City of Angels 2013 – Update #5
CHAMPIONS STRICTLY PRELIMS
- Chris Dumond and Torri
- Nick Jay and Rachele Smith
- Ryan and Samantha Buckwalter
- Rome and Tashina
- Demetre and Cameo
- Doug Silton and Crystal
- Matt Auclair and Laureen
- Stephen White and Lindsey
- Ben Morris and Jenn Deluca
- Luis and Susan Kirklin
- John Piper and Kara
- Miguel and Malia
- Chuck and Sharon Her
- Ben McHenry and Mackenzie
- Jason and Yvonne
- Kyle and Melissa
- Nick King and Sarah
- Gary Mcintyre and Patty Vo
- Brent and Tessa
- Mike Miller and Kristin Fagmeier
- Connor Goodmanson and Maddie
- Benji and Kellese – HOLY COW!! These two together! Separately they’re mind boggling, but together! The creative take-no-prisoners sheer stream-of-consciousness artistry of them! Including dancing *on the floor.* They found themselves dancing beside Brent and Tessa (almost bumped into them I think) and somehow the two couples got caught in a one-upmanship competition, the bar kept getting raised, they kept upping the ante, getting progressively more and more extreme and more frantic, Benji moving faster and faster, finally turning into a hyper-manic frenetic crazed-person ending up eating his shoe.
Music:
- “Black Satin” by Danny and Partners
- “Suit and Tie” by Justin (when this came on the whole floor of dancers cheered in unison and everybody started dancing with everybody in groups instead of couples – then they remembered it was a contest and went back to dancing with their own partners. Champions divisions often remind me of schools of fish or large flocks of birds in the sky – they read each other’s minds so well it’s like they’re guided by instinct)
- “Closer” by Ne Yo
- “The Sky Is Crying” by Stevie Ray Vaughn
CHAMPIONS STRICTLY FINALS
These were spotlight, danced to Michael Jackson acoustic covers discovered by Louis – all terrific songs, a few we’ve heard and a lot we’ve never heard.
Brent and Tessa danced to “Billie Jean”
Gary and Patty danced to “Rock With You”
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne to “Do You Remember The Time” (with a coordinated double moon-walk the full width of the floor)
Ryan and Samantha to “Man In The Mirror” (they were SO lovely in white – Samantha especially looked gorgeous tonight – soft, sweet, just lovely)
Benji and Kellese to “I’m Bad” (Benji grabbed one of those shoes-with-toes things from someone sitting in the audience and forced it, finger by finger, onto his hand to serve as a Michael Jackson glove. Before he started dancing. Which took a while, while Kellese stood there patiently smiling and pulsing to the song, which in itself was funny. Their dance included, among a zillion other fantastic moments, a punching fight with each punch delivered fast, like eighth notes, precisely in rhythm. With hysterical head-whips, facial expressions and drama.)
Matt and Laureen to “Gimme More”
Chris and Torri to “I Want You Back” (travelling finger-spins and barrel rolls all the way across the floor, one end to the other)
Ben and Jen – oops forget which song they got
Nick and Sarah to “Black or White” (which was a whole series of black and white jokes and SUCH funny faces!)
Ben and Mackenzie to “Human Nature” (Mackenzie did two astonishing splits one after the other – Mackenzie’s splits (Mackenzie’s legs!) are a sight to behold but it was what her upper body was doing that took your breath away. Ben tried his own splits immediately after. Fail.)
And last but SO not least the HILARIOUS dance of Kyle and Melissa, to, um, “The Way You Make Me Feel” which Kyle illustrated – how she made him “feel,” that is – by showing graphically how he was, you know. Feeling. You can imagine. Oh, and just to add something randomly witty, Melissa did a “9 to 5″ spoof in the middle (for those who don’t know, Kyle and Sarah did a routine to 9 to 5 some years ago.) Kyle and Melissa are VERY funny together.
What a division!