First, as a fan of the show, I’m totally shocked – and even a bit scandalized – at the booting of Shauna from the competition. I think it is clear that the judges are committed, for whatever reason, to keeping a good number of ballroom dancers on the show. Not my judgment, but, hey, that’s how it goes.
Now, on to more interesting things…not unrelated.
For me, the signature moment of this week’s show was the dressing-down of Danny. Or whatever we want to call it. The message was straightforward: you’re not expressive enough. Danny’s technique – they recognized and applauded – is amazing and first-rate. But his personality as a dancer hides behind the spectacular technique; he’s so good that we forget that dance is a way of saying the Self.
I get that. They’re right, actually, that Danny’s self has yet to fully come to expression. He’s an amazing technician, yet he’s not the most engaging dancer of the group. He should be. But he isn’t.
There is something very instructive about this “controversy” from the week’s show. Two things are especially interesting to me:
On the one hand, it almost functions (unintentionally, I think) as a response to one dance critic’s comment on the show in the New York Times. (Thanks for the reference, Beckyloo!) The critic is predictably cranky and snobbish (“high” culture reviews television? Predictable result: tv = bad), identifying one particular dance aesthetic as the measure of dance aesthetics as such. (Note: by “aesthetic,” I here mean those standards of expression according to which we judge something good, true, and beautiful.) That floats as pop criticism (NYT is a newspaper, not an academic journal), but, as theory, it is just so weak. That big aesthetic question is another post, yes, but it is worth noting that part of So You Think You Can Dance?’s innovation as a show is its mash-up of dance aesthetics. In some ways, So You Can Think…? does for dance what hip-hop sampling did for hooks: break it up, reassemble to make something new. Sure, the result is a lack of clarity in terms of performance principles, but that’s the point. Once you leave one, sole form of dance, you lose the aesthetic anchor. For the better, I think, but it is clearly confusing to some critics. Alas.
On another hand, the judges’ critique of Danny says a lot about why ballroom dancers have stayed around so long. The ballroom folks get a real pass on the “dance for your life” segment; we’re pretty convinced, thanks judges!, that they struggle to do solo work, given the central role of “partnering” in ballroom styles. Ballroom is about technique and choreography, sure, but after that is mastered, it is as much about exuberant personality as anything else. (Let’s leave the strange fashion aside for now.) And so the critique of Danny tells us a lot about why ballroom people stick around. If the judges want personality, then ballroom is all about just that personality. The energy, the charisma, etc. Danny’s form has a different relation to expression. It is first about technique – which the write-up in the New York Times obsesses over – and only after about the personal. Even then, the personal sits on the fringes of performance (and therein lies the difference from ballroom).
I wonder a lot about this demand from Danny. What do they expect? Ballroom telegraphs its personality outlet with nostalgic stories of romance and pep. Personally, that’s why I find ballroom tiresome after awhile. The feelings are so pre-arranged, really. I don’t think Danny’s home-style of dance is so telegraphed, and we might just learn a lot about Danny that is difficult to digest in a mass culture format. His personality, insofar as we have glimpsed it, is not arrogant, but it is obviously complex. His life story is pretty trying, even just to read on the So You Think…? website. We might learn about Danny through dance and find that he’s not the “super-psyched!” character of last year’s winner Benji or his sister on this year’s show. We might find something more complex, melancholic, or even just someone in that peculiar place of transition.
What I’m saying, hypothetically to the judges, is this: do you know what you are asking of him? And is it really what you think makes for America’s “favorite” dancer, rather than America’s “best” dancer? To be the best dancer, Danny needs to bring that Self to his form and every form asked of him. Would that make him the favorite dancer? My guess is that it depends on what part of his Self he chooses to bring into that form.
We shall see.
For now, I will miss Shauna. She was spectacular, athletic, and really expressive of her Self. You could feel her ecstasy and struggle in her jumps and landings.
Again, this makes me ask: are we sure the judges want that “Self” in expression? Shauna makes me wonder, you know, if maybe the judges actually just want ballroom feeling with lyrical technique. Does Danny have a ballroom aspect of the Self?
