Any other fans of dance, contemporary or otherwise, on Tildes yet? I 💖 watching good dance choreography. There is something truly beautiful about well choreographed human movement, especially when...
Any other fans of dance, contemporary or otherwise, on Tildes yet? I 💖 watching good dance choreography. There is something truly beautiful about well choreographed human movement, especially when paired with a song that matches its tone perfectly.
I also am a huge fan of all the various reality/competition shows focused on dancing too (e.g. So You Think You Can Dance, Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars, etc)... though I usually fast forward past the drama and just go straight to the dances and judging.
I love 'So You Think You Can Dance'. It's just about the only "reality" show I can stand. (I remember when talent shows used to be about talent, and not about behind-the-scenes drama. I miss those...
I love 'So You Think You Can Dance'. It's just about the only "reality" show I can stand. (I remember when talent shows used to be about talent, and not about behind-the-scenes drama. I miss those days.)
However, I'm not a fan of contemporary dance. Most of the time, it's not really movement to a beat, and it often has little connection to the music - just like in this video.
The song has obviously been added to this video in post-production. And that just increases the feeling that these people aren't dancing to this song. I want to hear the music as it was played in the venue where these people danced. They're totally disconnected from the music - technically and artistically. I have a feeling I could lay lots of different songs over this video and they would fit (or not fit) the dancing just the same.
I disagree there. IMO all their major movements were timed to the music perfectly. And when it comes to contemporary dance, it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a...
and it often has little connection to the music - just like in this video.
I disagree there. IMO all their major movements were timed to the music perfectly. And when it comes to contemporary dance, it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a story based on it, rather than moment to moment synchronization of all the dancers' movements to it. That is by necessity though, since said movements are usually much broader/sweeping and take longer to pull off than something like hip hop dancing, which is comprised of more short, sharp motions you can time to every beat... although there is a lot more fusion and cross-pollination between the two happening these days so it's a bit of sliding scale now on both sides.
The song has obviously been added to this video in post-production.
I mean, sure. That's standard practice just for sound clarity's sake, but they were clearly listening to the music in the studio while they danced, as was the choreographer while they developed the piece... so I don't really see what the difference would be if they instead used the lower quality studio audio rather than redo it in post production for the video.
There's a difference between being timed to the music and being connected to the music, but dance should be both. And it is possible to have long sweeping movements be timed to the music - just...
IMO all their major movements were timed to the music perfectly. And when it comes to contemporary dance, it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a story based on it,
There's a difference between being timed to the music and being connected to the music, but dance should be both.
And it is possible to have long sweeping movements be timed to the music - just stretch the movements across 2 beats, instead of 1 beat (or 4 instead of 2), rather than finishing the move whenever they feel like it, with no regard to the music.
This sequence (to pick the most noticeable example) has no connection, either rhythmically or tonally, to the music. Like most contemporary dance, it's just movement for the sake of movement, rather than an interpretation of the actual music.
so I don't really see what the difference would be if they instead used the lower quality studio audio rather than redo it in post production for the video.
As I was watching it, I became convinced there was a slight synchronisation error, in that the video and the audio weren't quite lined up. That increased the sense that they weren't actually dancing to this song.
Debate aside though, whats your favorite SYTYCD performance?
Mostly, they blur into each other. Even if I can remember particular dances, I don't remember who danced them or which season or which series. However, I do remember this one. I remember it just stopping me in my tracks. I couldn't take my eyes of the screen for a moment. I had recorded this particular episode, and I remember replaying this dance over and over and over again, it was just so amazing. In fact, it even made headlines here in Australia.
I also enjoyed whenever there were tap dancers included in a series. Zach was one of my favourites - and I loved when he got paired with another tapper.
My most memorable SYTYCD performance actually happened outside the series. I became familiar with Travis Wall through his appearance as a competitor on the show (he was my favourite for that season), and his later work as a choreographer on the show. And then he turned up in this video, which was a fundraiser for the LA LGBTQ Center. Admittedly, the dancing here is secondary to the singing. This stripped-back raw emotional version of "This Is Me" hits me in the gut every single time.
Mine has got to be Kherington & Twitch - Dreaming With a Broken Heart from way back in Season 4. I still get chills watching it.
She is literally drumming on his back to the beat, and then they do the same with their exchanged grips immediately after. ;) And tonally it matches the music perfectly IMO. The lyrics are about...
This sequence (to pick the most noticeable example) has no connection, either rhythmically or tonally, to the music.
She is literally drumming on his back to the beat, and then they do the same with their exchanged grips immediately after. ;) And tonally it matches the music perfectly IMO. The lyrics are about problems in a relationship (fighting/arguing), and one person trying to break up with the other when the other person doesn't want to... and IMO that's exactly what is being shown through the dance and that part of the sequence.
