- Nigel and team producers of SYTYCD
If you are a SYTYCD viewer, you’ve probably felt manipulated by the show’s producers in more than one occasion. And the problem is not that the producers make their own decisions on what they think best serves the entertainment value of the show. No, I have no problem with that. The problem is that they do it, and at the same time they try to hide it and insist on pretending that the show is all clean and fair and only based on the audience decisions… oh, and random luck. Say, for example, the couples’ pairings and dance style choices. Do you really think they could be just random? Who else but Will and Katee could have danced Desmond Richardson’s “Pas de Deux”? So, why insist in making us believe that Will and Katee just picked that one out of the common hat?
The same goes for who’s who and who knows whom. A big deal was made of Debbie Allen’s stepping down from the judges table when Will Wingfield, her “protégé,” made it into the top ten. At the same time, the show has made an effort at hiding the fact that Twitch was a dancer in the movie Hairspray, as well as one of the finalists in Wade Robson’s MTV dance show (The Wade Robson’s Project); that Katee Shean trained with Mandy Moore and Mia Michaels, and that Joshua Allen did many summer intensives at the Debbie Allen Institute. I understand, the dance universe is a very small one and many people go to workshops and master classes with famous instructors such as Debbie Allen, Mia and Mandy Moore. I am not saying that they should be disqualified, or that Mia, Mandy or anybody else should not be able to judge. You would have to disqualify almost every potential contestant if you apply such strict standards. I see that point and agree with it.
The problem I have with the whole thing is the show’s efforts at hiding these facts and erasing them out of the contestants’ “official” bios. And I have a problem with Nigel’s fake insistence on presenting Twitch and Josh as untrained street dancers, as well as his efforts at creating a fake illusion of total fairness. That’s my problem with the whole thing!
Let’s see what SYTYCD didn’t want you to know about the finalists:
Stephen “Twitch” Boss (25). His official SYTYCD’s bio just presented him as a Freestyle dancer from Montgomery, AL. It did mention as a career highlight that he performed “Thriller” with Wade Robson on “The Wade Robson Project” in 2003, but it forgot to mention many “small” details such as:
- Twitch was one of the dancers in the movie Hairspray (2007), directed by Adam Shankman. So, he has had Broadway experience already since he was hired as one of the dancers for that movie (and he must know Shankman). Here is a clip for you. Forward to minute 8 and you’ll see him on the left corner, just behind Queen Latifah) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo6kjkVD-Ew&feature=related
- Twitch not just “performed” with Wade Robson, but he was a finalist in MTV’s dance competition show “The Wade Robson Project.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_2bcu8t6bwwatch?v=2_2bcu8t6bwwatch?v=2_2bcu8t6bw.
Here's Stephen (Twitch) Boss as he looked for The Wade Robson Project
- Twitch was also credited as the main character (dancer) in a short movie who won a student Emmy in 2005. A tango movie called Mora, by the Gotan project (a group of amazing tango professionals).
- Twitch has stated in interviews that he has had formal dance training. His bio for The Wade Robson Project stated that he started his dance training at 16, continuing after high school at Chapman University’s dance department. Twitch is listed as current faculty at South County Dance studio in Orange County (formerly South County Classical Ballet School www.southcountyclassicalballet.com), where Katee also teaches. Yes, Katee and Twitch knew each other and worked together before the show.
Katee Shean (20). Fox’s official bio for Katee labels her as a contemporary dancer from San Jose, CA. It states that Katee graduated from Pioneer High School and is currently attending Chapman University, majoring in dance and leadership. It also mentions that she trained at the Teen (Team) Dance Company and Atlas School of Dance. But Katee isn’t just a college student majoring in dance. - She has been pursuing a professional career in modeling, acting and dancing in LA. She has been featured many times as a dancer in the hit LA show “Paris by Night.” She is with DDO Artists/Liquid Talent, a major Los Angeles talent agency.