We shall see.
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I think you (and more importantly the judges) are conflating two issues: personality (magic, x factor, showmanship or whatever milquetoast term they choose on any given night) and emotional connection. You can “learn” or force the former, the latter is a much deeper and elusive get.
Speaking from personal experience, honestly connecting with your core and being able to let the emotion found there flow out of you, whether it be in the form of a character portrayed, a story written, a dance performed or a song sung can be an absolutely terrifying endeavor. Some have that access with out thinking. Cedric is an example. Like a little kid who fearlessly scampers up a banister having no idea that if he were to slip he’d most likely be dead. Others have built up so many walls inside of them in order to feel emotionally stable that the process of connection is a long hard slog that requires jack hammers and wrecking balls. I suspect Danny is the latter.
But this process has nothing to do with performance of personality or of self for that matter. That’s the structure you place around what you find in your core. That’s what comes after the connection is made. In fact, someone hipped me to a video of Danny (it’s up on my site) where he’s got all kinds of personality, he’s cheeky and sexy and sly. He could “turn it on” if he so chose. That’s not his problem. His problem is he’s not emotionally connected. He may feel connected. But we have to feel it. I’ve watched many, many peers beat their heads against walls in acting classes positively perplexed as to why what they feel inside isn’t being communicated to the rest of us. There’s no easy answer. There’s no quick fix. It’s the artist’s cross to bare.
Danny’s young and so many light years ahead of the game. I have faith he’ll have a stunning career and will someday have the emotional breakthrough he needs to take his work to the next level. I really hope it happens on this show though because few things in the world bring me more joy than watching an artist grow.
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Being no longer young, I understand and can forgive what is perceived as arrogance. Lord knows if I could do what Danny can do, came from a less than ideal childhood, and was what? 22 years old? I’d be the cockiest bastard around. Life experience will smooth those edges and give him perspective. He’s smart enough to catch the clues.
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Beckyloo, I completely agree. I think we’re using different vocabulary, but after the same thing – and you put it more directly. I was fumbling to draw the distinction you make straightforward: personality and emotional connection.
The emotional connection, for me, is most profound when you see that Self of the performer in the performance. The “thing” that makes, say, a Brando performance “Brando” and not just a “good performance.” That signature of act – in this case, the act of dance – that makes the act inseparable from the actor. That’s why I used “Self” as the indicator of this deeper, more difficult expression.
Personality is much easier to employ. It doesn’t have the same depth, that “core” you refer to, but can carry a dancer a long way in televised performance. I think ballroom people are at an advantage here, really; that’s what ballroom is all about. Personality.
Danny’s case is harder. His skills so exceed his contact with the core, the self, or whatever we might call it, and he seems to want to maintain the elevated expectations of his dance. Both the form (he is SO beautiful to watch) and what will eventually come from that connection to Self, core. Ted, you’re right: he’s only 22, so this is all in progress and process.
Danny’s certainly someone who makes me want to follow the dance world.
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Ah, the short comings of language. Yes, I understand your point more clearly now. If you’re interested in getting into dance a bit more, might I suggest watchting “The Elusive Muse”? It’s a doc on Suzanne Farrell and the mind blowing body of work Balanchine created for her. (She was the reason I started dancing at 3 or so, after watching her on sesame street… “suzanne farrell eating little yogart” and she’d bourree across the stage. “suzanne farrell eating BIG yogart” grande jete, grande jete…) She started with NYCB at age 16 and makes Danny look like a toddler. Her technique was flawless but you don’t really notice or care because she is one of the most soulful dancers you’ll ever witness. She can make you cry with the lilt of a wrist. On top of that, the dynamic between her and Balanchine is fascinating. He was madly in love with her, though 40 years her senior. She had to leave the company when she fell for one of the dancers…
To steal a bit from my man George Bernard Shaw, writing about dance is like singing about architecture so it’s tough for me to fully articulate what a wonder she is. But if you’re serious about getting into the world, that documentary is a great place to start.
