Everybody's in the Act JLo Chris Judd Dance Show

Jennifer Lopez & Ex-Husband To Launch Dance Shows
Jennifer Lopez and ex-husband Cris Judd will go head-to-head when they both launch television dancing shows later this year. Lopez is working with MTV on her reality series "Moves" where she will select and audition dancers, as well as act as an executive producer.

The hitmaker will use her dance training and experience to assist aspiring dancers in their careers in the fly-on-the-wall show.

Meanwhile, former dancer and choreographer Judd will host "Dirty Dancing: Living The Dream," a small-screen version of the 1987 Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey movie with a reality TV twist. The series will pair novice female dancers with experienced professionals who will train and compete for a featured role in the national cast of the upcoming Dirty Dancing musical.

Judd's series will air on Women's Entertainment (WE).


Star Pulse Blog

EtchingsDance.com So you think you can dance info.

You can follow the contestants and judges on Fox's So you think you can dance at Etchings Dance. So you think you can dance www.etchingsdance.com .
You can get biographies, what the prizes are, songs that they use. Check it out.

New B-Boy Dance Show by Bad Boy

MTV and Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ production company, are teaming up as dance partners for an as-yet-untitled series that will center on street dance troupes across the country. Combs will executive-produce the pilot episode.

Broadcasting Cable

It seems that Sean Combs is joining the dance crowd with this new dance show focusing on street dancers. Actually, I think it's a good idea because street dancers can be AMAZING, but they often don't have the training to compete against dancers that will make the top ten on shows such as So you think you can dance. Those street dancers often don't have the money to take weekly dance classes at a studio, so good for Diddy for making that move.

America's top choreographers

America's top choreographers: Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels, Shane Sparks, Mary Murphy and Ron Montez. So you think you can dance.

Mary Murphy So you think you can dance judge - blog

http://www.marymurphy.tv/ Here is the blog address for Mary Murphy's blog. She is one of the judges and choreographers on the So you think you can dance show on fox. The link is the official website
of Mary Murphy, ballroom dance champion, choreographer, accredited judge, and TV personality. I have also included this ballroom dancing link in the dance link list on the bottom left of this blog! Also, here is her MySpace.com profile.

Ballroom Bootcamp? Is it returning?

Ballroom Bootcamp on TLC Discovery -

Does anyone know if Ballroom Bootcamp is returning. I had a lot of fun with that show too! Check it out.

....Top ballroom dance professionals Susannah Cuesta, Gocha Chertkoev and Christian Perry will attempt to give the participants the physical, mental and social tools necessary for success, and stop at nothing to transform the participants from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Ballroom Bootcamp participants will learn one of five dance styles — the cha cha, waltz, tango, jive or rhumba — and then face off against one another in an authentic, professionally adjudicated competition.

It's the ultimate fish-out-of-water story. Think plumbers, couch potatoes, football players, moms and more unusual suspects. It's a chance to test regular people in a way they've NEVER been tested before....

So you think you can dance Updated Website

The website for So you think you can dance has finally been updated. Keep watching! So You Think You Can Dance.

Also, the New York Daily News reports "Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who also will return as a judge, said there will be some tweaks, including a half-hour results show." So, we know at least one judge.

Annoyed at missing Hip Hop Dance Festival

If there is one huge thing that most dancers lack, it's marketing sense. Less than 20 minutes from my house an international hip hop festival was planned and executed over this past weekend. Did I know about it? Nope. It was a huge, groundbreaking event, yet I didn't see anything on the TV news, in the newspapers, on posters or anywhere else. Needless to say, we didn't attend the event ... which we would have attended if we had known it existed.

Ok. Here it is. For those of you who don't know .... there is something called a press release. You send it to all media organizations, TV, radio, newpapers, etc. They, in turn, print the press release (or follow up by putting a reporter on the idea), then they print the information about your event for free. Sometimes, yes, you have to do follow up calls after sending a press release, but making sure enough news organization receive it is the first step. A groundbreaking event is sure to make the news ... somewhere.

Take the Lead Movie Review

I loved it, but there was little traditional dancing in the movie. It reminded me of Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pfeiffer. Skilled civilian goes into ghetto school, teaches kids skills, saves the day and everyone lives happily ever after. However, Take the Lead is based on a true story.

It is a truely inspiring movie and I loved every minute of it! I thought that Antonio Banderas was amazing and danced very well. He is, afterall, a passionate latin man! I surprisingly loved the dancing too! It was a movie "about" dancing and what dancing can do for a person. The mix of hip hop and ballroom was great!

