By Ashley Thompson

 

A Sonya Tayeh opening number opens the show for the first of this seasons live performances and SYTYCD's 200th show. Tonight everyone is dancing in their own style (no pressure) and all voting is online or on the Fox Now app. That means no more texting in your votes! Votes are limited to 20 votes combined... so you can use 10 votes for one person and 10 for another or use all 20 for your favorite, however you decide. Also, Jason Derulo sits alongside Nigel and Mary at the judges table and gives a performance of his new song along with Snoop Dogg (Lion?)... (have you ever seen a girl twerk from a high bar? You should've recorded the show.)

 

Cat also tells us about National Dance Day this July 26th with choreographed routines for the established dancers by hip hop choreographer Chris Scott hip hop and a beginner routine from Adam Shankman and Nigel. Events will be in LA, DC and NYC. There's also a Dizzy Feet Gala on July 19th and tickets are available via the dizzyfeetfoundation.org or musiccenter.org.

 

Serge & Brooklyn: cha cha choreographed by Dmitry to "Hell Yeah". She has an awesome outfit but seems to be trying a hyper sexual ballroom energy. I can assume they are very nervous but their performances looked like a lot of effort.

 

Emily and Casey: contemporary from choreographer Travis Wall to "All Of Me". There were some fantastic moments during the routine but it was lacking any real emotion... a little too dance by numbers. The intro said it was meant to be tumultuous but I would consider it more fluffy. Great technique, though!

 

Valerie and Zack: tap from choreographer Anthony Morigerato to "Sing". Because tapping in unison isn't difficult enough, Anthony had them tapping on stairs. He wanted them to appear like they were floating, but it just looked complicated (and that's a compliment because they worked those stairs well). Unfortunately I couldn't get past Valerie tapping in a dress. Since knees together isn't important to tapping technique, it was awkward watching her tutu like dress flap around. The red shoes were fantastic, though.

 

Bridget and Stanley: contemporary from choreographer Bonnie Story to "Doesn't Mean Goodbye". This was my favorite routine of the night because the pair was perfectly synchronized and the costumes were natural enough to tell the story. Also, I love hearing Nigel speak dance, "... pirouette... ronde de jambe... arabesque...".

 

Jacque and Jourdan: classical ballet (pointe) from choreographer Marat Daukayev to "pas de Deus - Black Swan". This girl on girl routine was fantastic and it's so imperative to the show to display some classic ballet. But I did wonder if the girls felt more like corp ballerinas rather than primas. Whatever they felt they dominated their 15 fouettes like nobody's business. They even showed thanks and gratitude via reverence... true ballerinas.

 

Malene and Marquette: Brazilian samba from choreographer Louis Van Amstel to "Morning Drums". I can understand why Malene was picked for the show but tonight she seems too stiff and had way too many sequins on her costume (not her fault obviously). But Marquette is an obvious crowd pleaser and I'm excited to see what else he brings to the show.

 

Carly and Rudy: contemporary from choreographer Stacey Tookey to "Take It Easy". I didn't feel there was a lot of fluidity and the open/reaching palms were distracting. But as soon as the tempo sped up, so did the dancers, giving a much better performance.

Emilio and Teddy : hip hop from choreographer Christopher Scott to "Nightshift". This boy on boy hip hop routine felt more like a jazz or broadway routine with the mop prop. They were interesting to watch but since hip hop is their specialty I would have liked to see something edgier. Oh, and boys, please don't lip-sync to the music.

 

Jessica and Ricky: contemporary from choreographer Sonya Tayeh to "Vow". The pair were very intertwined with not much dancing at first. But this quickly became a very unique and interesting routine that was emotionally effective. These two are both obviously strong and flexible proving they are exactly where they should be and raising the bar early in the competition.

 

 

Tanisha and Nick: cha cha from choreographer Louis Van Amstel to "I'm A Freak". These two were the most natural ballroom dancers to watch and they had a great connection. I just don't know what else they can offer. It will be interesting to see.

 

Next week we send some people home and each couple is separated and paired with someone new with a new routine and more than likely a new genre.

 

Photo courtesy of FOX