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Thanks for the re-reply! Even though I write too-long posts, there is always more to clarify. Glad it made sense.
I will check out that book. I’ve taught dance in aesthetics courses in the past, but that was heavy on theory, thin on examples and case studies. So, it will be nice to read this kind of study. And I’m interested in embodied expression in general. So You Think…? is a nice way of blending that interest with popular culture reflections!
Balanchine was amazing and a total kook! That angle is especially interesting to me.
I like the “soulful” term, here, as it is a nice analogy with singing. You have singers who can sing well and even with moving intensity. But that’s very different than a soulful singer. Soulful singers come from a completely different depth. And that difference fascinates me. I think Danny is still searching for that soulfulness. It’s a lot to ask, and testimony to how awesome he is that we might even ask it of him…
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Well John, I believe you made some very thought provoking points in this post.
But as for myself, I will have to disagree with you about Danny not being the most engaging dancer. Or that his dancing, while technically perfect, lacks in giving us his full ‘self’ in an expressive way.
I know there are many who share your sentiment, but I’m not one of them. Since Danny’s first day on the show, or when we saw him first rather, I was blown away. And have continuously been since then. I do see soulful expression when I watch Danny, and to be honest, I don’t know why others don’t, but I do concede that is a fact, but as for myself, it’s the only reason I do love him so; it’s because I see all that, apparently, so many others think is missing.
Danny does engage me, over anyone else that has ever been on this show actually, and I mean over all three seasons. And he doesn’t just do that with his dancing, but the little glimpse he gives me into his personality also. All those moments when it’s he and Anya together, or when he’s by himself talking to us at home, I find myself either laughing or smiling at what he does or has to say. His little sunglasses clip made me fall a little bit more in love with him actually. I too know what it is to have a shopping addiction, so I could relate.
Now, and I’ve said this elsewhere, I do believe there is so much more to him than what’s we’ve seen, there has to be, because I think it’s the same for everyone on the show as well. There is no way a show such as, So You Think You Can Dance, lets us see anywhere near what sort of true characters and personalities these kids have. And it’s because of that, I feel in no way then could this show ever give us a proper, and profound, look into the life and soul of Danny Tidwell; if he ever does an in-depth interview with someone, perhaps then. But as far as the show goes, I can’t see that ever happening.
But as the show seems to have cut back, quite severely from last year, on how much personal information we learn about the contestants this year, we aren’t getting nearly all that we did last year with the kids and their lives outside and within the show, so I also think that has much to do with it as well. For just as I don’t know that much about Danny, it’s the same for Pasha, Anya, Hok, Jamie, Dominic, Sabra, Kameron, Neil, Lauren, but Lacey is an exception I will admit. So until the show decides to go into detail, if they ever do, Danny is no more so an out of place anomaly than anyone else who’s on the show right now.
So just that I’m making myself clear here, heh, I do agree with what you had to say about him being complex, I see it being the same sort of situation myself.
And sadly, I agree wholeheartedly with your parting point. Except I think Danny already has.
I, for some reason, see this all over the place, and I’m always left wondering if maybe I’m the only one thinking this way but. What if Danny has already given much of his ‘self’ into his dancing already? What then?
I believe that some don’t even consider the possibility that everything Danny’s given off may just be exactly who he is as a person. John, you pointed out Lacey and Benji’s type of personalities, and do I see the same in Danny? No, and am so glad for that I can not tell you, heh. But I do also think Danny’s done or is doing anything differently than what Benji did, or what Lacey is currently doing, not one bit. They showed, and are showing America, who they were, and are. And as it was for Benji last year and some of this year actually, and how it has been for Lacey as well, there are many people who couldn’t and can not stand either one of the Schwimmer duo, but on the flip side of that, many love them, to death. And clearly it’s the majority that have the love, because Benji won, and Lacey’s always found herself safe and never in the bottom 3.
