Commentary by
Phillip Stephens
Good Day
to All:
With the program falling
on Halloween Night, it
would have been odd for
them to NOT use the
holiday as the
overriding theme for the
evening. On the other
hand, I'm not sure the
music chosen - or some
of the costumes -
added anything
substantial to the
dancers and their
dancing. In the
"sensibility"
department, I'd give
thumbs up to Mario and
Emmett. Joey's Dracula
outfit wasn't all that
bad although the Tango
... OK, more on that in
a bit.
Both of Monique's
costumes were ... well,
neither was all that
great and those short
green pants just went
with nothing about that
Cha cha routine.
Personally, I rather
liked that they spent
some time showing what
each of the celebs and
their respective
partners do other than
learning a new routine
and practice on their
dancing. It was tough
enough when they just
had one dance to learn
each week. With two,
well, I don't think the
judges give them enough
credit for what they
accomplish.
I can hear you all
muttering about my
continual digressions
and just wishing I'd get
to the point, so, in
order of appearance, but
keeping Ballroom and
Latin separate this
week, here are my views
on the Halloween Night
performances:
Ballroom
Joey
Lawrence
got marks a few points
above what was deserved
for that Tango. They
borrowed heavily on the
slapstick comedy
injected into the show
by Jerry Springer that
was so poorly rewarded.
Their performance was
interesting, and was
well-choreographed to
that particular music,
but I don't think the
dancing was all that
great. Joey still
had poor posture in
places, stiff legs and
unfinished arm lines.
The "spastic" aspect of
the choreography was
more in keeping with
Joey's natural ability,
but it was sad to see
Edyta's dancing brought
down to that level. Joey
did appear to have fun
with this routine
instead of looking
strained as usual, but I
don't think this
Tango was "fantastic"
(Len), or the "Best he's
performed" (Kari Ann).
After 3 months of
intensive dance
training, he should be
doing far better than
what I saw last night.
Mario Lopez
performed a beautiful
and serious Waltz that
surprised me with how
much control he
displayed. As a
normally energetic
person who looks like
he's almost had too much
sugar just before the
performance, I was very
impressed with the
slowness and precision
of his moves. His legs
were a bit untidy at
times, but his footwork
was 90% correct, he
displayed quite a bit of
rise and fall, and he
looked in control of the
material, which
contained some rather
challenging moves. He
deserved more than the
28 points received. I
feel his performance was
far superior to
Joey's and their
receiving the same
score was a bit of an
insult to Mario and
Karina.
Monique
Coleman
and that "disco" tango
were a big
disappointment to me.
The dress was lousy for
that routine as it
showed every bad leg
line and highlighted her
weak points. [Just a
note here: It takes
years to develop good
leg lines and use of the
feet in dance. Choosing
a costume
that displays lack of
those qualities
is irresponsible. If it
was Monique, Louis
should have said no; if
it was the costumers,
Louis should have said
no. If it was Louis
... ] The long floppy
hair added nothing to
the dancing, either, and
I couldn't help but
notice that, while
keeping with the
Halloween spirit, the
other ladies used far
better taste in their
wardrobe than did
Monique. Another
challenge that Monique
faces is Louis, who
keeps giving her
material that is too
difficult. He did not
do this with Lisa Rena
last season, so I can
only conclude that,
since Monique is younger
and quite talented, he
feels he must do this to
"show what she can do".
Even if it means that
she performs more poorly
as a result. Her scores
were appropriate for the
way she danced, but
would have been higher
if the material had been
at a more sensible
challenge level.
Emmett Smith
deserved higher scores
for that fabulous
Foxtrot. I was
disappointed that the
judges gave such low
marks for this dance
when they were so overly
kind with last week's
Mambo and Waltz marks.
In Len's case, I think
it is a problem with
style; he is more
familiar with the
no-separation-always-in-close-hold
International Standard
Foxtrot than with the
free flowing "Fred and
Ginger" style of its
American counterpart.