- You can see Katee performing on Paris by Night at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSDJd78oBZ0&feature=related. In that show, by the way, they do a lot of disco
and ethnic dances
. See better pictures at: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a58/soldier_on/PBN90/DVDVolume-324.jpg and more from where that one came from: http://forums.thuyngaonline.com/tm.aspx?m=727883 - Katee is listed as current faculty at South County Dance in Orange County, CA. Her faculty bio states that she “received much of her training from Mark Foehringer, Mia Michaels and Mandy Moore.” But we never heard about that through SYTYCD, did we? Well, Mandy Moore is listed as one of the main Faculty members at the Teen Dance Company of the Bay area (http://www.teendancecompany.org/faculty.html), where Katee trained. Mia Michaels and Napoleon and Tabitha are listed as guest choreographers (http://www.teendancecompany.org/faculty_guest.html). Katee’s bio in the SYTYCD official page had a typo, by the way, and said TEAM instead of TEEN Dance Company (hmmm, conspiracy????)…
- Anyhow, here is a very cute video from Los Angeles’s Fox News channel about the kids of South County Dance cheering for their instructors, Katee and Twitch. http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6852049&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1
Joshua Allen (19) is described on SYTYCD as a Hip Hop/Popping dancer from Fort Worth, TX. A lot has been made through the competition about his lack of training and how amazing it is that he can perform so well all other kinds of dance styles far from his specialty: hip/hop. However, in a couple of interviews, he has said that he started taking dance lessons in third grade and that he continued dancing all through high school. He did many summer intensives at the Debbie Allen Institute in Texas. No wonder he can jump like that!
Here is an excerpt from Star Telegram, June 10 2008 interview:
How did you get started with dance? I would always dance, since I've been little. I would go to school and dance and get in trouble and get sent to the Principal's office. Then I'd dance in there. They didn't mind my dancing but they were trying to say, "Can you tone it down a little?"
That's pretty hilarious. How'd you move from the Principal's office to more structured dancing? My teacher, it was in the third grade, she took me to the Debbie Allen Institute workshop. She gave me a piece of paper and said, "If you take this home to your mom and get it signed and bring it back, I'll give you a piece of candy." I didn't know what it was, but I really wanted a piece of candy, so I made my mom sign it.
What was that workshop like? It attracts serious dancers. The first day, it was an audition. I'd never had dance training, and most of the kids had had dance training. I made it. My first time being on stage was amazing. When I heard everyone screaming for me, I thought, "This is it. I could live on stage." From then, every year she (Debbie Allen) did a Texas intensive, I would go. I always got a month scholarship. I'd train like that. We didn't have a lot of money for classes, so everywhere I could get a scholarship for, that's what I would do. Just try and learn everything and be a sponge.
The judges seem to have attitude about hip-hop dancers, like they're shocked if those dancers are able to keep up with the choreography. Did you experience that? Yeah. When we come into the competition, they don't say, "What all can you do?" They say, "What is your niche, what do you do best?" So I'm going to put "hip-hop/popper." I'm not going to put lyrical, jazz because that's not my forte. It was cool, though, to be able to show that I could do other things. I like challenges, too.
You got sick elevation on that jump you did during the audition rounds, and you look like a football player. Do you play other sports? Yeah, I do. I was a running back, and I was starting on varsity. I ran track, and I broke the record as a freshman in high school. I was really into sports. My coaches would pull me in one direction and my teachers would pull me in another direction. But even when I was running track, I would always love to sing and dance, and then would I would play football, I would catch myself singing and dancing
Source: http://startelegram.typepad.com/pop_cultural_district/2008/06/fort-worth-nati.html
Courtney Galiano (19) seems to be pretty authentic! As stated in her SYTYCD’s bio, she is a Contemporary dancer from Commack, NY. Though she specializes in Contemporary, Galiano also loves to dance Hip-Hop. Well, actually, in her NY Knicks’ cheerleader bio blurb when asked if she has had any formal dance training she says that she has taken training in the styles of lyrical, tap, jazz, ballet and hip hop. But I don’t blame her for wanting to lower down expectations and just stating contemporary as her niche. Her bio also stated that she appeared in the music video for Kat De Luna’s “Whine Up” and that seems to be her only professional credit so far, as well as being a dancer for the New York Knicks (http://kcd.nyknicks.com/ ). She has been an instructor at Northeast Dance Academy in Commack (http://nedanceacademt.com/document/64076) and was scheduled to teach at Broadway Dance Center this Fall (those plans have probably changed now, with the Tour and all).
Ok. They are accomplished and that’s great. Good for them! Now, why hide it?
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