But what about Danny? All facts point to the realization that the majority isn’t receiving him as well as they have others. And here’s where my point comes in. If Danny is giving out who he is to America, but America is rejecting that side, his ‘self’, then what else can he do to change their minds?
Is it at possible that being aloof and reserved is just apart of who Danny is as a person? Can we say that there are not people out in the world who do not act in the same exact manner as he does? Who aren’t dancers even? I know quite a few myself. Danny is many things and has shown many emotions and expressions, when dancing and when not, at least he has to me anyway.
So, and I know I’ve gotten a bit long in the tooth here, but my original point is, has it ever been allowed into consideration that perhaps Danny ‘has’ shown us all who he is, not ‘all’ of him of course, but given us enough to make a pretty certain generalization, just as everyone else has, and who he is just happens to be someone America can’t cookie cutter easily, not as they could his brother Travis, or someone like Lacey or Benji, so they don’t bother to try, or they just don’t get him, and label him arrogant or full of himself and call it a day.
And if that’s true, than what can Danny do about it? He’s not left with many options, except he may have to create a fake Danny Tidwell, one America will finally like if he wants to start getting the votes. Where he stops being the mature, reserved individual he is, and morph into what the little tweener ankle bitters loved about Benji and Travis, if he has any hope, or shot, of getting anywhere close to the top 4.
Which, I guess, the answer to that question will be answered next week, when we see just how much ‘X factor’ Danny brings to the table.
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John – sorry I wasn’t clear, “Elusive Muse” is a documentary film, not a book. I’ll be really interested to hear your thoughts on it.
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Not sure how I missed the “watch” and “doc” when reading your post, but all the better – dance is visual, so it is better to see than to read!
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Brea, thanks for the thoughtful post…when I wrote:
“I don’t think Danny’s home-style of dance is so telegraphed, and we might just learn a lot about Danny that is difficult to digest in a mass culture format. His personality, insofar as we have glimpsed it, is not arrogant, but it is obviously complex.”
I had something very close to your thoughts in mind. Not so much that we’ve seen Danny, but that even if we haven’t, we might not see the kind of exuberance the judges expect for the “favorite” dancer. His complexity is behind his reservedness, I’d guess. Though that’s only a guess. His life story is pretty intense, so withholding something of himself is perfectly understandable. Especially in this context, where So You Think…? is both serious about dance expression (supporting his seriousness) and also a commercialized form of entertainment (not so supportive of seriousness, more encouraging of ballroom exuberance).
You might be right. We may have seen who Danny is and not recognized it as a televisual “it” factor. Not all bad, really.
I also wonder if Danny’s expression of Self isn’t lost in the gender normativity of the show, something I’ve written about in past episodes. He’s both a masculine presence in partnering and a feminine presence in his pure expression. That’s his “elegance,” really. The “it” factor, I think, is construed for male dancers as happy or goofiness (good for ballroom folks, generally) OR strong, uncomplicated manliness. Danny is neither, though he has plenty of the latter.
That is, I wonder if Danny’s sense of Self in expression isn’t exactly that blend of strong masculinity and soft femininity, which can be categorized (I may have done this) as “technique” rather than “Danny.”
Just thinking outloud.
Thanks for the nice comment, Brea. I will certainly have it in mind next week!
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Oh John, I love the way you phrased that description, heh. I see the same myself.
Goodness, how nice it is to have such an intelligent conversation and to have someone else’s thoughtful and articulate comments to weigh my own against.
But truly, I get what you’re saying. I happen to believe, as America always finds it easier to like simpler things rather than the more complex portions of life. I see it everywhere in our culture, and I guess I have no right to then expect any less from a voting public either, heh. And I do think Nigel and the others know that, and they want to find the person who’s going to fit into that little box the best. Especially since the whole angle of the show is to make money.
