Brown) - The kind of fun thing while watching a Luther brown routine when you have one partner that is so obviously better than the other is that you get to see what Luther Brown envisioned when he choreographed the routine. Lord Finn is clearly in his element. Virginia isn't awful but she's not great. She's like that meme where it's like "what you ordered online" vs "when it arrives at your house" or rather when that white dancer went on that late night show to demonstrate viral TikTok dances and then you watched the black women who choreographed them. She's post-dance cult KO. Anyway, I'd like to see more of him. I could take or leave her. I know they like arbitrarily choose the dancers who are leaving to pit against the dancers who are staying at the Green Mile but I can guarantee I would have liked this routine more with Juicy solely because she has the confidence to go by JUICY.

 

Waverly/Jordan - Contemporary (Mandy & Elizabeth) - I went to Jordan's instagram and she's followed by faves like Ariana Debose and Anneke Gheysens and Koko Iwasaki so I might stan her I've decided. Also she's 24 which makes her the oldest woman on the show so another reason. She follows Cincinnati hero Joe Burrow on IG (@elliott). She is also clearly a casual Bachelor fan so she's hashtag relatable to me. She also might be a bit basic so you know. Anyway, this was lovely but I don't know that I'll necessarily remember it after the season is over. They are two early favorites for sure and hopefully they get something a bit more standout.

 

Anna/Beau - Jazz (Al Blackstone) - UGH THIS CLIP STARTED WITH JESSE TYLER FERGUSON. AN ENEMY. Anna looks like. An influencer. IDK somebody. A young Julianne Hough? You know what is disappointing? When you hear that a routine is going to be to "Dancing in the Dark" and it's Frank Sinatra and NOT Bruce Springsteen. This was fine and perfectly forgettable in the way that literally every single Al Blackstone and generally Broadway routine has been on this show.

 

Essence/Thiago - Contemporary (Tessandra Chavez) - Did Tessandra decide she had to fill in the Mandy Moore contemporary slot this week? This contemporary actively makes Jordan/Waverly look better. Not that it's bad but more that it leaves absolutely ZERO impression.

 

Ralyn/Carter - Jive (Alan Bersten) - Alan is such a smart choice for choreography (tbqh all the DWTS pros are) because he knows how to choreograph a routine that's going to look passably full of technique but make it so that it actively doesn't hurt a dancer who has never done a ballroom routine. In this I think Ralyn fell into the perfect situation because just as there were parts where I thought she was getting a bit lost in the actual jive it moved to another trick. Carter was good but Carter is maybe bland.

 

Keaton/Alexis - Contemporary (Talia Favia) - I watched ALL of The Ultimatum and now when I see a white man in a cowboy hat I just get flashbacks to the emotionally stunted Colby. This man even looks like Colby with that hairstyle. I will hopefully never have to see a cowboy hat or hear that he's from a small town ever again once I figure out how to just watch the routines. Anyway, this was the clear standout of the night. Talia Favia rarely lets us down and this was no exception. Just lovely.

 

Top 12 Hip-Hop (Luther Brown) - Incredible. Luther is so good at doing group routines.

Megz! How are you? Always great to read your comments. Do you have a favourite yet?

[totes4totes]

On 6/22/2022 at 3:36 PM, Erestor said:

Megz! How are you? Always great to read your comments. Do you have a favourite yet?

Patryk

 

Obligatory the olds are my favorite (Jordan and Lord Finn) but I don't really dislike anybody. And given this week Essence may leapfrog Jordan for favorite woman (but I think Jordan and Waverly got bussed for choreo this week).

[Erestor]

On 6/24/2022 at 2:07 AM, totes4totes said:

Patryk

 

Obligatory the olds are my favorite (Jordan and Lord Finn) but I don't really dislike anybody. And given this week Essence may leapfrog Jordan for favorite woman (but I think Jordan and Waverly got bussed for choreo this week).

I am surprised you like Jordan! I think she's probably the best contemporary girl technically-wise, and with the right choreo, she could be amazing.

And I really like Essence too   But it appears IDF is mostly in agreement over their favourites this year

 

BTW I hope you are gonna follow my sytycd redux! (link in my singature)

Edited June 25, 2022 by Erestor

[totes4totes]

13 hours ago, Erestor said:

I am surprised you like Jordan! I think she's probably the best contemporary girl technically-wise, and with the right choreo, she could be amazing.

And I really like Essence too   But it appears IDF is mostly in agreement over their favourites this year

 

BTW I hope you are gonna follow my sytycd redux! (link in my singature)

As an old I only like old people now. LOL. But with only 6 I don't really dislike anybody so it's easier to curry my favor when you are old and tall.

 

Yes. I think it's just excitement in having the show back!

 

OMG A REDUX. Will definitely follow.

[totes4totes]

Top 12 - Pop Jazz (Brian Friedman): I didn't like this as much as last week's group routine but it's still fun. Definitely a better showing from Brian Friedman. I don't really have too many notes but I think the costumes could have been executed better. Feels like the underneath material is made from those parachutes you use in elementary gym class.

