Tonya Plank's Blog, page 28

Black Swan-Inspired Fashion

I was flipping through Marie Claire and saw this spread on current fashions inspired by the Black Swan movie:

They also had a spread on fashions inspired by Burlesque, the new film starring Cher and Christina Aguilera:

And then as I kept flipping through the magazine, it seemed I kept spotting more and more Swan-looking garb:

Big Holiday Book Giveaway!

Hey everyone, I'm participating in a big holiday book giveaway on the Quiet Fury Books blog. There are many authors participating and many books being given away, so if you're a book lover, do check it out. Also, the giveaway is international, so you don't need to have a U.S. address to enter.

So You Think You Can Dance Auditions, New York

Earlier this week, thanks to my friend, Taylor Gordon, I was able to sit in on some of the New York City So You Think You Can Dance auditions. They were held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in the opera house. This was my first time watching, so it was really enlightening.

First, it wasn't at all as formal as I was expecting. I got there an hour early, fearing there'd be a huge line, and there really wasn't. I don't know how many people really knew about them; if it wasn't for Taylor, I wouldn't have known. So I got there early for nothing! But while I was waiting in the outside line, I spotted Alex Wong running down the street across from the opera house. Actually someone else spotted him and then everyone looked over and started waving wildly. He smiled and waved back. I didn't see much of him but it looked like he still had a very slight limp. Later, former contestants Katee and Will were inside. They didn't do anything onstage though; were just watching.

Anyway, when we got into the auditorium, we were confined basically to the far right-hand side of the orchestra. The middle of the orchestra was taken up with all the audio and camera people, and of course the judges. And the left-hand side was where the contestants and their families sat. A camera man was standing all the way to the left-side of the auditorium, right in front of the path the contestants took up to the stage. As their number approached, a contestant would walk up to the camera man, and stretch and pose in front of him while he shot them close up. As a contestant would leave the stage after auditioning, another camera man would follow him or her down the aisle. Funny, but I always thought, when I watched on TV, that of all that was happening in separate rooms, but it all happened right there in the same room.

Also, when the judges first came out, they had makeup and hair people kind of touching them up right there, before they sat down. Tuesday's judges were: Mary Murphy, Jason Gilkison, and of course Nigel Lythgoe.

I'd thought they were going to make us check in our cell phones, etc., and that there would be all these production assistants roaming the aisles shushing everyone. But no. We could totally talk and laugh and make whatever noise we wanted; none of it would be heard on the tape without a microphone being nearby anyway. That was actually kind of annoying to me because of course everyone around me was taking on the role of critic him/herself, saying what they thought of the dancer to everyone around them. I couldn't always hear what the actual judges were saying. Sometimes people even talked during the performance – talking about the dancer onstage, so they were involved in what was going on – but I just found it really disruptive. I guess I'm just so used to ballet performances, where everyone is silent.

The first contestant came onstage from the left wing, her number pinned to the front of her waist. Nigel told her to approach the microphone directly in front of them and she shyly did so. She was petite and blond, and very nervous. She said she was dancing contemporary. Nigel asked her her age (I think it was 19) and dance training (she'd trained in almost everything). It all seemed sweet and informal; no nastiness from anyone, at least in the beginning. Nigel was really nice and considerate, as were the other two. Then, he told her to proceed to center stage and when she was there, called out, "cue music." She danced very well. Good technique, and nice choreography. You could tell she was very nervous, though, and didn't give it the emotional punch it needed, as the judges said (along with the very vocal people behind me). She was sent through to choreography.

There were over a hundred contestants, and I was only there for the afternoon of the first day. I didn't even stay for them all. I got there at 1:30 and stayed until about 7:30, then hunger got the best of me and I took off to eat. Of all the contestants I saw in that time, except for one who was basically talked in to going up onstage (I'll explain in a minute), the majority were pretty good at their style. Everyone seemed to have training and everyone looked really decent up there, which made me wonder where all the really crap people who just make asses of themselves who you see at the beginning of the show each season come from. In fact, people were so good that almost everyone got sent through to choreography. By the time I left, there were four who'd been sent straight through to Vegas, and a couple who'd been outright eliminated; all the rest went to choreography.

