Thread: so you think you can dance

well, i just got a call from SYTYCD belgian version.

not shocking news, but this is the FOURTH time they call me this month, imploring me to participate or to get one of my students

so for some reason they reeaaaaalllly want a bellydancer.

ugh.

They called me again this afternoon, too. They really are desperate.

hehe

well at least they are looking for real dancers and not just throwing a hip scarf on some other dancer and telling her to shake it.

Woo! That sounds exciting. Wish they were like this over here in the states.

no, they arent looking for real dancers, any beginning student will do, is the impression i got. i think they just want some images of bellydacers for the auditiontape cuts.

This could be a wonderful opportunity to portray bellydance for what it really is before someone comes along and makes it look like stripping again. Would you have some leverage in this regard?

a: i'm too old apparantly. yep.

b: knowing other programs made by the same company and their explantion that 'it's like idol but than for dance', well, no, i do not trust that i or any of my students would not be made to look like fools. besides, even if i would make it through the auditions, i've never done ANY partnering (as in any male/female dancing) so what on earth would i'd be doing if the next assignment is latin or ballroom? nothing.

any of my questions about that, or who the jury was were waved away/not answered.

i just read a story of a dancer who got selected, got through the auditions, doing some pretty amazing popping and locking, he quit in the first proper round saying, well, i cant do ballroom, or hip hop or whatever else they want me to do. what am i doing here. i think he was right. we cant be good at all those dance styles. i would make a parody of those.

i'm a good bellydancer, but i'm not an "all round" dancer, i cant do the splits, and get lifted in the air, and do partner work, and that's what they need.

you know, i'd be some "coleur locale", that's it, and that's not the exposure i or my dance school needs.

Originally Posted by bdaddiction

Woo! That sounds exciting. Wish they were like this over here in the states.

Well.... they actually do do stuff like that here in the States too.

Originally Posted by david

Well.... they actually do do stuff like that here in the States too.

If they want them so bad here on SYTYCD, they would not keep dissing them in the end.

Why don't you guys do it? Seriously it's free advertising for you & soemthing impressive to put on your resume. I would not be complaining if they called me..

oh, and they call for the 4th time because they are desperate for a bellydancer, and obviously havent found any yet, not because they are desperate for me specifically or trying to convince me or something. they are simply that disorganised that each time they really did not know they had called me already! so midway her second sentence i get to say, eh, i already know what this is about, i already got this call... a few times in fact.

you'd think they'd keep track of this. it was the same woman too.

Originally Posted by gretchendances

Why don't you guys do it? Seriously it's free advertising for you & soemthing impressive to put on your resume. I would not be complaining if they called me..

Well, I'm not so sure I agree with this. I think absolutely go for it if you have the experience to actively compete in the ballroom, hip hop, etc... rounds or if you are an established professional. However, be careful of the possibility that they are looking for an excuse to find someone to publicly humiliate, which would NOT look good on a resume.

A few of us here were contacted by MTV and asked to appear on a popular show about a year ago. I was excited about the prospect, until the contact called me and said "the producer has asked if you would be comfortable wearing something sort of "country" for your performance"..c:: When I explored further, I found out that they had the rights to dub over my selected music (which means you might appear to be off rhythym or worse, they might dub over the ME music with something like "Boot Scoot'n Boogie"), and were hoping I would wear something that looked "southern". Uh. NO. ,m:: I responded that I was a professional and took my art very seriously, and did not want to portray another culture as a farce. I assume they looked elsewhere.

I very much doubt it would be the same with SYTYCD, but, just keep in mind that editing can result in some unintended consequences that may or may not mean good advertising and may or may not portray what you intended, and that when you sign their consent forms you give up the right to make any decisions about what is or isn't aired

Ah, they haven't called me yet! ..l;,

It's such a pitty really, if only those programm makers were a bit "serious" about the dancing part, it would have been a great opportunity to show the GP wat bellydancing really is...

But they probably just want a bellydancer because it's "exciting" or something...
I just pray to god they won't find someone à la britain's got talent, who will show up in her undies with a hip scarf wrapped over them and shimmying all over the place

Oh please no....

One (if not THE) major problem with SYTYCD is that they limit the age range of entrants to 18 to 30. Some people don't blossom until after that and that's a shame. The producers probably think they need to keep the talent young because of the strenuous nature of the show.

We're all different - some peak at 17, some at 37. The show needs to adjust their age limit barriers, but probably won't.

..g.:

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

a: i'm too old apparantly. yep.

b: knowing other programs made by the same company and their explantion that 'it's like idol but than for dance', well, no, i do not trust that i or any of my students would not be made to look like fools. besides, even if i would make it through the auditions, i've never done ANY partnering (as in any male/female dancing) so what on earth would i'd be doing if the next assignment is latin or ballroom? nothing.

any of my questions about that, or who the jury was were waved away/not answered.

i just read a story of a dancer who got selected, got through the auditions, doing some pretty amazing popping and locking, he quit in the first proper round saying, well, i cant do ballroom, or hip hop or whatever else they want me to do. what am i doing here. i think he was right. we cant be good at all those dance styles. i would make a parody of those.

i'm a good bellydancer, but i'm not an "all round" dancer, i cant do the splits, and get lifted in the air, and do partner work, and that's what they need.

you know, i'd be some "coleur locale", that's it, and that's not the exposure i or my dance school needs.

To OLD - WHATEVA!! Come on Artemisia - We wanna see you get down with some hip hop ..g.:

oh, i dont think i'm too old.. THEY however do. ;-)

well, 2 weeks ago the first episodes were aired, and they did find some bellydancers apperently... nobody got through to the 'bootcamp'... I will not comment on the level though ;)