 

Ralyn/Carter - Contemporary (Teddy Forance): This is once again bringing me to the times when I would just wish I could see these exact same routines but with dancers who are like 5-10 years older. If you cannot legally drink in the United States I don't feel like you should be on this show. That's gonna be my biggest hurdle with them.

 

Alexis/Keaton - Cha-Cha (Daniella and Pasha): SHE GOT MARRIED WHEN SHE WAS 18. OMIGOD. She's 21. That reminds me of the time I went to a Christian Hipster Christmas party when I was like 21 and talking to a guy and he was ALREADY divorced. Ah she's from Orem that makes sense. Okay, the package was like "this is gonna be sexy and spicy" and it was just like...fine. She was obviously quite good but there are a lot of times where it looked like he was just a step away from getting completely lost in the routine. As a result I agree with tWitch that he looked like he was thinking to make sure he didn't miss the steps. I do appreciate that this was a Latin dance with A LOT of content. We don't always get that on this show.

 

Virginia/Lord Finn - Contemporary (Jaci Royal): I can't believe the audience didn't hear like "I was homeless" and "I was taken advantage of by a dance teacher when I was 15" and didn't throw them votes. I thought this was fine. I think in Season 17 that you have to be REALLY good in a contemporary to really standout just because of the volume of contemporaries on this show and I think this is going to get lost in the mix.

 

Jordan/Waverley - Jazz (Dominique Kelly): Knowing the credentials and talent behind these two. This was completely BUS choreography. This is not the choreography or style of jazz that really succeeds on this show. We've seen it time and time and time again. It's like how traditional locking doesn't appeal to the show or a Foxtrot. Add to the fact that the costumes looked CHEAP. There was absolutely no way they were avoiding the bottom 2 with this. Both this and Ralyn's routine make it obvious that this show like still doesn't fully understand how to light dark-skinned black people.

 

Anna/Beau - Contemporary (Talia Favia): LOL I feel like I would hang out with Beau in real life. I think this is actually a well-matched partnership because I think he brings out a level of maturity in her that she may not have with like Carter. Anyway, Talia is just an outstanding choreographer and they are one of the more interesting matched couples for sure. I enjoyed this quite a lot.

 

Essence/Thiago - Hip-Hop (Mel Charlot): Thiago performed admirably but this was all Essence's routine. His mugging was a little too much and a little too put on when it really should have been more effortless. But Essence carried this performance and she carried it well.

[totes4totes]

Before I get to my comments for this week's routines, I want the show to look at what Broadway has looked like since 2010 (I'm just going to post the Tony performances of the winners):

 

Memphis, 2010

 

The Book of Mormon, 2011

 

Once, 2012

 

Kinky Boots, 2013

 

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, 2014

 

Fun Home, 2015

 

Hamilton, 2016

 

 

Dear Evan Hanson, 2017

 

 

The Band's Visit, 2018

 

 

Hadestown, 2019

 

 

Moulin Rouge, 2020 (GMA performance because of the pandemic)

 

 

A Strange Loop, 2022

 

[FrogLenzen]

Just change the genre from "Broadway" to "40s Jazz and maybe some Liza"

[totes4totes]

11 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Just change the genre from "Broadway" to "40s Jazz and maybe some Liza"

It's like, they don't even try to emulate fosse anymore which would be slightly understandable because at least you have like Chicago being popular in the last 20 years.

[totes4totes]

Anna/Carter - Salsa (Jonathan & Oksana): So I my sound was messed up last night from my cable but just for Fox so I watched all these routines without sound first. LOL. But doing that really gives you a chance to focus on the movement and the technique. And boy was this sloppy. My longstanding problem with a lot of salsas on this show has been the rise of less salsa content in favor of more tricky lifts. Because a lot of times you end up with these routines where the dancers can't even nail down a basic salsa because they are too focused on not letting their partner suffer a grievous injury. Every trick that Anna and Carter did looked labored and that last trick at the end where he lifted her upside legit almost look like he lost control. Anyway, his costume was bad. Her was fine. But he was wearing pants so tight I'm shocked he could move and he needed the shirt OR the undershirt and not both. They had all the sexual chemistry of me pushing a Barbie and Ken Doll together to make them kiss.

 

Essence/Waverly - Bollywood (Achinta S. McDaniel): A legitimately fun Bollywood routine. I think getting new blood for Bollywood was good. I can't really say much more as for technique and I'm not going to pretend like the judges, so I will just say that Essence was a star in this.

 

Jordan/Beau - Viennese Waltz (Emma & Sasha): This was, for me, the standout of the night. And though I wasn't surprised, I was bummed to see Jordan in the bottom after it. I think one of the reasons the show has done away with Standard Ballroom for the last 6 seasons is because these routines almost never garner as many votes. If I had more time (lol maybe this weekend) I'd make a list of all the Latin/Ballroom/Street partner styles that have been done and what styles are more likely to end up in the bottom after. But I will say that at least Jordan got to do this dance before she was eliminated instead of that awful jazz last week. BUMMER THAT WE HAVE LOST THE OLDS THIS SEASON ALREADY with Jordan and James going in back to back weeks. And Beau surprises me with how much I like him as a partner. I'd like to see him paired with Ralyn next week.