Which is why I believe Nigel is really gunning for Danny to find that ‘X factor’ he keeps on referring to. I didn’t know whether or not Nigel really wanted to keep Danny on the show before, but I’m beginning to feel that he just may think he has to now. What with the Times article that ripped him to shreds and praised Danny to no end, I doubt Nigel is willing to lose him just yet. And from that, I believe that he knows that if Danny is to stand a chance against someone like Neil or Hok or Dominic, in the eyes of the public, he needs to find that vulnerability or charisma, as Nigel so artfully put it Thursday. Which, shockingly, was a day or two after said article, heh. Never can say Nigel isn’t the crafty business man.
Well thank you. It’s only a theory of course, but it’s one I thought may fit into what I, myself, see and get from him. I concur with you there, it’s not very television friendly if that is his true attitude, because, especially when it comes to reality TV, we need people such as Benji or Travis or Neil to be entertained, supposedly. And not to be rude, but with those sort of guys, what you see is what you get for the most part. But as you and I both seem to gather, that can not be done with Danny. The complexity that you mentioned, the reserved factor, both elements that, to me at least, never could be used when describing or talking about Benji or Travis.
And I really do believe that is what’s holding Danny back. Though I don’t blame him, and I think he himself probably wonders what it is that he’s doing to make America not like him or want to vote for him when, after all, he’s only being himself
But, and I got this almost instantly about him, Danny is in no way some quick study, In fact, I think another reason I find him so fascinating is because he’s almost like a puzzle. And as someone who loves to study the mannerisms, demeanors, thought processes, and what not of people, psychology and sociology freak over here, Danny intrigues me. When he dances, he gives me something new every time; when he’s silly on camera, I gain something else from that as well. But I think all the time I don’t mind spending on Danny Tidwell, in an attempt to truly understand all that he gives out to us, I doubt others feel like doing the same. So they’ll stick with the two page reads of a Neil or Kameron and be done with it.
And, as I have, again, run off at the fingers, heh, I just want to lastly comment on what you said about his ‘elegance’. I loved that. I think you’re spot on with that observation.
From all that people have said backstage about him, Danny may just have some elements of being silly and goofy, but I definitely agree about the masculinity he gives out.
Oh, it’s as if your words are my thoughts, heh, so if this is you thinking out loud, please, continue. I can see that being the case. Danny appears to be a blend of either and or, but when it comes to those who are looking just for either, or just or, when they see him, it’s confusing and complicated and that makes him confusing and complicated, and that makes them not want to figure out exactly why that is, especially when they can just simply not care one way or another, and vote for someone else.
Well thank you for the comment, and for not thinking I’m some rambling maniac, heh. To echo your own statement, I too was thinking out loud, but it’s always a pleasure to find someone else who does the same, and so brilliantly at that.
I hope we may continue this discussion, or others, at a later date. You sir have a fine mind, and I very much enjoy reading what it formulates.
Have a blessed weekend.
*Just add a little note here – If there are any typos in what I wrote above, sorry, 3:30 in the wee am hours and I’m without my glasses so…*
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Just to add a different perspective here, I do think race is important to how the judges talk about Danny. There is a lot of discomfort on the show with race. This has been true since the first season, though I must say that the judges are actively trying to improve. They haven’t, however, yet let go of all their different kinds of narratives about hip-hop being “inaccessible,” until one of their whitebread hip-hop choreographers yet again proves that urban dance can “have a story,” or show “emotion other than anger.”
Those dance styles have always had story and range of emotion. It’s only that the judges don’t know how to see it.
And this, I think, speaks to what seems to be their inability to get a read on Danny. And insofar as judging, like interpretation, requires “the read,” they mistake their inability to “get” him with their inability to simply see him as a dancer– rather than as someone who has to be formed by their critique over the course of the show.
Sometimes I also wonder if they, maybe unconsciously, know that he knows that one word that would give him the vulnerability, read “place for insight,” they so desperately crave from hime: adopted.
I must say, I love Danny’s refusal to make himself available to their desire, just as I got really really tired of Cedric pandering to the sympathy of the judges and audience every time he was in the bottom three. What did it earn him, other than their disdain?
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Marisa! Right on. While I never saw Cedric as a panderer, your point just shifted my perspective a bit. Thanks for that.