I became convinced there was a slight synchronisation error
That's certainly possible, but I didn't notice it... although their timing is a tad off at various points, so maybe you're right.
As to SYTYCD:
Godddamn, Michael Dameski is phenomenal! I'm usually not one for fitness competition style or ballet dance, but he is fucking incredible. That performance just completely covered me in goosebumps! :P
Unfortunately tap dancing I can't help but find comical though. I know it's unfair, because there are some really talented dancers in that genre, but it makes me roll my eyes whenever I see it. It's just so dated and corny (which isn't always a bad thing but kinda is in a dance competition IMO)! :P
I also really liked that This Is Me cover... and agreed, Travis Wall is great. Thanks for sharing it. I am bookmarking/playlisting that one.
Am I allowed to say this left me flat? :(
LOL, of course... absolutely! Dance, much like music, is so incredibly personal. What emotionally effects one person is not what will do the same to another, and your feelings are perfectly valid even if they don't match my own. :)
No. She's out of time with the music. I'm not sure if that's related to the choreography not caring about the beat, or if it's a post-production synchronisation problem, but she's not in time. As...
She is literally drumming on his back to the beat,
And tonally it matches the music perfectly IMO.
No. She's out of time with the music. I'm not sure if that's related to the choreography not caring about the beat, or if it's a post-production synchronisation problem, but she's not in time.
As for tone, the music at that point is delicate - and she's hitting him in anger. It's a noticeable mismatch in tone.
It's just so dated and corny (which isn't always a bad thing
I love that sequence, but I always have mixed feelings about it since I read some behind-the-scenes stuff about it. Debbie Reynolds found it difficult to keep up with Donald Connor and Gene Kelly (who were among the best dancers of their time), so she rehearsed and practised until she was in tears and her feet were bleeding. She put literal blood, sweat, and tears into that. Her work paid off, though! That's a great dance sequence.
And the only reason everyone thinks tap "dated and corny" is because they've only seen it in old movies. It's fun and energetic and skilful - everything dance should be. Hmph!
I also really liked that This Is Me cover...
Me too. In the context of being an LGBT fundraiser, and with a gay dancer performing it, it suddenly becomes a very powerful gay anthem. "This is me and I will not take your slurs any more." I have it in my bookmarks, too. I even bought the song. I think it's much better than the pop version that Kesha released.
The music all throughout is, but the substance of the lyrics is not. There is conflict in it and that is what is being expressed in the dance. And like I said, "it's often more about emotional...
As for tone, the music at that point is delicate
The music all throughout is, but the substance of the lyrics is not. There is conflict in it and that is what is being expressed in the dance. And like I said, "it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a story based on it", so it not matching moment to moment doesn't bother me all that much. For me the story and emotions the dancing makes me feel is more important.
And yeah, the story of what Debbie Reynolds had to put up with while making Singing In The Rain made me lose a lot of my enjoyment of the movie. It's still one of my favorites, but that's something that sits in the back of my mind whenever I watch it now.
I think it's much better than the pop version that Kesha released.
LOL, that's not hard to do IMO. Similar to Debbie Reynolds, I feel incredibly bad for the abuse she may have suffered too, but I am personally not much of a fan of her music. That cover was great though (especially the dancing).
Any other fans of dance, contemporary or otherwise, on Tildes yet? I 💖 watching good dance choreography. There is something truly beautiful about well choreographed human movement, especially when paired with a song that matches its tone perfectly.
I also am a huge fan of all the various reality/competition shows focused on dancing too (e.g. So You Think You Can Dance, Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars, etc)... though I usually fast forward past the drama and just go straight to the dances and judging.
I love 'So You Think You Can Dance'. It's just about the only "reality" show I can stand. (I remember when talent shows used to be about talent, and not about behind-the-scenes drama. I miss those days.)
However, I'm not a fan of contemporary dance. Most of the time, it's not really movement to a beat, and it often has little connection to the music - just like in this video.
The song has obviously been added to this video in post-production. And that just increases the feeling that these people aren't dancing to this song. I want to hear the music as it was played in the venue where these people danced. They're totally disconnected from the music - technically and artistically. I have a feeling I could lay lots of different songs over this video and they would fit (or not fit) the dancing just the same.
I disagree there. IMO all their major movements were timed to the music perfectly. And when it comes to contemporary dance, it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a story based on it, rather than moment to moment synchronization of all the dancers' movements to it. That is by necessity though, since said movements are usually much broader/sweeping and take longer to pull off than something like hip hop dancing, which is comprised of more short, sharp motions you can time to every beat... although there is a lot more fusion and cross-pollination between the two happening these days so it's a bit of sliding scale now on both sides.
