Nine couples took to the stage of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) on Saturday at the Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg. One couple will be booted out on the Tuesday’s show thought - that’s why you have to stay tuned to find out who leaves SYTYCD. (Even though I already know who will supposedly leave, my lips are sealed. Let’s meet on Tuesday.)
Couple 1: did the Pantsula routine. I was impressed to see that Kim eased into the style of dance (seeing that she is a white lady and all). Even David, the judge, had the same sentiments and he said they did a great job.
cheza ma pantsula
Couple 2: did the Argentanian Tango, choreographed by Tebogo Kgobokwe. Ballroom or latin always look funny when the girl is tall, and that was the case with this couple. In Ballroom you have to slightly bend your knees and this couple didn’t really look good together because of the height issue.
The lady was quite strong in her moves but it didn’t look good to the eye. I was even reminded of the cartoon: (short) Popeye and (tall and slender) Olive. I only loved the pose at the end. But then again, they were saved by the good choreography.
Tanya and Alistor
Couple 3: Taekwondo and Lee did hip-hop (fast). He was a bit late with his moves at the beginning but as the routine went on he caught up. I’m not surprised if you didn’t realise it – the guy delivers well.
Taekwondo and Lee
Couple 4: the Pasodoble. Great. Elegance. Style. Passion, Energy - they oozed it all. Darren and Megan were unexplainable.
The Paso-passiono
Couple 5: Tania and Nxaba did contemporary (fast). Tania amazed the judges with the way she had stepped so much out of her comfort zone. I know how technical and “physically taxing” contemporary is, and, if I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s a lie when they say Tania is being introduced to contemporary only now.
Contemporary (fast)
Couple 6: Afro Fusion (fast). A very beautiful piece, it’s only a pity that the majority of the South African community, the Mazansi fo sho fans, at this point, don’t really know what Afro Fusion is. I guess this is why Blaze and Marize have to dance for their lives in the Tuesday Episode because of the less votes they received. Ok, I’ll stop here. Watch and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Afro-fusion (fast)
Couple 7: Salsa, salsa salsa. My dear Salsa is all about swinging the hips? Is it that you don’t know this or your hips are just so stiff, period? I’m a huge latin fan, I love salsa, I was disappointed. I was glad to hear David mention it – he even stood up and demonstrated.
The salsa that should have been
Couple 8: Katlego and Elizma did the Foxtrot. Knowing Katlego personally as a fellow dancer and as a friend, I am so proud of him. Katlego oozes confidence and he’s such a gentleman too - you see great chemistry with his partner when they dance.
My take is you cannot really express much with ballroom, it’s too “royal” …I can’t really explain it. You have to keep this certain “posture” all throughout and you can’t really “express” much. You can’t even “freestyle” or “improvise”, that’s how hectic ballroom is. And I was scared for them when I realised that they would do the Foxtrot.
Was I proved wrong, or was I proved wrong? This couple did more than what you can expect from Foxtrot. Once again, Tebogo did a great job.
This couple did more than what you can expect from the Foxtrot.
Couple 9: Bathembu and Tamara did the Crumping and they did it with great passion. You could see that Tamara was in her “territory”. Usually basimane ba contemporary or ballet ba stiff in other styles of dance, but Bathembu…Bathembu is an exception.
They were holding on to what looked like golden dustbin lids supposed to serve as shields (I guess). Great concept but they held onto them for a bit too long and moves tend to come out as a bit restricted.
The Crumpers
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