"The gold medal of this clip went to Bill Walton, for being able to say “that Mirrorball trophy is going to take everything” with both a straight face and conviction."
"Highlights from the evening were: Ryan Di Lello and Ellenore Scott, who danced a contemporary jazz piece about fallen angels by the incredibly imaginative Sonya Tayeh. "
We've reached the halfway point in the competition, ballroom fans ... the "double dance extravaganza," in which contestants performed their first group dance of the season (the Hustle!) along with either the Argentine tango or the paso doble.
"The app is a one-stop-shop for fans who can now use their iPhone or iPod touch for deeper access to the hit show, complete with the latest elimination updates, video clips and other fun, interactive features."
"DWTS" is what it is - a dance competition show with very good production values. No change this season in that regard. Therefore, what’s happening is subtle."
"Tom DeLay, who performed his samba with stress fractures, announced that he was withdrawing from the competition on the account of his bum feet. Bummer. "
"On to the show. "America's Best Dance Crew" moved into the final phase of the show's fourth season with five dances that should lead to one winner in next week's live finale on Sunday."
"We came here to dance and enjoy ourselves, without thinking we would win or achieve anything big," said Hiroshi Yamao, 36, after Saturday night's final"
"We wanted someone sort of iconic and who the audience would have strong feelings about."
That would appear not to be a problem, given DeLay's outspokenness on abortion, religion and the environment over the years.
"Shows like ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" and Oxygen's "Dance Your Ass Off" are drawing millions of viewers and helping expose audiences to the art of dance."
"My chief objection to these visions of ballroom is not moral. (These people choose to do it.) What makes me wretched is that all these stunts, acrobatics, point-scoring and flashy displays of sexual availability are what matter. Musicality, phrasing, intimacy and actual sensuousness are what don’t."
"Lythgoe said he is excited about the special 100th episode, which, in addition to the best routines from all the previous seasons, will feature a pre-recorded performance by Katie Holmes doing an 'homage to Judy Garland in that iconic outfit from 'Summer Stock' where she did 'Get Happy.'"
"Though the phenomenon feels new, it is of course part of one of the oldest trends in human history. People have been congregating to dance since civilization began. The digital means of dissemination are recent, but the act itself is as ancient as eating and sleeping."
"The summer calendar has been marked for dancing since 1933 when American dance pioneer Ted Shawn and his company of Men Dancers gave their first performances at Jacob's Pillow, his 163-acre farm in Becket, Mass."
"There's a certain unfettered joy, a cinematic moment when your dancing under the stars at Lincoln Center. The music is often timeless and the groups that attend come from various backgrounds and age groups. Its always a sizable, fervent crowd but never over-crowded."
"The National Endowment for the Arts announced 631 local arts groups have received direct grants totaling $29,775,000 as part of the American Economic Recovery & Reinvestment Act."
"I'm not saying you can't tweet a review. You can, and plenty of people do. I'm saying that tweeting a review in its entirety misses out on one of Twitter's major strengths: turning people on to something cool."
"igel Lythgoe announced today that he is teaming up with director Adam Shankman, 'Dancing with the Stars' judge Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Katie Holmes to launch the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a foundation for the dance community that will provide scholarships and assistance to talented underserved youth."
"Pina Bausch, the German dancer and choreographer who died aged 68 on Tuesday, five days after being diagnosed with cancer, was the most influential figure in European contemporary dance for the past 30 years, creating a much-imitated fusion of radical theatre, surreal art, sexual drama and danced body language, known as Tanztheater."
"You can count on one hand the number of modern-dance-makers who have changed the landscape – and Pina Bausch was one of them. Even though she never created a style that could be taught in the classroom, as Martha Graham or Merce Cunningham did, her influence went far and deep."
"The festival, which will run from Sept. 22 through Oct. 3, will open with a Boston Ballet performance of Nijinsky’s 'Afternoon of a Faun,' originally created for the Ballets Russes at its Paris premiere."
"Last night's episode proved to me that result shows can actually be entertaining, and, in the case of this program, poignant. There is such a thing as good filler, believe it or not."
"Online videos from around the world have begun pouring in showing people singing, dancing, crying, smiling and mourning a man who shared his great talent with the world."
"Creating iMixes is easy and it's a fun way to promote upcoming performances to the huge number of iPhone/iPod owners. In addition, through the widget, you can encourage fans and online supporters to embed the song list on their websites and blogs."
"With the move to the Durham Performing Arts Center, the festival gets a major upgrade, but a budgetary crisis has forced the festival to cut a full week — and a quarter of its marquee mainstage productions — from its calendar."
"Of the two kicked-off dancers, I feel worse for Paris, who you could tell was working hard not to be crushed by Nigel's brutally frank admission that the judges' decision to cut her over Asuka had as much to do with the fact that they had a bajillion contemporary dancers and only two ballroom dancers as it did with Paris' performance itself on the show."
"Unlike Idol, where you can get away with muscling a Country Night Willie Nelson tune to your own preferred style, the dancers need to stretch themselves to fit whatever genre they're thrown."