The one guy with no dance background whatsoever was a real sport. When he was called and got up there, the judges seemed to know who he was even though he'd never tried out before. He said his sister was trying out and he was just there and wanted to encourage her and thought he'd be sport and try out too. The judges laughed, but it was more with than at him. His music started and he grooved a bit and jumped around. He was pretty fun, and the judges thanked him for providing comic relief and being such a sport. And they were genuine.

The vast vast VAST majority of the contestants were males dancing hip hop, making me think hip hop is by far the most competitive dance style for this show. In other words, if you're a hip hop dancer and you're thinking of trying out, you'd better be damn good, better than just about every other hip hop dancer out there, considering they can only send so many through in each style. One of the first few guys to get up there did a really fantastic hip hop / popping routine. He really mesmerized everyone and got huge applause and a standing ovation from the audience. The judges were practically on the floor. He was the first to go straight to Vegas and the crowd went wild. But after that, it just seemed like every hip hop dancer paled in comparison, even the ones who were pretty good. Some received a good review from the judges, and audience applause, but I don't remember anyone else in hip hop going straight through to Vegas – no one shined like that first guy; he'd really set the bar quite high.

One of the women who was sent straight through was a contemporary dancer. She reminded me of Camille A. Brown. I could totally see her in Alvin Ailey. She was the best of the day, in my opinion. Nigel told her he thought she was definite top ten material. Her stepfather was there as well, and was very vocal. Funny because she was light-skinned black and from where I was sitting, he looked like a heavily tattooed white guy. He hooted and hollered while she was at the mike, being interviewed by the judges, before dancing.  The camera man approached him, stood in the aisle, and put the camera right in his face. Atop the camera was a huge, rectangular light that shone right in my direction. I had to hold my hand to the side of my face to watch her dance because the light on her stepfather was so bright.

After she danced, when the judges announced she was being sent to Vegas, the stepfather got up and really hooted and hollered. Funny, albeit a bit loud. The camera man followed him as he ran up and hugged her, then practically carried her up the aisle to the exit. When they pushed through the doors into the lobby, they screamed (mostly him), "woooooooo hooooooo, we're going to Vegas baby!" The next contestant came out, and all throughout that contestant's interview with the judges, we just kept hearing the woman who'd made it through and her stepfather outside saying over and over again, "wooooooo hoooooo, we're going to Vegas baby!"I realized the camera man was having them re-shoot their excited exit several times to get the best take. The judges didn't do anything to stop it, though everyone inside could hear. I guess they figured it would be good footage for the show. And they knew it wouldn't be picked up from the mikes inside. Still, must have been disconcerting for that next contestant.

After watching a few more people, I took a break and went to the lobby in search of food. When I got into the lobby, the stepfather and Vegas contestant were now being filmed exploding through the doors leading outside the building, screaming their "wooooo hoooo"s. There was no food inside (the BAM Cafe was closed for the day), so I walked outside and around the block, and when I returned about five to ten minutes later, they were still repeating the exploding from the doors scene! "Wooooo hoooooo," the man yelled for what must have been at least the 20th time! That poor man's voice must have been SO hoarse by the end of it all!

There were about three or four ballroom dancers. Iveta Lukosiute tried out again, with her partner Gherman Mustuc (he wasn't competing). She went straight to Vegas. Before they tried out, Nigel announced to the audience (both us and at-home) that she and Gherman had just won the world ten-dance championship, which I think just happened in England. Beyond just praising them for winning that, Nigel just had to take it a step further and announce (wrongly of course) that not even Dancing With the Stars had ever had a professional ballroom champion on the show; that show only had amateur champs. Why why why why why why why does he say things like this, that show so clearly he has no idea what he's talking about? Mary discreetly corrected him, and he said into the mike, "Oh, okay, Louis van Amstel has been a professional." Yeah, Nigel, and Karina Smirnoff was second in the world in Latin before she stopped competing. And Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Elena Grinenko were Latin semifinalists, and Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko were American champs – all pro, all pro! Plus, the pro Latin and Ballroom championships are so very prestigious. As much as I love Iveta and Gherman, I can't imagine anyone contesting that the comps Karina and Louis have won or nearly won have been much more prestigious. I hate to say that, and I could be wrong – please ballroom peeps, correct me if I am! I'm fairly sure Karina and Maks and Louis and known around the world far more than Iveta and Gherman. Right, ballroomers? I just really wish Nigel would stop making it clear how jealous he is of the popularity of DWTS and would stop saying such foolish things. Anyway, I do hope Iveta makes it into the top 20 this year. It's really hard to be a ballroom champion and also train in ballet and jazz and hip hop enough to be adequate in those styles for this show. Which is, I'm always saying this but I'll say it again, one big problem I have with SYTYCD. You just don't tend to see the best dancers in each style because those dancers are so busy bringing their own style to new heights that they can't take the time out to train in other, totally unrelated styles.

