Happy Dance Friday #98 - Strictly Come Dancing

Picture is unrelated to dance, but is part of my "save bad photos" project. Trust me, you don't want to see the original, but with a lot of work, I think there may be something there. Which ties in rather nicely with the fact that we are one week away from the SYTYCD season premiere. You know what that means. Auditions, the good, the bad and the ugly. Add on to that, those that defy description, in all of the above categories. Expect highlights as soon as they are available, but in the meantime....

Last week, I found out that one of my favorite STYTCD alums, Pasha Kovalev, is now one of the pros on the UK Strictly Come Dancing, which one could consider the parent (or sister?) show to Dancing With the Stars. So of course I had to investigate,

Let's give the man a warm welcome to his new job, shall we?


How great is it to see the rehearsal and performance footage spliced together like this?



I am starting to suspect hunting down Strictly Come Dancing online is going to be a neccessity, as they also have another SYTYCD alum in their midst, Artem Chigvintsev.


Well, that does it; I'm sold. SCD fans, what are your favorite pros and routines? What other international dance shows are worth a look?

Happy Dance Friday #97 - The Game's Afoot

I wasn't sure what I was going to blog about this week, but life does throw us surprises. Consider two friends who surprised me with a very useful item as a gift (but more on that later) and an intriguing item that showed up in my Facebook sidebar.

I would never have guessed that there's a Dancing With the Stars online game, but there is, and it's here. Or:

http://www.dwtskeepdancing.com/game
if that link doesn't work.

It may take a while to load, but the music is good. Players get to design an avatar of either gender, and choose a professional partner. I generally make my avatars redheads but that option wasn't available, at least at this level, for free, so I ended up with a blonde avatar who reminds me of my time traveling heroine, Summer. Nothing I'd intended, but eh, it happens, and I have her book on the brain, so I will deal.

Since it wouldn't be much of a ballroom game without a partner, that was the next step. Though Derek Hough was one of the options, I didn't pick him because he's Gerri's guy. Instead, I scrolled through other choices, worthy gentlemen all. Was leaning toward Maks because, well, Maks, but hold on a minute. They have Pasha? As in Pasha Kovalev? As in my secret dance crush? As in the new pro on Strictly Come Dancing? As in this guy:



Since Pasha may have had something to do with inspiring one of the characters in one particular story, playing this game will remind me to keep writing. I will admit that I got stuck in one phase of the game setup and couldn't seem to get Pasha dressed, but as a friend told me, that isn't a problem many women would complain about. I got over it, and though I'm still learning, I've mastered bronze level on the first skill and am looking forward to more. I don't know yet if one can have "friends" on this game, but if so, I'm Unzadi over there, and friendly competition is always welcome.

What about you, faithful readers and fellow dance fans? Will you be playing?

Happy Dance Friday #82 - Happy Dance Smorgasboard

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Okay, this is way too cool not to mention first, and it's for a good cause, so I had to pass this along. Tony Dovolani, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Val Chmerkovskiy are auctioning themselves off for a private dance lesson (only one of the guys, depending on who's available at the time) at one of their studios in NY or NJ. Details here. Minimum bid is already out of my price range, but what a neat experience for whoever does win, and proceeds go to the Viennese Opera Ball for the Feed Foundation.

Preston Leatherman takes to the mall once more for a Valentine's edition of his Dancing With an iPod in Public videos:

Not technically dancing, but here's the iconic "Circle of Life" done with dogs and cats. Is it only me, or do the cats look like they're plotting revenge?


Those of us who are historically inclined should appreciate some traditional Morris dancing:


While Snoopy and friends are always in season:


And for a grand finale, we have Muppets on DWTS:


Happy Friday!

Happy Dance Friday #78 - Back in the saddle, with Quickstep

January sixth means the holiday season is down for a long winter's nap, the new year is underway, and I know I could use a good dose of energy this morning, so we're going with the quickstep. This dance has been likened to a duck - smooth as glass on the top, paddling like mad underneath. I know that as a writer, I can relate to that. Hence writing quote in today's art piece.

First, straight out of Blackpool (2010 championships, to be exact) let's take a look at how it's done in competitive circles:

I think of that as the guidelines for one's genre. I'll use romance, since that's what I write. From RWA.org, the official definition is as follows:
A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.
An Emotionally-Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.

As long as those two requirements are met, the writer has a lot of room in which to move. In dance, there's competitive dance and show dance (please correct me on my terms, dance fans; I'm only working on one cup of tea here) and what entertains on TV won't always please the judges in Blackpool, but if entertaining is the whole point, I think the clips below do an admirable job. As long as the requirements of the dance are there, it's fun to see what the individual dancers and choreographers do with the same essentials.







Though I haven't seen a quickstep performed to Matchbox Twenty's "I'll Believe You When," I think it's a natural.



Why, yes, I do sometimes choreograph dance numbers in my head, usually for fictional characters...doesn't everyone? Eh, we writers are odd ducks; it's in the job description.