I mean, sure. That's standard practice just for sound clarity's sake, but they were clearly listening to the music in the studio while they danced, as was the choreographer while they developed the piece... so I don't really see what the difference would be if they instead used the lower quality studio audio rather than redo it in post production for the video.
edit:
Debate aside though, whats your favorite SYTYCD performance? Mine has got to be Kherington & Twitch - Dreaming With a Broken Heart from way back in Season 4. I still get chills watching it.
There's a difference between being timed to the music and being connected to the music, but dance should be both.
And it is possible to have long sweeping movements be timed to the music - just stretch the movements across 2 beats, instead of 1 beat (or 4 instead of 2), rather than finishing the move whenever they feel like it, with no regard to the music.
This sequence (to pick the most noticeable example) has no connection, either rhythmically or tonally, to the music. Like most contemporary dance, it's just movement for the sake of movement, rather than an interpretation of the actual music.
As I was watching it, I became convinced there was a slight synchronisation error, in that the video and the audio weren't quite lined up. That increased the sense that they weren't actually dancing to this song.
Mostly, they blur into each other. Even if I can remember particular dances, I don't remember who danced them or which season or which series. However, I do remember this one. I remember it just stopping me in my tracks. I couldn't take my eyes of the screen for a moment. I had recorded this particular episode, and I remember replaying this dance over and over and over again, it was just so amazing. In fact, it even made headlines here in Australia.
I also enjoyed whenever there were tap dancers included in a series. Zach was one of my favourites - and I loved when he got paired with another tapper.
My most memorable SYTYCD performance actually happened outside the series. I became familiar with Travis Wall through his appearance as a competitor on the show (he was my favourite for that season), and his later work as a choreographer on the show. And then he turned up in this video, which was a fundraiser for the LA LGBTQ Center. Admittedly, the dancing here is secondary to the singing. This stripped-back raw emotional version of "This Is Me" hits me in the gut every single time.
Am I allowed to say this left me flat? :(
She is literally drumming on his back to the beat, and then they do the same with their exchanged grips immediately after. ;) And tonally it matches the music perfectly IMO. The lyrics are about problems in a relationship (fighting/arguing), and one person trying to break up with the other when the other person doesn't want to... and IMO that's exactly what is being shown through the dance and that part of the sequence.
That's certainly possible, but I didn't notice it... although their timing is a tad off at various points, so maybe you're right.
As to SYTYCD:
Godddamn, Michael Dameski is phenomenal! I'm usually not one for fitness competition style or ballet dance, but he is fucking incredible. That performance just completely covered me in goosebumps! :P
Unfortunately tap dancing I can't help but find comical though. I know it's unfair, because there are some really talented dancers in that genre, but it makes me roll my eyes whenever I see it. It's just so dated and corny (which isn't always a bad thing but kinda is in a dance competition IMO)! :P
I also really liked that This Is Me cover... and agreed, Travis Wall is great. Thanks for sharing it. I am bookmarking/playlisting that one.
LOL, of course... absolutely! Dance, much like music, is so incredibly personal. What emotionally effects one person is not what will do the same to another, and your feelings are perfectly valid even if they don't match my own. :)
No. She's out of time with the music. I'm not sure if that's related to the choreography not caring about the beat, or if it's a post-production synchronisation problem, but she's not in time.
As for tone, the music at that point is delicate - and she's hitting him in anger. It's a noticeable mismatch in tone.
I love that sequence, but I always have mixed feelings about it since I read some behind-the-scenes stuff about it. Debbie Reynolds found it difficult to keep up with Donald Connor and Gene Kelly (who were among the best dancers of their time), so she rehearsed and practised until she was in tears and her feet were bleeding. She put literal blood, sweat, and tears into that. Her work paid off, though! That's a great dance sequence.
And the only reason everyone thinks tap "dated and corny" is because they've only seen it in old movies. It's fun and energetic and skilful - everything dance should be. Hmph!
Me too. In the context of being an LGBT fundraiser, and with a gay dancer performing it, it suddenly becomes a very powerful gay anthem. "This is me and I will not take your slurs any more." I have it in my bookmarks, too. I even bought the song. I think it's much better than the pop version that Kesha released.
The music all throughout is, but the substance of the lyrics is not. There is conflict in it and that is what is being expressed in the dance. And like I said, "it's often more about emotional connection to the song and telling a story based on it", so it not matching moment to moment doesn't bother me all that much. For me the story and emotions the dancing makes me feel is more important.
And yeah, the story of what Debbie Reynolds had to put up with while making Singing In The Rain made me lose a lot of my enjoyment of the movie. It's still one of my favorites, but that's something that sits in the back of my mind whenever I watch it now.
LOL, that's not hard to do IMO. Similar to Debbie Reynolds, I feel incredibly bad for the abuse she may have suffered too, but I am personally not much of a fan of her music. That cover was great though (especially the dancing).