Superstars of the Dance Premiere 1/4: Everybody Dance Now!

[iguanachocolate]

Hello dear readers! Tis I, Iguanachocolate. I will be your recap host through this dance odyssey of world proportions. As some of you might remember, I have an extensive dance background having danced under the esteemed Miss Ginny when I was a young girl. And, under her tutelage I played the lead hunter in our production of Peter and the Wolf. Alas, I had to hang up my dancing shoes at the tender age of 6, when my parents determined I did not have the dedication towards the art form they would have liked to see. Oh, what the world has lost… But, I shall persevere and guide you through as we watch Superstars of Dance! (don’t forget your jazz hands!)

We begin the show with an exciting introduction of all the countries participating: Argentina, India, Australia, South Africa, the United States, Ireland, Russia, and China. Each participating country also provides a judge who will cast their ballots for each team but their own country’s. No figure skating judging scandal here a la the Salt Lake City Olympics of yore. No, these judges will be completely unbiased. Yuppers. Yesiree. No scoring teams lower who might knock your own country’s team out of first place (I’m looking at you, Mr. Irish judge dude, better keep those shamrocks in line!). The judges will rate each performance on a scale of 1-10, to give them a grand total for the tote board. The show his hosted by mister happy feet himself, Michael Flateley known for his roll in Riverdance and the lovely Susie Castillo, a former Miss USA and various hosting duties on other programs.

Ireland

First up is the group dance from Ireland, otherwise known as the Michael Flateley dancers. Gosh, how in the world did they get this gig? But I am certainly not trying to take away from the fabulousness’ that were the dancers. They were absolutely incredible and I grew tired just watching them. Personally, the lead guy seemed extraneous to me, but hey, personal taste, right? Speaking of taste, how did the judges rate them?

Argentina – 10, India – 9, Australia – 9, South Africa – 9, USA – 10, Russia – 9, China – 9 Total: 65

USA
The US soloist is up next, and for those who saw last summers So You Think You Can Dance will recognize the popper Robert Muraine who made it to Vegas and then chickened out only to be brought back later for a ‘pop off’ against someone I can’t remember the name of that Robert won. Anywho, he pops his little heart out and while it was amazing, to me it did not match the performances he did last summer. Still, the things the kid can do are just freaky, and he assures us he is not double jointed, just very bendy. The audience loved him, but not all the judges did not seem to get it or its difficulty:

Argentina – 8, India – 7, Australia – 9, South Africa – 9, Ireland – 8, Russia – 8, China – 8 Total: 57

Argentina
Next we have a soloist from Argentina, Carolina Cerisola. She has performed at something called the Forty Deuce Club – which I have never heard of and has danced with Prince and Justin Timberlake, who I have heard of. She’s doing a Tango/Jazz kind of a number around a chair. It starts off incredibly slow and just seems like she is rolling around on the floor a lot, albeit stylishly. Then, near the end she breaks out the good stuff that really makes her fringe fly and the camera guys refuse to show us her feet! I think these guys worked on So You Think You Can Dance, too. I recognize their work. The judges got a better view and this is how they scored her:

India – 8, Australia – 8, South Africa – 7, USA – 9, Ireland – 9, Russia – 9, China – 8 Total: 58

Russia

The Russian Duo is next, Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis. Those of you familiar with Dancing with the Stars will recognize them from seasons past. Their music is an odd choice to accompany the Samba they perform, but the dance is extremely entertaining. Unlike the Russian judge who makes some sort of Kremlin joke. The rest of the judges said:

Argentina – 8, India – 9, Australia – 9, South Africa – 9, USA – 10, Ireland -10 , China – 9 Total: 64

India

Nishi Munshi and Sangita Sanyal make up the next duo and they are from India. They tell us it is a classic Bollywood tale of two sisters in love with the same guy, but don’t know it until the very end of the dance. They look absolutely adorable, but shoddy camera work took away from their dance. But they were very shiny! We did see enough of them together to see that their movements were not always in sync, but they were fun to watch. The judges didn’t think they were that fun to watch, although. The south African judge was questioned as to why he only gave them a 6 and he snottily said that he’s seen Bollywood dancers in South Africa, and they just weren’t as good. The rest of the judges said:

