So You Think You Can Dance aired auditions from Los Angeles and Philadelphia this week.
The guest judges were Christina Applegate (in Los Angeles), and in Philadelphia, Misty Copeland (American Ballet Theatre prima ballerina - pictured above with Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe) and Billy Porter (star of Kinky Boots on Broadway).
This audition show felt long to me for some reason. Maybe a little too much contemporary dance emoting for my taste. There were some great dancers, though! They included:
Johnny "Waacks" Gibson - a returning dancer who auditioned in Season 9. He does a form of street dance called waacking. He was sent on to choreography, where he received a ticket to Hollywood.
Malene and Armen - ballroom dancers. Malene is a beautiful dancer, but she has struggled with depression. Armen appeared on the show last year but dropped his partner and was dismissed during Hollywood week. They were amazing - great chemistry! He reminded me a bit of Maksim Chmerkovskiy from Dancing with the Stars.
Amir Sanders - the "funky ballerina," as she called herself. Amir was classically trained at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She brought some funk to her ballet audition -- and was easily my favorite dancer of the night. The judges sent her to choreo, which really surprised me, since she has such strong training. However, she got a ticket to Hollywood after choreography, so all is good!
Landon Anderson - a ballroom dancer who auditioned with Jenna Johnson, who danced in last year's competition. He looks like an "aw shucks!" young Ron Howard, but danced with lots of power. He went through, and Jenna also got an invite to be an All-Star on the show this year.
Stanley Glover - a contemporary dancer with a sad back story. His mother died when he was 4 years old, and he was shuffled around until he found a loving home with a family friend. Stanley danced a fun and creative contemporary number where he portrayed a mysterious creature. He was offbeat and fun, and his choreography was terrific! His dancing reminded me a bit of former contestant Mark Kanemura.
Next week the show will be in my hometown of Atlanta. I can't wait!
Did you watch last night? Do you have favorites, or any thoughts about the show you'd like to share? I hope you'll leave a comment below.
Hi all!
I was a guest blogger at These Are the DSRs of Our Lives today, and wrote a little blog article about my shop - with lots of links and fun vintage photos! I thought you might enjoy it too.
These Are The DSRs Of Our Lives: Birdhouse Books Loves Vintage Books and Pretty Paper
Pictured above: Old Bones the Wonder Horse, a vintage Scholastic book by Mildred Mastin Pace.
My Music Monday song is "Break Away" by the Beach Boys because this song has been stuck in my head the past couple of days. I love the Beach Boys' music. Their songs always remind me of summer. "Break Away" was written by Brian Wilson and his father, Murry; Brian said it was inspired by the Monkees. It was recorded in 1969, so it is a later period Beach Boys song. I remember this song from the Spirit of America record album (1975). I played that album, and Endless Summer, over and over and over as a teen.
What Beach Boys songs are your favorites? I would love to hear from you in the comments section, below.
The Great Gatsby is my favorite classic novel. It is also the first classic novel I ever read, in 8th grade. The Robert Redford movie had been released a while before, and I was obsessed with the movie adaptation too.
I resisted the 2013 Baz Luhrmann adaptation for a while, but finally rented it and watched this weekend. I was very wary of the movie because of the modern music and CGI involved. To my surprise, this Gatsby was not what I expected.
I had two issues with this adaptation. The first was the "Nick in a sanitorium" framework, so different from the novel. I think this framework was unnecessary and detracted from the film. The story is compelling on its own and did not need this artifical device.
Second, the fling that Nick and Jordan had was important to the narrative, and this was left completely out of the 2013 film. Nick and Jordan could have met and exchanged pleasantries at a DMV office for all the passion and chemistry they shared.
There were some things I really liked about this adaptation, though. I loved the period detail, especially the costuming and the sets. Gatsby's house was spectacular, beginning with the ride in through arched trees.
I really liked Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby. Robert Redford did a fine job in the 1970's version, but he was a bit too perfect. Even as a young teenager it baffled me that Daisy would choose Bruce Dern over Robert Redford. DiCaprio was more human, more energetic; I believed that he "owned drugstores" and was involved in some mysterious, nefarious activity. His look was right for the part too. I believed that he grew up in a poor family and was a self-made man.
I also liked Carey Mulligan as Daisy. Again, I liked Mia Farrow in the original, but she was a very languorous Daisy. Carey Mulligan was younger and more of a flapper. She seemed impulsive as opposed to Farrow's softer and more dream-like Daisy.
Other standout performances in this film were Joel Edgerton, who brought Tom Buchanan to life as a vital and brutish man, and Isla Fisher as Myrtle, his mistress.
I also liked the Jazz Age energy of this production. I do think the CGI was overdone, and frankly nothing can compete with Nelson Riddle's original 1970's score. (I did not care for the modern music, although it was less jarring than expected.) However, the pace was brisk and suited the 1920's storyline.
All said, I would recommend this movie for fans of the novel -- and I would love to hear what you thought of it in the comments section below.
I love jazz. I grew up with it. My father was a big jazz fan, and my parents had jazz records and played them on the hi-fi when I was little. This music is still comfort food to me, and I listen to it often, especially on Real Jazz (XM Radio), NPR - especially Riverwalk Jazz, and WCLK (local Atlanta jazz station).
I was delighted to find two great jazz apps for phone or tablet.
The first is JazzBird, and it is an app developed by Jazz Boston. It is available as an app on iTunes and Google Play. You will find a wide range of jazz stations to play via radio on your phone or tablet. I have JazzBird Lite (free) installed on my iPad. It is great except you can't play music in the background as your surf the web, read email, etc. I am assuming this functionality exists in the paid version, but I haven't tried that yet.
The other app is JazzRadio. It is free and available in iTunes, Google Play, and Blackberry World. My beloved phone is a Blackberry, so I was especially excited to find this app! JazzRadio has a huge range of channels, each focusing on a different type of jazz. A few of my favorites include: Classic Jazz, Cool Jazz, and Vocal Legends. This app does play in the background while you do other things on your tablet. I just found it and have listened so much this past week!
I hope you enjoy these apps as much as I do!
Pictured above: the incomparable Louis Armstrong.
