Last night was the performance finale, and it was jam-packed with dances. Each dancer danced six routines - one each with the other finalists, one with an all-star, a solo, and a group dance. I'm surprised none of them dropped down from exhaustion at the end of the night.
Favorite routines
1) Cyrus and Twitch's animation from Christopher Scott. How cute was Cyrus when he was going crazy over meeting Madd Chadd? Madd Chadd and Christopher Scott are good friends, and Madd Chadd was one of the stars of the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (LXD), a dance web series choreographed by Christopher Scott, Harry Shum, Jr, and Galen Hooks. If you've never seen LXD, go online and check them out. It's quite amazing. This was the routine that everyone has been waiting for, and it was fantastic. From the premise (two genetically-enhanced creatures breaking out of their glass cage and trying out their new powers) to the movements and the interactions between the dancers, it was a great piece. Seeing Twitch and Cyrus next to each other makes me realize that Cyrus has some work to do to really command the stage, but he hasn't had that much experience professionally, so that will come with time.
2) Eliana and Alex's contemporary from Travis Wall. What a perfect combination of dancers, music, and choreographer. I love how Travis didn't try to do too much with Alex and Eliana, but choreographed something that was beautiful and showed their strengths.
3) Eliana and Chehon's pas de deux from Marat Daukayev. I've been telling Mr. Y from the beginning that I really want to see a traditional pas de deux if Eliana and Chehon ever danced together, so I was so happy to see this routine. The pas de deux to the Nutcracker Suite was very traditional and Eliana was definitely more showcased than Chehon, but the two of them did such a beautiful job and it was nice to see classical ballet. The two of them matched each other very well and Chehon was so strong in supporting and lifting Eliana.
4) Chehon and Allison's contemporary from Stacey Tookey. This was just a beautiful piece. Both Chehon and Allison really threw their emotions into the dance and it was really haunting. Plus that one-arm lift was just insane.
Least favorite routines
1) The group routine from Tyce Diorio. A total mess from start to finish. It would have been better if they left this off and let the dancers rest.
2) Tiffany and Will's contemporary from Sonya Tayeh. Tiffany was obviously very athletic and danced well, and it was nice to see Will again, but the dance didn't have the chemistry and the piece was just disjointed to me.
3) Tiffany and Chehon's rumba from Dmitry Chaplin. The two of them looked pretty, but this wasn't much of a rumba. I also didn't feel any chemistry between the two of them. Chehon's hip action was non-existing, and I didn't buy Tiffany as being sexy.
4) Eliana and Cyrus's paso doble from Jason Gilkinson. Eliana was fierce as usual, but Cyrus really struggled to keep up.
Solos
I thought Eliana's solo was way better than Tiffany's. Tiffany did a pretty generic contemporary solo, when Eliana's ballet one was so powerful. I also thought Chehon did a better job with his solo than Cyrus, but it was a closer call.
Predictions
It's hard to predict who's going to win, but I really hope Eliana and Chehon will prevail. Eliana can do anything, and does not seem to have a weakness. Chehon has also improved over the course of the season, and as much as I love Cyrus and how hard he works, I think Chehon deserves to win.
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