Anyway, as the day wore on, the judges started getting more slap-happy. There were so many contestants who were good technically but just seemed to be lacking something that Nigel's comments soon seemed to turn the show into a who has the biggest  – or most proper – personality competition. Dancers were criticized for smiling too much, not smiling enough, smiling when they shouldn't have been smiling, not being sexy enough, not changing their facial expressions enough, having too many diverse facial expressions, accidentally lip syncing the lyrics and therefore not being into the dancing enough, etc. etc. Soon, I felt like I wasn't hearing much commentary about the actual dancing.

That's when I couldn't take it anymore and had to find a bar. Found a pretty good one inside the newly finished Atlantic Avenue subway station / LIRR train station, which is now connected to a mall. Can't remember the name of the restaurant I ended up at, but it's on the third floor and specializes in wings. Total down home Brooklyn, no pretentiousness in the least, and just what I needed. I finished the day eating jerk chicken and drinking Jack and Cokes while watching basketball on TV and bar-goers playing some kind of Coney Island-esque boxing machine.

Oh, and one other thing – about Mary. So, there was a male Tahitian dancer who tried out. He was really pretty good. I thought so, people around me thought so. He danced with good speed, had pretty good footwork and leg and upper body action. He did the dance well. He was one of the few who didn't go on to choreography. When he was done, Nigel said he seemed to do good Tahitian social dancing, but that wasn't what was required for the show. When they got to Mary, she did that laughing hysterically and unable to stop thing she sometimes does during the audition round. But it seemed so fake here. There was nothing funny about his dancing, and I'm not the only one who seemed confused by her hysterical laughter. Everyone around me frowned, looking very confused, shaking their heads at each other. I guess it was something else they needed for the production: footage of Mary losing it during auditions. Felt sorry for the poor, confused dancer though.

Why I'm Happy With the DWTS Finalist Results

So now everyone knows of tonight's results, and who made it into next week's finals on Dancing With the Stars: Jennifer Grey, Kyle Massey, and Bristol Palin. I really felt sorry for Brandy as she couldn't help but cry at the results. And I thought she was a very good dancer. Actually, I think she's an excellent dancer in general, and a good ballroom dancer.

But it seemed the judges and hosts felt it was Bristol who should have gone home. And last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy asked Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya whether they thought Bristol should still be on the show – meaning did they think it was unfair Kurt was booted when Bristol remained. Both wisely refused to judge Bristol's dancing. Tonight, when Brooke questioned him about the results, Maks Chmerkovskiy said he believed in the American system of freedom to vote for your favorite, meaning he also thought Brandy deserved to be there more than Bristol but that Bristol had won what was simply a popularity contest.

But, to me, this show isn't about who's been the best since day one and remained the best throughout. It's about who works hard and improves the most. Bristol's like a Kelly Osbourne, like a Kelly Monaco all the way back from season one. She's the proverbial underdog – the one with no dance training, no performance background but a modicum of movement ability, enough anyway to work with throughout the rest of the show. And she did work with it. She was just a regular person and now she's an accomplished ballroom dancer.

I like Brandy too, but to me Brandy was another Sabrina Bryan. She can obviously dance hip hop, and many of her ballroom dances looked a bit hip hop-py to me, which is completely normal since that's her dance background. Bristol was more of a blank slate. And I think, at this point in the show, she's more of a natural ballroom dancer than Brandy. And that's what this show is about.

I think voters voted the way they did not because of Sarah Palin's fan base for cry eye – please! – but because many felt the same way I did. A lot of this show's contestants who started out not so hot ended up getting far: besides the aforementioned, Kate Gosselin, Christian de la Fuente (remember what a weightless goof he looked like at the beginning?), and I remember thinking Helio was cute but that he had a long way to go at the beginning of his season, and ditto for Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith. I don't think Bristol's going to win the whole competition – I really think Jennifer's going to win – but I'm not at all surprised she went as far as she did, as far as Kelly Osbourne.

