This week on "Dance Your Ass Off," week one's top finisher was eliminated after losing almost no weight and turning in a lackluster performance. One of the judges was spot on in remarking that the contestant clearly didn't think of herself as sexy. This turned out to be a major weakness when performing with a stripper pole.
The contestants mostly had moderate weight-loss numbers again, but the performance level for most was quite a bit higher. Maybe having a prop (and that extra support) helped, or maybe this was a challenge so ridiculous that they had to just go with it.
Now, about that sexiness thing. Some counseling might be called for. The dance format is engineered to compel confronting the physicality of life. It's just impossible to ignore your body's limitations when you are trying to use it to express something. But where most of the contestants seemed to feel liberated by the stripper pole, the eliminated girl clearly felt exposed. Kind of sad.
Meanwhile, over at So You Think You Can Dance, Janette has confirmed herself as my personal favorite. All the contestants danced superbly in the extremely difficult group numbers. Most of the solos were unintelligible; I was most impressed with Jason, Jeanine, the aforementioned Janette, and Brandon, who came out with such ferocity I thought he was Ade for a second.
There are very few routines I haven't liked, over the seasons, but I didn't care for this week's paso doble. The music choice and choreography were not any more demanding than past pasos, but the execution was pretty weak. I agreed with most of the judges' comments for most of the routines and cannot decide who I least want to see perform next week. I do know I want to see Janette. Mas salsa, por favor!
Incidentally, any salsa student out there who has been taught to turn in their toes - please watch Janette's salsa solo about one million times. There is no reason club dancing cannot be technically correct. Her foot and leg action is beautiful and she combined elements of salsa, cha-cha, samba, and even tango. That is a standard of excellence worthy of stage and screen, indeed.
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