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!