I also like Bristol for the exact reason the judges keep criticizing her. I like that she's natural and she "just" dances and doesn't overact everything. Acting is for the story ballets, not ballroom. Yes, you should show some expression but it shouldn't be about that. But, who knows, maybe I am just burned out from watching So You Think You Can Dance try-outs for five hours today in Brooklyn, where the judges constantly told the contestants, however breathtaking their movement and excellent their technique, that they either smiled too much, didn't smile enough, only smiled once, made weird expressions, mouthed lyrics, looked down and not at the judges, danced too far away from the edge of the stage and hence not "to" the judges, etc. etc. etc. – all comments that had nothing to do with dance, basically.

But more on that soon. Anyway, I am happy with the DWTS final three: the Dirty Dancing star, the underdog who's come from behind, and Mr. Entertainment. So, Bristol's the exact opposite of the other two. I'm really excited now for next week in a way that I wouldn't have been if the three finalists all had the same strengths.

I'm Interviewed at Smashwords Blog, Iranian Publishers, and SYTYCD Auditions

I am way behind on blogging again, you guys, and again I'm sorry. It seems like for the past year book issues always seem to be popping up to keep me from blogging. I'm several dance reviews behind and I will try to catch up this week.

Anyway, today I am interviewed at Neil Crabtree's excellent Smashwords blog! My sales have been so much stronger at Amazon – and I realize that's probably because I've done so much promotion on the Kindle blogs, so I'm really trying to get the word out about my ebook's being available at Smashwords and their distributees – iBookstore, Kobo, Nook, Sony, and Diesel – as well. So thank you, Neil!

Yesterday, I'd planned to blog about the Dance Times Square ballroom showcase and the Guggenheim's preview of Ratmansky's new Nutcracker for ABT, but one such aforementioned "book issue" popped up. I'd exhibited my novel with ForeWord Magazine's small press collective at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. (I was a finalist in ForeWord's Book of the Year Award and they gave me a very good review in their online magazine. Frankfurt is the largest book trade fair in the world, where foreign rights are often negotiated.) Anyway, an Iranian publisher saw my book at Frankfurt, spoke to the ForeWord rep, and gave her his contact info to send along to me and the others whose books he was possibly interested in acquiring foreign rights to. Curious to see what kinds of books his company publishes, I went to look up the publisher on the internet, and couldn't find anything. I called ForeWord and they had no further information but said the rep did meet with him and he expressed interest in several of their titles; he was legit.

I posted a query on a publishing website I belong to just asking if anyone had heard of the company, and no one had, but several people expressed disbelief that I would even consider sending my book to an Iranian publisher. People said: with 9/11 happening in the book, you shouldn't send it to an Iranian publisher; there's an embargo, you could get in serious trouble for entering into a business agreement with an Iranian company; the publisher couldn't possibly be serious about acquiring American books with the censorship committee there; and – my favorite – oh my god, are you trying to get your name on Homeland Security's "people of interest" list sending a package to Iran???

I knew about the embargo but am certainly not anywhere near any stage at which I'd be entering into any business agreement. The publisher just wants to see the book at this point. If I ever was at such a stage, I would definitely have an agent do that. As for the 9/11 stuff, I mean, I don't know. I didn't write about it in a political way at all. You just never know how someone from a completely different culture will view something you write. There are sexual connotations as well in the book – who knows; it's not something I ever thought that much about before. The whole censorship thing made me interested though, and I spent yesterday doing a good deal of internet research on publishing in Iran, and there is supposedly a big backup because of all the books waiting to be inspected by the committee.

It's all very interesting. This whole year has taught me so much about publishing, book-selling, book buying, publicity, marketing, advertising, trade shows, rights, agents, ebooks versus physical books, Amazon versus everyone else, self-publishing versus traditional publishing versus small presses versus foreign presses, bloggers versus professional critics, etc. etc. etc. – it's all so much. But it's really been one of the most educational years of my life I have to say.

Anyway, back to dance: I'm off to see a So You Think You Can Dance audition at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. At least I think I am. After I signed up, I received my verification tickets, which said that it didn't guarantee a seat; it was first come first served. If it's the type of thing where people are lining up for hours beforehand, I'm not getting in. But I figure I'll give it a try since I've never been to an audition. Wish me luck

Benjamin Millepied Interviewed at Black Swan Premiere

This is actually a pretty interesting interview, by Amy Kaufman, of the Los Angeles Times, at the Black Swan premiere in LA. Millepied talks about the differences between working with trained and untrained dancers, and how he trained the untrained specifically for film. When asked whether Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are ready to join a ballet company, he says "oh no"!