I travel to New York City often and when watching this movie, I felt as if I was actually in the city. Very good for atmosphere.

If you hate hip hop, less fortunate people and/or any type of dancing that strays from traditional ballroom, you may not like this movie. However, if you have an open mind and love dance, you'll have a great time. Go and see this movie!

Happy Birthday Dance Girl!

Happy Birthday Dance Girl! You are the greatest!!!!

New Season So You Think You Can Dance 2006

New Season So You Think You Can Dance 2006 starts on May 25th 8/7c! Thursday on FOX!!!!! Can't wait! New host: ....Cat Deeley, one of the leading television hosts in the UK, has been named to host the second season of the hit series. Deeley has won many awards for her work on "CD: UK Live," on which she has appeared for the last six years; her three years on "SMTV: Live"; and many shows for the MTV UK, BBC and ITV networks.....

Ballroom Dance

Dancing With the Stars will return for another season. Now I know for sure.

One Last Dance

Just watched One Last Dance. Loved the dancing. Much of the choreography was done by Alonzo King and included dancers from his Lines Ballet Company (Contemporary Ballet). Lovely dancing which is worth watching the movie for. My favorite, however, is that the movie included Rasta Thomas ... a great male dancer. My daughter and I have followed his career and were really thrilled to see him in this movie. If you get the chance, check out his web site. http://www.rastathomas.com/ On the negative side, the movie had way too much arguing for my taste. It was a little sad to watch because it was about older dancers at the ends of their careers. Will we buy it for the dance movie collection, absolutely. Simply for the small clips of great dancing.

.......One Last Dance - Description: Husband and wife Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi team up for the dramatic tale of redemption ONE LAST DANCE. Travis (Swayze), Chrissa (Niemi) and Max (George De La Pena) were three students of master choreographer Alex McGrath, but had a falling out many years ago over a particularly difficult piece that Alex created just for them. But upon Alex's death, the three are reunited and agree to attempt the dance piece once more to save his company, in the process reopening old emotional wounds that were never properly healed. Featuring acclaimed choreography and dance scenes, ONE LAST DANCE allows Swayze and professional dancer Niemi to showcase their skills in a film written from the experiences and struggles of performing artists.......

So You Think You Can Dance Season 2

The SYTYCD show is rumoured to be starting up around May 2006. Look out for it! It should have ballroom, hip hop, ballet and other dance types. There is a new host this year.

Take the Lead Ballroom Dance Hip Hop Movie

Here is the background story of Take the Lead:

Antonio Banderas stars in Take the Lead, a drama inspired by the true story of Pierre Dulaine, an inspirational Manhattan dance teacher and competitor who volunteers his time to teach ballroom dancing to a diverse group of New York inner-city high school students serving detention.

The students are initially skeptical of Dulaine, especially when they learn what he's there to teach them, but his unwavering commitment and dedication slowly inspire them to embrace his program. In fact, they even take it one step further and combine Dulaine's classical dance with their unique hip-hop style and music to create a high-energy, unique fusion. As Dulaine becomes a mentor for his students, many of whom haven't had much to strive towards in their lives, he inpires them to hone their craft for a prestigious city ballroom competition, and in return they share with each other valuable lessons about pride, respect and honor.

Comments from TheDanceMom: I will review this movie later. It hasn't been released yet, but I am excited to see it. I do like Antonio Banderas very much, but I am always disappointed when they cast stars in dance rolls, unless, of course, the star has years of dance training. For instance, in the movie Center Stage, Maureen, was not really a trained dancer. Why? Who knows what the thinking was! The cast was mostly trained dancers with years of performance experience, yet she was cast for star power? Doesn't make sense. She did a nice job, but dancers should be cast to play dancers in dance movies! Although the general public won't know if the star is performing the moves correctly, there are thousands of trained dancers who will know.

I have to comment on American Idol

There is no shame on being voted off of American Idol. I keep seeing these newspaper reports that say "despite being voted off ...." "even though she was voted off ...." America, please note, only a select few even made it on American Idol .... out of thousands of people who auditioned only a small number made it to the show. That is a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT and honor to be chosen. They should all be congratulated for 1. Getting off the couch to audition in the first place, 2. Keeping it cool enough to make it through the rounds of auditions, and 3. Having the poise and presence to get up on stage in front of millions of viewers, sing, then have their singing critqued in front of the nation! Shame on anyone who trys to put down anyone who has made it that far.... it's a lot farther than most people would make it!

