One thing I look forward to every summer is a new season of So You Think You Can Dance. It’s been TV crack for me ever since I happened to catch an episode in its second season, and I was happy to see that they started making a Canadian version last year. I think what makes the show great is that the dance numbers are only a few minutes long each, meaning that with my ADHD I can actually pay attention the whole time (and with Tivo I can fast-forward through the annoying screams of the judge Mary Murphy).
It seems my favourite genre is contemporary, which is interesting as I didn’t really know it existed until I saw SYTYCD. Mom used to take me to ballets all the time back when I was a kid and she still liked me, but that was all I ever really knew about dance beyond movies like Strictly Ballroom and Dirty Dancing. Neither of which made me want to take up the art more than I wanted a hot boyfriend who was strong enough to lift me. Contemporary dance, however, makes me wish that Mom had put me in dance classes back when I watched ballet and said I wanted to do that; alas!
I was reminded of how much I liked that style last week when I saw this piece choreographed by the Canadian Stacey Tookey, to The Frame’s Falling Slowly.
Here’s the original dance that got me really interested in the show in 2006 (which I blogged about at the time, too):
I think what grabs me about contemporary is how organic and emotive it is; it talks to my mushy inner core. It also talks to my flabby outer core, saying that I really need to hit the gym.