Swallow Discounted for the Holidays

Just letting everyone know I was able to reduce the price of the paperback version of Swallow to $9.99 on Amazon. The price of the ebook is still 99 cents; Amazon and Kobo have it discounted to $.89. I intend to raise the ebook price after the beginning of the year though. But I will probably keep the price of the paperback as low as I can for a while. I know not everyone has, or likes to read with, an ereader

Thank you again for all of your tremendous support you guys!

Here is the link to the Kindle edition (above is the paperback version):

Bill T. Jones and Fela! Writer Hit With Lawsuit

According to this UK article, Carlos Moore, the only official biographer of Fela Kuti, is suing Bill T. Jones and Fela! playwright Jim Lewis for $5 million for basing the highly successful Broadway musical (that's set to open on London's West End on November 16th) on his book without properly crediting it, and by buying the rights to the book for only $4,000, which he considers "grossly insufficient." Moore also claims the show was made without his "knowledge, authorisation, or consent."

But if they bought the rights… ? I don't know; will be interesting to see how it plays out in court, though it'll probably settle outside. Will also be interesting to see what the Brits think of the show.

Image taken from here.

Roberto Bolle in Hercules Magazine

Here are a couple of pix of Roberto Bolle with Italian model Mariacarla Boscono in Hercules Magazine. See more from the spread here. Photos by Paola Kudacki.

Dancing With the Stars: Insta Dance (and Classics)

Okay, I don't want any of them to go home right now. I really like everyone who's still on the show at this point and I want to them all to advance to the finals. I know, it's impossible.

So, tonight was divided into two rounds: the classical standard round, then the new "instant dance" round, by which the couples are given their music minutes before they dance. Len explains that this is what an actual ballroom competition is like. Not in any competition I know of. True, they play generic music with the proper beat in the individual dance sections, but in those competitions you're only competing in technique, not so much performance quality. I mean, those dances are not showdance – choreographed, cabaret-style performances set to certain music with certain lyrics – you know? They're dances where you're exhibiting your mastery of technique. So, I don't know exactly what he's talking about.

Anyway, on to the first round:

I thought Kyle and Lacey's Viennese Waltz was really lovely. He is turning into a real ballroom dancer. His technique was excellent, his posture and carriage were elegant, he was graceful, and he really glided around the floor. I agree with Carrie Ann: "It was like a fairy tale come to life."

They draw "Good Golly Miss Molly" for their "instant dance" which is a jive. So, now they have 45 minutes to prepare, and off they go to create their insta showdance.

Jennifer and Derek dance a Quickstep. Jennifer's knee begins hurting in practice and the show's doctor tells her she has severe tendinitis with serious inflammation. He tells her she needs to think about whether she wants to continue dancing or risk further injury to the tendon. Then her father, Joel Grey – awwww, so sweet – comes on and tells her simply, the show must go on. And on she goes.

And what a beautiful Quickstep! As perfect as perfect can be in my opinion. And I love her dress with the feathery pleats on the lower half of the skirt. And wow, Derek honestly looked like a real Fred Astaire. He did so well with that solo. I don't think I've ever enjoyed watching him dance so much!

She draws "Waiting for a Girl Like You" by Foreigner for her instant dance. She's never heard of it! Haha!

Kurt and Anna dance a waltz. Ooooh, THAT was like a fairy tale! So beautiful. I thought he looked really, really good. He is getting more and more polished with his shaping. He had perfect rise and fall with the footwork, perfect partnering. I loved that ending where he stood with one foot crossed behind the other while he supported her in a floor sweep. He had perfect form. The whole thing was so elegant. The judges are all saying he tries so hard and does everything Anna says and that's what makes him so endearing (and Carrie Ann calls him a Ken doll that she'd like to dance with, which makes me think of male escorts on cruises), but I don't actually think he was worse than the others. He was totally at their level – at least with the ballroom.

For their instant dance, they draw "Hella Good" by, I don't know who. They've never heard of it and neither have I.

Bristol and Mark perform an Argentine tango, but not before Sarah Palin and her husband attend their practice and Sarah basically tells her daughter to be a dominatrix. "Just dominate; just take over!" she says in her accent. Will anyone ever forget that?