And I’m glad to hear someone else talking about Hip Hop as it is defined on this show. I’ve always dug Shane’s shit but it wasn’t until a friend of mine, a dancer, drew the comparison to what I know of hip hop musically that I began to understand how watered down it is.
Coincidentally, I just posted a bit on the subject. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
http://tvinthewoods.blogspot.com/2007/07/if-you-can-talk-you-can-sing-if-you-can_15.html
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Marisa–
I feel like we’re on the same page about this. So many of the performances seem to hinge upon moments of sheer movement brilliance and gymnastic prowess strung together with spirit fingers and rictal grins. My thought below:
http://probablyawkward.blogspot.com/2007/07/dont-act-like-you-think-you-can-dance.html
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Just to bring the intellectual level of the discussion down a bit, here’s a bit of speculation. We know there will be a partner change soon. Not this week, but probably next. Assuming Danny is still around, and I can’t imagine the judges would let him go while they still have a say, it will be telling to see who the show pairs him up with. If they really want him to last as long as possible, his new partner will be Lacey Schwimmer, as I believe she has the largest fan base. That would actually be an interesting couple to watch dance, and though it stinks of producer manipulation, I won’t mind at all if it succeeds in keeping Danny around for a while. We have so many questions that only time and exposure can answer.
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I’ll be surprised if Lacey and Kam make it into the bottom three anytime soon. Though if they do, Kam’s most likely toast. I think it’s more likely we see a Danny/Jamie paring. And as the two technically strongest dancers on the show, I’m all for it. I think they’re a much better fit than either of them currently has. The quality of their movement would compliment each other beautifully.
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I’m guessing this is the last week for Lacey & Kam as partners. Danny and Jaimie come from the same studio, so I find that pairing as unlikely as if Pasha & Anya were put back together.
It will be interesting to see what Kameron can do outside of Lacey’s shadow, and give him this: he has yet to air-hump a guest judge yet. At least on camera.
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Ha!
I don’t know… I feel like there’s only so much weight the judges can give the new possible partnering when deciding who to cut. But really, who the hell can predict this shit. We shall see.
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I find this discussion really interesting, not the least because it hasn’t devolved into a “well, I like him, so there, you unwashed plebe” exchange. Picking up on the distinction Beckylooo made between personality and emotional connection, I think there’s actually a third component that John was trying to get at, which is persona or essence–the essential self explicated in expressive forms like dance or acting.
For me, Danny does have the this essence (possibly what Nigel calls his X-factor when people like it), but I don’t think it reflects Danny’s self. Instead I think that Danny’s lack of emotional connection manifests because he’s so technically proficient that there’s no change in tempo, no tension when he dances. He’s (astonishingly!) fluid when he dances, to the point were it looks like lines constantly, exquisitely reconfiguring instead of a person embodying emotion, emphasis on person. And you know, there’s a *style* in that, an essence, simply because Danny is so regular that it creates its own pattern, that people read it as self–an arrogant, soulless dancer.
I personally like Danny. If he’s arrogant, I think he’s also probably quite sweet all the same. But his dancing doesn’t move me because there’s no story to his movements, no beginning, middle, end; just an endless morphing of shapes. Mia would probably talking about wanting to tear down his walls, and I think it’s true that he almost has too much control; so much that he’ll never let anything through unless he learns or decides to.
Btw, thanks to Beckyloo, I found Suzanne Farrell on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWzBy3uYjwI)
and Jesus, does she have a story to every movement. In contrast, the guy she’s dancing with is all stocky pantomime. Danny’s light years ahead of the guy, but he’s no Suzanne, not yet. I’m very hopeful for Danny to make progress; he has boatloads of potential. -
burbly, thanks for the really smart post – adding a lot to a list of smart posts. I’ve gotten quite a bit to think about in these responses. How fun and interesting!
I like the note on style. Style has such deep appeal, especially when the style is essentially (as you say here) an expression of technical proficiency. In Danny’s home dance-form, that means a lot and goes a long way.