Argentina –, Australia – 9, South Africa – 9, USA – 10, Ireland - , Russia – 9, China – 9 Total: 51

Australia

An Australian soloist is next by the name of Sean Robinson. He’s a tapper, he’s a surfer, he’s uberman. Well, he is a tapper. By the way he is dressed, he may very well be a surfer. It’s a bit incongruous to me to see a surfer tapping, especially when I can see his little peds sticking out of the tops of his shoes. But he tapped his little heart out and brought out a few flairs and flashes. He was good, but no Fred Astaire. The judges said:

Argentina – 9, India – 8, South Africa – 8, USA – 8, Ireland - 8, Russia – 8, China – 8 Total: 57

China

Bei Zheng, the Chinese ribbon dancer soloist is next. She will be performing a traditional ribbon dance with about 10 feet of flowing fabric. It defies the imagination that she is going to be able to keep that fabric flowing, but she makes it look effortless. It cannot be easy to keep the fabric in the air twirling and dancing at the same time. It was lovely to watch. The judges didn’t seem to be as impressed as I was. The audience disagreed with the judges who gave her 7’s by booing loudly:

Argentina – 8, India – 7, Australia – 7, South Africa – 7, USA – 8, Ireland – 7, Russia – 7 Total: 51

South Africa

Umojo from South Africa is next and they are performing gumboot dancing. This was developed by gold mine workers as a way to pass their time. Their costumes reflect the clothes the miners wear, including the mining lights on their foreheads. I enjoyed all the groups, but they were hands down my favorite. The others seemed so polished and these guys looked like they were straight out of the mines, yet they had a rough elegance to them, and they sang their own music! They reminded me an awful lot of Stomp – another amazing group who surely took their inspiration from these guys. Totally awesome. The judges said:

Argentina – 8, India – 8, Australia – 9, USA – 8, Ireland – 8, Russia – 8, China – 8 Total: 57

Australia

Australia’s group dance was varied – but I felt it was disjointed. It seemed more like showcasing different dance forms than a cohesive dance performance, but they did it very well. I did not like the music, but I loved the soloists. The judges said:

Argentina – 9, India – 8, South Africa – 9, USA – 8, Ireland – 7, Russia – 8, China – 8 Total: 57

Ireland

Damien O’Kane is back (I’m pretty sure he was the soloist in the group number) with some solo clogg dancing. Flaming shirt, a lot of moving, but it is clogging, just like the group. Is that the only Irish dance there is? He was good, don’t get me wrong, but clogg me once, shame on me, clogg me twice, shame on you. The judges said:

Argentina – 9, India – 9, Australia – 8, South Africa – 7, USA – 8, Russia – 8, China – 9 Total:

South Africa

The solo dancer from South Africa, Sduduzo Ka-Mbili performed a Zulu dance in native clothing. He flips, turns, jumps and does it all with finesse. It was totally awesome. Strange, though, that his own coach said he could have done better. Before the judges gave their marks – how could that not influence them? The judges said:

Argentina – 8, India – 8, Australia – 7, USA – 9, Ireland – 7, Russia – 8, China – 8 Total: 55

USA

The American duo of Georgia Amabarian and Eric Luna perform a form of dancing that combines many different ballroom forms such as the Rhumba, the Cha Cha and the Waltz. The addition of lifts makes it even more exciting than the straight ballroom dances. And lifts they do. At one point, Eric was standing straight and Georgia was standing straight – on top of him. And he was not holding her at all. The strength the both of them showed was incredible – not just Eric doing the lifting, but Georgia is showing strength in her balancing. Simply incredible. Can I say it again – stupid cameras. I feel as though we as the audience are missing a lot because of the stupid camera work. The judges said:

Argentina – 7, India – 9, Australia – 7, South Africa – 7, Ireland – 10, Russia – 9, China – 8 Total: 57

Argentina

Miriam Larici and Lenardo Barrionuevo made up the Argentinian duo. They know each other form performing in the Broadway show Forever Tango. Hmmm, I wonder what dance they will perform? Yupper, a tango. Wow, what a Tango. Talk about Fire. They glided about the stage at about 800 degrees Fahrenheit. I’m thinking that if this is what a Tango should look like, then I am going to go see Forever Tango the next time it is in town. I mean really, I felt the heat in my living room (as I sat my butt in my favorite purple chair doing absolutely nothing). The judges felt their heat as well:

India – 9, Australia – 9, South Africa – 10, USA – 10, Ireland – 9, Russia – 9, China – 9 Total: 65

Russia

Julia Bantner’s solo was a Contemporary piece. She was extremely expressive in her face and it added much to her dance, but the dance itself I thought was a bit flat. Technically, I could tell she was very good, but there seemed to be lacking that extra bit of je ne sais pas quoi, the spark that makes a good performance great. The judges apparently agreed with me after that wacky Russian judge made a joke about her being shipped to Siberia:

Argentina – 7, India – 7, Australia – 7, South Africa – 7, USA – 7, Ireland - 8, China – 7 Total: 50

India

Indian soloist Amrapali Ambegaoker danced with her family growing up and has starred in a Cirque Du Soliel show. Cool! She is doing a traditional Indian dance with bells around her ankles. The bells really emphasized the control and precision she had over the movements of her feet. Her turns at the end were amazing (15 according to her coach) and made me dizzy. The judges said:

Argentina – 9, Australia – 9, South Africa – 8, USA – 9, Ireland – 9, Russia – 9, China – 9 Total: 62

China

The Shaolin Monks are Team China’s group performers. They don’t disappoint. Now, some may say that martial arts are not dancing – to that I say, pooh on you. It was choreographed movement to music. That’s dance. They do brilliant acrobatics, trot out some adorable little boys, doing some dancing with swords and balance one of their brethren on four spears. Totally. Out of this world. Cool. The judges said:

Argentina – 9, India – 9, Australia – 10, South Africa – 10, USA – 10, Ireland – 9, Russia – 9, Total: 66

End team results:

Argentina – 123
Ireland – 123
China - 117
Australia – 114
Russia – 114
USA – 114
India – 113
South Africa – 112

All in all, crappy camera work aside, I really enjoyed the show. I could do with a lot less Michael Flateley and more Susie Castillo, but they were both good hosts. I do hope that Michael wears a turtle neck on the next show. There is only so much of one man’s chest I can take. See you next time!

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[bbnbama]

IC, a great recap for the series premiere tho the Russian duo of Pasha and Anya were actually contestants on SYTYCD rather than DWTS but this last season they did make one pro appearance on DWTS!

[famita]

IC, Great recap of a so-so show!

[iguanachocolate]

Originally Posted by bbnbama

IC, a great recap for the series premiere tho the Russian duo of Pasha and Anya were actually contestants on SYTYCD rather than DWTS but this last season they did make one pro appearance on DWTS!

they were contestants? when was that? it wasn't last year, was it? or did they not make it to the actual show?

[Aceon6]

Originally Posted by iguanachocolate

they were contestants? when was that? it wasn't last year, was it? or did they not make it to the actual show?

Pasha and Anya are from Season 3. Anya went out fairly early. Pasha lasted until the Top 5.

[Harmony2000]

Not sure where to post this... didn't want to start a new thread.

But.

Two of the couples that were on this show were on DWTS results show last week. The first were on Burn the Floor and were Henry Byalikov & Giselle Peacock from Australia. The girl with the really short curly dark hair in the exhibition dance.

The other couple was the show dance champs, Victor Da Silva & Claudia Savvides (who by the way is not his normal partner and the one he's won all those championships with according to his website)