New Links for Dancers

I've added some new links for dancers at the lower left of this page. If you know of any great dance sites, let me know. I'll check them out!

A little dancer who really loves dance.

I was watching a class with many levels of dancers in it, all ages. One girl, however, stood out. She was about 8 years old and had a good body for dance. But even better, you could tell that some day she was going to be a great dancer! She listened to the instructor intently and carefully watched the movements of the person demonstrating, mimicking every move as the instructor did it. Then she went out onto the floor, put a smile on her face and enthusiastically performed the piece. She was pretty good too! I'll be watching to see how she does in coming years. Nice job!

She's just doing it for fun!

Stop! Stop right now! I guess this month I'm just about to tear my hair out listening to people. Was sitting with this mother the other day. Her daughter was 9 years old. "Is she competitive?" I asked. "No, she just dances for fun. Nothing serious." Arrrrrrgh Can you see my face start to mutate? Ok, here's why I have such an attitude.

If competition is not for you, then ok, it's not for you. Not everyone has to compete to be successful. I haven't seen many noncompetitive dancers who have great skills, but there are a few. NYC has a lot of 'already professional' noncompetitive dancers who are amazing, but I haven't really seen it in the suburbs.

But saying she dances "just for fun" is like saying "Don't blame her if she sucks, we're just paying out all this money and wasting the classes time because we're not really serious." "She doesn't really have to pay attention, because it's just for fun." "She doesn't really have to learn safe dancing because it's just for fun." "It's ok if she goes on stage at the end of the year and embarrasses the hell out of herself because it's just for fun." "It's ok to be mediocre because it's just for fun." If it's just for fun then take her to the YMCA! Let me put it more simply. The people I hear saying "It's just for fun." usually have kids who are fat or lazy or kids who have real potential, but because they can't throw a triple pirouette in the first class their parents think they have no skill. Um .... that's why kids take lessons .... to gain skill.

Question: If you are making the effort to pay a qualified teacher to learn dance and you are making the time commitment to show up to class and purchase dance clothes and costumes and practice, why wouldn't you want to gain some skill out of the whole process? Give your kid a chance! Having skill is fun, dancing skillfully is great fun. So why not learn the skill correctly and learn what real fun is all about instead of giving the kid a great excuse to slack off and be less than great!

A child's road to success will always run into a wall. As a parent you will either be a road block or help your child climb over the wall. Making excuses for a child when a child is that young equals "road block". Encourage them to do their best and learn the skill correctly from the start. Please!

Here's a Clue for Beginner Competition Moms

I sat in the room with a bunch of moms last weekend. This was the first year their studio had entered competition. OK, so my daughter has competed for a long time and her day is over. She's moving into the professional world now. However, I engaged in conversation anyways. I asked what studios were at the competition ... they didn't know. I asked who the judges were ... they didn't know. They did know, however, that whatever studios were there were being given an unfair advantage. ARGH! Ok, it happens. However, I am very familiar with the competition they went to and very familiar with the studios that attend that competition every year. Studios that have excellent dancers, strong technique and work exceptionally hard to win what they do. I could imagine nothing unfair about those studios winning ... but wait ... maybe this studio (which I was unfamiliar with) would bring out a stellar performance ... maybe they were better than these other studios that I was familiar with .... Then I went into the classroom and watched their competitive students ........................ I have one thing to say ......

Just shut up until you know what you're talking about. Your students were not anywhere ready to compete and were sloppy, off the music, no smiles, dead arms with no enthusiasm for dance. Unfair? What IS unfair is bringing kids to competition who are not prepared. Judges look for technique (your students had none), neatness (some were neat, others not), musicality (the ability to place dance moves to the music where they belong), style (um, not even close), smiles (none), performance quality (....), oh yes, and how about an effort?

So here is what you need to do to fix it. Stop complaining about how unfair it was that they other studios got all the good medals. Learn who those studios are and what type of routine they do weekly. You'll be humbled. Start doing proper warmups and teaching the kids proper body alighnment from the beginning. Build and stretch muscles, muscle memory ... properly to avoid injuries. Start at the basics again and repeat until students have a good base from which to start. Bring the music tempo down so that students can complete their moves, gradually increasing it as they gain more skill. Stop changing choreography every two seconds for the younger students until they have a base. Prepare before class and know what you're going teach before you walk into class.

I know one of the teachers you have at that studio. She competed for years and is, not only and exceptional dancer, but she knows how to prepare for competion. Those students do not show even a small amount of the excellence that teacher is capable of sharing with your studio. Your studio needs to ask her advice before you enter competition again.