"Ship passengers will have an opportunity to view the documentary and then the young (and not so young) budding dance stars will be divided into teams. Over the course of their vacation, they will learn choreographed routines with a member of the Royal Caribbean dance team in rehearsals during sea days."
"The arts are where hope lives. And right now, as the very tenets of civil society are being re-written, and as health and human service needs rise, there is legitimate concern about whether the arts will survive, how the arts can thrive."
"Celebrating the 'screendance' genre, the Dance Camera West festival kicks off this weekend with its eighth year of screenings. More than 30 films -- most made independently -- will be screened at half a dozen L.A. venues during the three-week fest."
"'Dancing Across Borders' is an 88-minute love letter to Cambodia, to ballet, and to hard work. Like every good love letter, it conveys the preciousness of the intangible."
"The free series of events -- yes, all programs are free -- runs Aug. 18-22, expanding from three programs to four and promising the biggest names on the festival's line-up so far: New York City Ballet's Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall."
"The awards, given by the Dance Resource Center of Greater Los Angeles, cite excellence in performance, choreography, design, music and other categories for L.A.-area dance presentations."
"Here’s what the youngest 'DWTS' champ had to say about the nail-biting finale, her close bond with partner Mark Ballas and where the shiny Mirrorball trophy will fit next to all of her other hardware."
"The same way folks like George Gershwin and Irving Berlin personified the golden age of popular songwriting in New York, Frankie Manning personified the golden age of swing dance."
"Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, the show's youngest competitor ever at 17, was named the new 'Dancing' champ Tuesday, beating out fellow finalists Gilles Marini and Melissa Rycroft."
"My husband and I believe strongly that art education is essential for building innovative thinkers who will be our nation's leaders of tomorrow," she said."
"'Prepare your audition and be great at what you do and have confidence,' she told the Los Angeles Times. 'They have to bring their personality. Dance is the narrative that runs through the show, but the audience connects with the human element.'"
"Fox has confirmed recent reports that 'So You Think You Can Dance's' sixth season will air in the fall as part of the network's 2009-2010 primetime programming schedule."
"The film was to be presented by two of its most illustrious devotees, director Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese's longtime editor and Powell's widow."
"William & Mary students, faculty and staff have broken the Guinness World Record for the most people doing the Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance simultaneously in one location."
"It was a wild semifinal on 'Dancing with the Stars,' complete with singing judges, teary contestants, sentimental journeys and a reminder that if Gilles Marini can't look good in a sleeveless button-down, nobody can."
"In between practicing two routines with partner Gilles Marini, 'Dancing with the Stars' pro Cheryl Burke celebrated the opening of her third Cheryl Burke Dance studio Friday night."
"The sums at stake are comparatively small, but a contract dispute between a choreographer and the 92nd Street Y has caused a stir in the field — and provided a glimpse into the fraught relationship between struggling dance makers and presenters."
"As the director Mr. Woetzel lands big names — Savion Glover, Edward Villella and his Miami City Ballet, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company — but aims for intimacy, inviting a few artists to talk as much as they perform."
"The lights dimmed and I made my way upstage center and felt my back press against the wall. My leg lifted from the ground, foot flexed, and I walked forward as the first piano chord struck; everything that followed is a complete blur."
"With 'So You Think You Can Dance' slated to return on June 3, the judges are hurrying to pinpoint who's worthy of a spot on the fifth season of the show."
"In commemoration of the group's 50th season, legendary dancer and Alvin Ailey veteran Renee Robinson reflects on the institution's golden anniversary."
"The unlikely story of a coal miner's son from Newcastle who becomes a professional ballet dancer has – perhaps even more surprisingly – become one of Broadway's biggest success stories this season, picking up 15 nods, four more than any other show."
"Logic would dictate that Murray, clearly the weakest dancer remaining, would be voted off tomorrow. Logic, however, has little to do with this show, otherwise Samantha Harris would not have a job and people would occasionally wear sweaters."
"Officials hope to use culture and art to improve America's image by sending the dancers to countries - such as Venezuela, Nigeria and Brazil - where its reputation has suffered in recent years."
"Ninety-one years after her debut at 14 as Florenz Ziegfeld’s youngest dancer in his extravagantly costumed pageants of feminine pulchritude, Ms. Eaton Travis, of West Bloomfield, Mich., was back on 42nd Street this weekend, keeping a hectic pace."
"On this week's 'Dancing with the Stars' results show, viewers were treated to a mini competition of professionals, making it very much like a performance show."
"The festival kicks off this weekend, offering free public events, including classes, rehearsals and performances, celebrating dance of every culture and genre."
"The answer to staying healthy and happy as you age may be as close as the nearest dance floor, according to a chorus of studies. Dancing offers mental, physical, and social benefits, while perhaps reducing the risk of illness and even counteracting the ravages of aging."
"Seattle is the last step in the audition process, which has already been to New York; Miami; Los Angeles; Denver; and Memphis, Tenn. From here, the producers head into callbacks, slated for April in Las Vegas."