[Michael quite rightly
observed that this was
Emmett's best dance
yet] Personally, I
think Emmett did a
terrific job of
performing a very
contemporary American
Foxtrot, and that Len
was off the mark
totally. Remember Jerry
Rice's Foxtrot last
season???? No
comparison!
Latin
Joey
Lawrence
got the 26-point score I
placed in the margin of
my notes for this "less
than splendid" Paso
Doble. This was good
choreography to bad
music, and I do feel
there were some nice -
and well-performed -
moves in there. Joey's
arm lines were generally
good, too, but his leg
lines were often sloppy
looking. After 3 months
of training, his posture
in close hold is
still dreadful,
especially in pivots
(and I wonder why she
keeps putting pivots in
when he does them so
badly?). I certainly
was worried about their
ending and, like Kari
Ann, thought they'd gone
wrong. In fact, I
thought he had dropped
her a bit fast and that
she hit the floor a bit
hard.
Mario Lopez
danced a very "in sync"
Samba that should have
received a perfect score
of 30, in my opinion!
His footwork was quite
sound, his leg actions
were very nicely done,
he had excellent body
rhythm, good timing,
matching arm lines and,
overall, I felt he
looked confident and had
wonderful control of his
movements. Len must
have had a touch of gas
- or something! - to
cause him to say the
routine lacked
spontaneity. For having
learned this as the 2nd
of 2 dances in 1 week,
crowded in amongst all
his other
responsibilities, I
think Mario danced quite
well and he has the
right to be somewhat
less than spontaneous
under these
circumstances.
Monique
Coleman in
no way deserved the 29
points given her Cha
Cha. Unless, that is,
they felt sorry for her
having to contend with
Louis' over-extending
choreography? And those
pants! Who on earth
would want to parade
around in front of
millions of people with
neon-green pants that
cause their "cheeks" to
look like highly
polished apples??? The
outfit had nothing in
common with the
Halloween theme, did not
match Louis' outfit in
any way, and did not
make me think: "What a
cute Latin outfit, I
wonder if they will do
Cha-cha?" Monique did a
good job with
challenging
choreography, but Louis
"showed off" too much,
out dancing her in
several places. She
nearly brought them down
in the one flashy half
drop line, and I truly
thought he was going to
smash right down on top
of her at the end.
Since I had recorded the
show, I backed it up and
watched this performance
again to see if I could
spot what the judges
rewarded so handsomely.
I never could spot it,
though I did notice that
some areas of the
routine where quite nice
while most of it looked
too difficult and
Monique looked a bit
nervous.
Emmett Smith
did a beautiful Rumba!
He displayed nice basic
patterns and good basic
movement. His footwork
was stronger here than
in Mambo, as was his
timing - although there
were one or two bobbles
in that area - and his
movements were very
rhythmic and
controlled. He and
Cheryl appeared to be
more "in sync" in this
routine than in any
they've done to date.
I'd have given this a
30.
Tonight, I will be
surprised if Monique
isn't bumped from the
show. She has done a
very good job, but, with
Louis trying so hard to
show off her talent,
she's fighting an uphill
battle that I feel she
can't win. Of course,
I've been wrong before,
so I wouldn't bet money
on my prediction! Who
knows? People might
forget what a rub-able
bald head Joey has and
get rid of him!
I know I'm being more
critical about the
dancers, but, hey!,
they've had 12+ weeks of
intensive training at
this point. They should
be making big
improvements every
week. If they don't,
well, I get to sit in my
armchair and sound off
about their lack of
finesse. Think about
how much you could learn
and accomplish if you
were able to get 4 to 6
hours of training 5 or 6
days per week for that
same time period. Even
at an average of 5 hours
per day for 5 days per
week, that's 25 hours
per week. In 12 weeks'
time, that amounts to
300 hours of practice.
In the olden days, that
was enough to finish a
Bronze program
consisting of 10 steps
in 6 dances. So I'm not
expecting any more from
these celebs than they
should be producing.
Happy
Dancing
and remember