 

Ralyn/Keaton - "African" Jazz (Sean Cheesman): This show needs to re-think "African Jazz" as a genre. My bar is so low that I was pleasantly surprised that instead of just having Ralyn/Keaton "fly" to an entire continent of Africa that they actually chose Nairobi. I googled "African Dance Kenya" and I'm pretty sure that I've done more research than So You Think You Can Dance has ever done. It's 2022 and it's time to admit that this is a fake racist genre that the show has made (Sean Cheesman once posted an instagram commenting that it was a WHITE woman who brought "African Jazz" to SYTYCD) because they do not have nearly the vernacular to figure out how Africa is composed of many different tribes who all have different music and dance traditions. (In fact, the call-and-response of hip-hop is more akin to traditional African dance than a choreographed jazz routine).

 

Alexis/Thiago - Broadway (Al Blackstone): Instead of choosing hip-hop to represent America (I guess maybe they didn't want to enter the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop fight) the show chose Broadway. Whatever. But the show refuses to admit that Broadway has changed in the past 50/60 years. They want adhere to the Broadway that you'd see in the 40s and 50s. And I say this as a legitimate Cole Porter fan. If they want to stick to this style of Broadway they could at least get some famous duets to dance to ("You're the Top" from Anything Goes immediately comes to mind). But they are content to stick with these like jazz standards and choreograph for an ensemble member instead of a star. I guess most of them will end up with their careers going that way if they want. But nobody in the audience wants to watch the background dancers when they could be watching Anita. And they could choose actual songs from actual Broadway shows. Anyway, even if the choreography weren't boring. Those outfits were enough to single-handedly land Alexis and Thiago in the bottom.

[Erestor]

I agree with most of your comments! I did enjoy the V. Waltz but I think that Beau has not really been that great in it, and it kinda killed the picutre for me. Jordan was stunning though and I wish she could have stayed over Anna who like you said, was really sloppy in that Salsa (not to mentioned the forced chemistry and those faces she was making, made me cringe). 

And those costumes, geez. What have we done to deserve it? It's been 3 weeks and every week there's at least one disaster. I especially did not like how they painted and dressed Keaton, he didn't look good at all

 

Overall, the production level reminds me of 1st UK season and it's not a good memory

[kritaaay]

Simply I do not understand how Sean Cheesman could do (some) actually decent African Jazzes on the Canadian seasons and do this for the US show 

[Erestor]

1 minute ago, kritaaay said:

Simply I do not understand how Sean Cheesman could do (some) actually decent African Jazzes on the Canadian seasons and do this for the US show 

Either he ran out of ideas or the production is pushing for Commercial routines that will appeal to people watching?

 

Idk but if someone has choreographed so many routines in one genre on the show, a change could do some good

[kritaaay]

That is why I was really happy they got in a new Bollywood choreographer!

[FrogLenzen]

Megan spitting hot fire about the Jazz and Broadway

[totes4totes]

3 hours ago, Erestor said:

Either he ran out of ideas or the production is pushing for Commercial routines that will appeal to people watching?

it wouldn't surprise me if the like note on "African Jazz" also had the words "tribal" and "animalistic" on it.

[totes4totes]

3 hours ago, kritaaay said:

That is why I was really happy they got in a new Bollywood choreographer!

Agree, very happy with this.

[totes4totes]

1 hour ago, FrogLenzen said:

Megan spitting hot fire about the Jazz and Broadway

this is why i have my own thread

[totes4totes]

3 hours ago, Erestor said:

I agree with most of your comments! I did enjoy the V. Waltz but I think that Beau has not really been that great in it, and it kinda killed the picutre for me. Jordan was stunning though and I wish she could have stayed over Anna who like you said, was really sloppy in that Salsa (not to mentioned the forced chemistry and those faces she was making, made me cringe). 

I didn't think he was that bad. But I'm also biased because I do like him a lot. The faces both Anna and Carter were making were cringe. They had absolutely no chemistry. It was not hot. No matter what Leah Remini said.

[totes4totes]

 

 

do this for the next 30s/40s broadway they want to do

[totes4totes]

one of 2 good broadways on this show off the top of my head

 

[FrogLenzen]

2 minutes ago, totes4totes said:

one of 2 good broadways on this show off the top of my head

 

notably before the film came out

[totes4totes]

3 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

notably before the film came out

haha. but the musical would have only been a few years old.

 

the other really good broadway off the top of my head is Amy/Timomatic's hip-hop/Broadway to "Ease on Down the Road" from AU2 but I CANNOT find an individual video of it

[totes4totes]

1 minute ago, totes4totes said:

haha. but the musical would have only been a few years old.

 

the other really good broadway off the top of my head is Amy/Timomatic's hip-hop/Broadway to "Ease on Down the Road" from AU2 but I CANNOT find an individual video of it

JK I JUST HAD TO REMEMBER HOW IT AVOIDED THE YOUTUBE CENSORS

 

 

[totes4totes]

wow now just going through all my favorite Talia routines