But, again, I think the mash-up effect of So You Think…? exposes some of the limits of that approach to dance, namely, how proficiency and discipline are not sufficient in all dance forms. Danny’s brilliance becomes, not a shortcoming (he’s too good to not “get” each dance form), but a limit to the kind of talent he has. Whereas, say, the hip-hop dancers “get” intensity and expression yet struggle with precisely choreographed, Danny, when doing hip-hop, “got” the choreography perfectly yet lacked the emotional intensity the (albeit watered-down) routine required.
Danny’s advantage is his total command of his body. Something no one else has, really. That command gives him – appropriately – a real advantage. But the stylistic mash-up highlights what is yet-to-come from him as a dancer.
All that said, he’s my favorite. It’s just that you can see what just a bit more emotional connection would bring…
On new partners, I hadn’t really thought about it, but y’all are right: it will make a definite difference. I wonder if Lacey would bring something out of Danny or, in her intense exuberance, actually make him look a bit wooden by contrast. That’s a problem for any of her partners, I think, given her crazy energy. It would be such an interesting pairing.
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Burbly, thanks for that link. It kills me that that’s the only bit of her work on the tube. That’s from her period in Paris after she and Paul were excommunicated by Mr. B. I sort of think of them (suzanne and balanchine) like Lennon and McCartney. Both are brilliant artists in their own right but were never better than when they were together. And yeah, I’m not a fan of Bejart.
Back to your point, about Danny’s lack of emotional connection being manifest BECAUSE of his technical proficiency (ie not having anything to fight against, resistence)… It’s an interesting one and I can’t decide whether or not I agree. In reality, as much as I enjoy all this speculation, the core of his issue is impossible to get at with out knowing the guy, watching him put choreography into his body. They snippets we get on the show aren’t enough.
As a side note, I couldn’t be happier to have found a place to have an intelligent conversation about what most would consider a cheese whiz hour and a half of tele. Thanks guys.
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Thinking about it more, I think the reason Danny’s not my favorite is because I don’t think of the show as a competition so much as dance camp. And “favorite” is something that is decided viscerally, so it took me a while to realize that Danny’s continual affirmations that he thinks he’s going to win really bother me because it’s like he doesn’t think there’s anything he can learn from the show because he will win using his (admittedly) mad skillz.
Now, this has nothing to do with perceived arrogance about how good he is, but about my impression that he’s squandering this opportunity in the lovely mishmash of SYTYCD (HT: John) to *get* intensity, to work on his vibe. I saw this great interview with Cate Blanchett, whom I love, where she talks about different acting techniques; one where the actor gathers he emotion they want to convey (and here she bunches her fist) and *throws* it (hurling motion *bam*). Danny really has none of that expressive impact and he has the opportunity to with a larger audience. That attitude really burns my chaps when I think about the NYT piece and the writer’s attitude toward high and low culture because she gives Danny a pass on his shortcomings as a dancer, so she can feel superior. (Before I saw Farrell, I thought, well, if Danny’s the epitome of great ballet, then I guess ballet’s just not my thing and if Farrell’s any indication that’s just not true.)
Beckylooo, thanks for the info on Farrell. I’ll have to check out her doc. Liked your blog, especially my introduction to the phrase “street jazz” re Shane; the phrase really illuminated his style for me.
As an English major I was fascinated by the idea of reader response and perception, so discussing this cousin subject is pure fun for me. John, thanks for the space you’ve provided and your kind words, even though all I know of dancing I’ve learned from Dancing with the Stars season 1 and SYTYCD, no joke.
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Burbly… nailed it re: competition vs dance camp. I’ve never put it in those terms but it’s exactly why I love the show. It satisfies my nostalgia for arts school. Totally with you on Cate. She is a gift, is she not? For sure check out “Elusive Muse,” you’re in for a real treat. Ballet is really tough. Much like Jazz (music not dance), it’s inaccessible if it’s not already a part of your culture. It takes that one performer to transcend the genre and move the culture at large. A Farrell or a Coltrane.
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