I don’t usually like to go on and on about my overwhelming love of So You Think You Can Dance, because I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, and once I get on a roll about dancing I really just cannot. Shut. Up.
In fact, I could probably fill this whole blog, day-in and day-out, with a discussion of the dancing in various musicals. During So You Think You Can Dance season, I’d need at least three or four posts a day, because it simply requires that kind of analysis.
But I just HAVE TO say that I almost peed my pants during Katee and Joshua’s Bollywood routine last night. I’m married to an Indian man and as such I’ve seen a few Bollywood musicals in my time, and oh boy, do I ever LOVE THEM. Seriously.
I love Hollywoood musicals too, but they stopped making those years ago and I’ve seen them all at least 20 times a piece. The stuff that is still coming out of Bollywood is so grand, so dazzling, so spectacular spectacular that it shames regular Hollywood films. The story is always epic. The clothes…oh the clothes…so many beautiful colours, so many fantastic costume changes. And the musical numbers…the changes of scenery! The changes of clothes mid-song! The complete and total embracing of the artificial nature of it! It’s beautiful and amazing and seriously, the MOST entertaining thing. I cannot get enough.
So when they announced that Katee and Joshua — one of the strongest couples on the show — were going to do Bollywood, I had to call Sir Monkeypants to the TV right away in excitement. And they did not let me down! All the traditional moves, all the traditional hand motions, there! Totally accurate, well performed, and ROCKING AWESOME.
I’m still shaking with excitement.
And this is why I try to keep myself from writing about dancing if at all possible.
You can see Katee and Joshua’s big number on YouTube (of course) here.
TurtleHead 
I’ve hardly watched SYTYCD, but every time I see an ad I think it looks amazing. SmokingToaster’s mom loves “Dancing With the Stars”, which I’ve seen a lot since she’s spent a lot of time here with us while it’s been running. But, well, it’s ballroom dancing. I just can’t get that excited about it.
Anyway, I’ve become a big fan of musical theater and musicals over the past 10 years or so. I think it’s because I got involved in playing in the pit band for some local amateur productions, and I really began to appreciate just how great the music for some of them is. I had an opportunity to play in a production of West Side Story this summer, and I was so disappointed to have to turn it down — the music is just incredibly. Sadly, most of the time when I’m in the pit I can’t see the stage, so I only get to hear the music and I miss out on all the choreography. But the music is what I like best anyway.
It hadn’t really occurred to me, but you’re right — the grand tradition of the stage musical (at least in the visual sense) lives on in Bollywood. I don’t think the music lives up to the classics of the mid-20th century, but in terms of visual style and emotional content, it’s there in all its grandeur.
I watched the video of Katee and Joshua on YouTube — it gave me shivers up and down my spine. I wish I had more time to watch that show…
yes bollywood was great. it was especially nice to hear how much you like it knowing the more traditional ways of the dance. a lot of people on you tube seemed to be nitpicking them saying it wasn’t traditional enough or they didn’t do a good job.
the show is really rocking lately.
Lissa — I’m sure lots of people on the internet know more than I do about Indian dance, but I can definitely say that the number had all the familiar moves of a Bollywood film, and I think they did them very well — sharp and precise and accurate. Plus the number was so freakin’ entertaining!
CapnPlanet — one thing I can recommend, if you get a little bit of time, is to download the season finales of So You Think You Can Dance from season 3 (last year) and season 2 (the year before that). In the season finales, certain couples re-preform several of the “top” dances from the season (as selected by the choreographers and judges). You can see all the best dances in one show, and it’s packed with dancing — not nearly as much “filler” and crap as the regular season episodes have.