Happy Dance Friday #73 - All in The Family

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Here in the USA, we're only days away from Thanksgiving, when families gather from far and wide to partake of culinary bounty and spend time in (or avoiding) each other's company. When I was growing up, such gatherings with more than one person under the age of twelve invoked the time honored tradition of putting on a show for the grownups. In some cases, to the extent of certain adults informing certain combinations of children that there will be no shows this time. Harumph. No, I am not over that, thank you for asking. Perhaps with the proper encouragement, my cousins and I could have followed in the footsteps of some of these famous families.

There's the brother/sister act of Derek and Julianne Hough:

More sibling action with Benji and Lacey Schwimmer:

Or Benji with cousin Heidi Groskreutz:

Who's their daddy? (or uncle?) This guy:

It's like father, like son when it comes to talent in the Ballas family with Corky and Mark:

Since I can name family members of mine who would do me bodily harm if I left out the Chmerkovskiy brothers, here they are:

I know I'm thankful for all of the families above. How about you?

Happy Dance Friday #70 - Derek Hough and Stuff

This one's for Gerri. Derek! Julianne! What are you doing down there in the basement? Knock it off. You're never going to get anywhere in life carrying on like that!

Okay, that phrase was probably not uttered in the Hough household, as both parents and all four grandparents were dancers, but I'm still going to imagine it that way. Whichever hypothetical parent yelled that down the stairs was, I am happy to say, dead wrong. Last week, we saw what Julianne's been up to, so this week it's her brother's turn.

Besides being a three time Dancing With the Stars champion,

Derek is an Emmy-nominated choreographer:

as well as an actor and musician:



Performers who are gracious and appreciative of their fans are always worth a happy dance. Manners count, people. Which is a lesson that would have been right at home on Full House - give this acapella version of the theme song a listen and try to resist the bouncy mood. Can't? Nope, me neither. Happy Friday.

Happy Dance Friday #69 - Julianne Hough and Stuff

First, a confession: A) I did not see the original Footloose movie. B) I would gladly pay good money to watch Julianne Hough do the hokey-pokey because she is my favorite female DWTS pro, which leads to C) I am definitely planning on catching the new version of Footloose, which releases today. So likely a Saturday at the Movies post on that after I view, though not sure when that will be.

It's Friday, though, not Saturday, so this isn't about the movie, this is about the dancer, and the inherent happy dancing when multiple things I love collide in a big mess of awesome. Still not able to work out how to fit DWTS into the regular viewing schedule, so I'm catching as catch can on that one, but with Julianne making a return to the show as a guest performer, I had to hie myself over to YouTube right quick. Julianne on her own is enough (yes, a girl dance crush, what of it?) but then make the song a new arrangement of "Holding Out For A Hero" (originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler, written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford, and I have a huge, huge music crush on Jim Steinman, aka the guy who writes Meat Loaf's songs) - that makes it positively covered in Anna-bait, and perfect romance writer inspiration:

One of the reasons I like ballroom dance as much as I do is the challenge for the dancer, much like the challenge for a writer who writes within a genre, is to exercise their creativity within the requirements of the particular dance.:

Then there's the art of dance in the movies, where the movements are choreographed to develop character and/or story:

Anybody who can pull off both, and do it that well, has my immediate respect. If that's not enough, the gal can sing, and she's making waves in style circles.

While I have absolutely no idea if the Brothers Fairbrass are even aware Ms. Hough exists, the bouncy optimism of the Right Said Fred song, "Julianne" certainly fits. Okay, and watching the audience is fun, too.

Speaking of RSF, their official YouTube channel now includes footage from their live acoustic Night of the Living Fred shows. I would be willing to write the script myself if ""Stop The World" could be played over the opening sequence of a Richard Curtis-directed film about eccentric British people with relationship problems. Is Hugh Grant busy? For the record, I would be fine with collaborating with Nick Hornby. (Yes, I do often come up with hypothetical collaborations like that. Doesn't everybody?)

Happy Dance Friday #68 -DWTS pros

Some things don't go exactly according to plan, hence the time delay and apology dance. Friday asploded into a twirly errandpalooza, but the beat goes on.
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Dancing With the Stars viewing in our house involves a complex interrelation of numbers of televisions in the famiily, the load of shows the DVR is able to handle without going kablooey and my DH's deep and abiding love of the Food Network. Still, there is You Tube, so I"ll be checking out the pros. For now, a quick look at a few pros worth watching:

Blonde Lacey Schwimmer is going to take some getting used to, but she caught my attention when she was on SYTYCD, and I've had the chance to see her live, so I'm definitely going to keep an eye on her.

The Brothers Chmerkovskiy: In case Maks wasn't enough, he has brought in reinforcement with brother Val. Kinda bold starting out in the bed, there, Val, and does the letterman jacket imply that the male in this dance story is a high school athelete? Where did he get his, um, companion, in that case?

Long clip for Maks' entry, because A) Viennese Waltz and B).well, Maks

Fun fact - Tony Dovolani and I actually have something in common; we have both lived in Bedford, NY. Not at the same time, but I'm going to call him my possible once upon a time neighbor anyway.

Out the door once more, but I plan on getting current and having a chance to see how the new kids on the DWTS pro block do. Should be fun.