I loved their dance! Wow, she had the attitude down more than ever before. I agree with Carrie Ann that it was the most intense we've ever seen her. She is so endearing to me. She has no dance background, no performance background, and she looks so good, but in the way a regular person looks good. There's nothing hyper-stylized about her dancing, like there is with so many ballroom dancers. And when you see that it can be very athletically stunning – the dancers moving so fast and with such precision – but it also looks phony. It doesn't look natural. And you expect ballroom to look natural. But there's nothing phony about her dancing. She's so real. She's like someone you'd see on the dance floor, while you're dancing, and just want to watch.

They draw "Mas Que Nada" for their second dance, and not only has neither heard of it, but Mark can't pronounce Spanish to save his life. And neither has ever heard of it, including Mark – INCLUDING MARK BALLAS, PROFESSIONAL LATIN BALLROOM DANCER, and I want to kill him. That's a totally famous samba! I mean, seriously, that's like saying you've never heard Bamboleo. Mark!!!

Brandy and Maks dance a very romantic waltz. Very lovely. I thought technique-wise, footwork-wise she was very very good. To me, she looked a slight bit stiff though, even though her acting was good. Her body was just a bit too rigid. But the judges don't seem to agree with me. Oh wait, Carrie Ann's saying she needs to relax her neck. I hate that song, by the way – they play it all the time in American Smooth competitions and it's always so creepy-sounding to me.

They draw "Teenage Dream" which I've never heard of, and neither have they.

So, now the second round, the instant dances:

Kyle and Lacey's jive to "Good Golly Miss Molly": that was a lot of fun. And they did incredibly well with the time they had. Did they really create that whole routine in 45 minutes? I don't think I could possibly have remembered the choreography; the dance was long to memorize that much in such a short time. His technique wasn't always completely proper – he needed more height on the jive kicks, and he needs to spot better when he turns so he doesn't lose control of his balance, etc. – but he did remarkably well given those crazy time constraints.

"My biggest fear with samba is getting off beat. Because once you're off beat with samba, you're … screwed," says Bristol. And the last word, coming out of her mouth, for some reason cracks me up.

Jennifer and Derek's rumba to the Foreigner song neither of them – including 50-year-old Jennifer – have never heard. How old am I?! Anyway, I thought it was very pretty. Not that sexy, but it was romantic. Her hip action wasn't all there, but she had beautiful leg extensions, and they really used her flexibility to maximum effect. I didn't think the dance always went with the lyrics, but what can you expect with so little time to prepare.

Kurt and Anna's cha cha: How sweet, having his kids attend practice and give him "advice"! That was more of a disco than a cha cha! Fun, hehe. He was really fun to watch, and he really got into it. Okay, his technique was not so good; okay it was awful. Hip action was really just not right, no grounding, etc. etc. etc. But I didn't really care. He had so much fun and I had so much fun watching it. I thought his musicality was fine; he's not always on the beat, but you can tell he means to be on the beat, he's not just bouncing around. Does that make sense? Anyway, his strong point is definitely standard, not Latin. So funny because all of these football players are doing so much better at standard than Latin. You'd expect it to be the opposite. Anyway, I definitely want him to stay on the show, even if his Latin technique is so-so.

Bristol and Mark's "Mas Que Nada" samba: I thought she looked really cute. So, do you guys recognize the song? Maybe I'm weird for knowing it. I thought she did well with the fast swivels and the bota fogos, and the shoulder shimmies (which for some reason are hard for me). I thought she did incredibly well for the most difficult of Latin dances and put together so fast. I thought she was pretty musical – I disagree with Carrie Ann.

Brandy and Maks's Cha Cha: Well, I thought that looked more hip hop than cha cha. Actually, it looked like just grooving. It was good; it just didn't look like cha cha. I'm not sure I understand Carrie Ann and Len: I thought Brandy's musicality was perfect, and I didn't even notice they didn't start dancing right on the first beat. Overall, though, I found that to be the least exciting dance. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was more of what she usually does and not a proper cha cha. And this show is about ballroom dancing, about becoming a skilled ballroom dancer, not a skilled groover.

Anyway, as I said, I don't want anyone to go home tomorrow night! Have no idea who it will be… I'm thinking Bristol or Kurt, both of whom I really really really do not want to see go.