Pick On Someone Your Own Size

Yesterday I stumbled upon a blog dedicated to SYTYCD. It’s at soyouthinkyoucandancefever.blogspot.com. The blog’s author, SoYouThinkUCanDance, has written a post that states exactly how I felt about the way Evan Kasprzak was treated all season. You can read it here:

http://soyouthinkyoucandancefever.blogspot.com/2009/08/sytycd-finale-america-hearts-evan-but.html


In addition to what she wrote, I'd like to point out a few things I noticed this season. I'll try to post as many photos as possible to illustrate my points. Incidentally, I don't recall one instance of the judges commenting on the things I am about to share.

LINES OF ACTION:
If you’re like me, you watch Gene Kelly movies on DVR and pause the film during the dance scenes to watch his moves frame by frame. You especially compare his technique when he dances with a partner. All of his partners were fantastic, but you just can't deny that Gene's lines were superb.

I am an artist by trade, so sometimes I see things that others don’t; especially how lines relate to the flow of movement. I am reminded of a book I had when I was a kid. It was called “Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair”. There was a section that showed the best way to illustrate movement in a character. They had a correct and an incorrect version side by side. The correct version had long, curved lines illustrating the flow of movement. The incorrect version showed a character all angular and discombobulated. These lines are called “lines of action”.

Boy, does Evan Kasprzak have correct lines of action! This photo illustrates not only Evan’s beautiful lines, but how much more graceful he is than his partner. Randi was a fantastic dancer, but look at the differences here. Look at the way they hold their hands, where they are looking, and the bend of the knee. For me, a dance is made up of a sequence of snapshots. I remember particular moments that standout because of the emotions they evoke. My Evan snapshots are all technically beautiful. Even though Randi & Evan were praised for this particular routine, I don’t think these good points were ever brought up by the judges.

More beautiful lines……

And one more…

EVAN HANDS:
How many of you have noticed that Evan uses many of the same hand positions as Gene Kelly? I noticed in his first audition for SYTYCD. He uses the relaxed finger-pointing-to-the-ground position often. The arm and finger are aligned with the upper body and leg. I think this technique helps to elongate the body and bring subtle attention to what the feet are doing. The hand position reminds me of the way the Old Masters painted hands (again, my artist’s brain sees dance as it relates to art). Painters like Michelangelo and Raphael used hand position (among other things) to draw the viewers eye to a particular spot.
The next time you watch Evan doing a solo Broadway routine, watch his hands.

HEIGHT:
According to Wikipedia Evan is 5’6” tall. This fact seemed to be of constant interest to the judges.
I say, “Leave him alone!” There is only an inch or so difference between Evan and Brandon for cripes sake!