jaina

GUESS WHAT'S BACK ~~TOMORROW~~ ~~TODAY~~ THURSDAY, EVERYONE!?

Why, only my favoritest summer show ever, So You Think You Can Dance! :D :D :D

AND-- it's an all-stars version! Or at least partly all-stars. There are 12 returning dancers who will act as partners to the top 10 (not 20) contestants. They'll only partner for their particular styles, so not everyone will be on every week. The all-stars:

Season 2: Allison
Season 3: Anya, Dom, Lauren, Neil, PASHA!!!
Season 4: Comfort, MARK!!!, Twitch, Courtney
Season 5: Ade
Season 6: Kathryn

SYTYCDism linked a great all-star tribute video:

And I decided to go find a few of my favorite dances featuring the returning all-stars.

Anya & Pasha
Anya and Pasha are ballroom dancers. They're partners and they are FRICKING AMAZING, although they didn't dance together on the show.

Anya & Danny, Jive ("Girlfriend")
This is the dance that begat the whole "hot tamale train" thing. So blame Anya for that. Or Mary Murphy. I wish this video weren't so grainy because Anya's great in this. She's absolutely in her element. Danny isn't too shabby either, for being a contemporary dancer.

Pasha's Paso Doble solo
It's hard for the ballroom dancers to do solos...but with a shirtless Pasha and a cape, you can't really go wrong.

Pasha and Sara, West Coast Swing ("The Rockafeller Skank")

Neil & Lauren
I would've classified both Neil and Lauren as jazz dancers, but the official listing has Neil as "jazz/contemporary/Broadway/cultural" (oh, please let that mean that Neil has to do a Russian folk dance) and Lauren as "hip-hop/jazz/contemporary." Anyway, Neil and Lauren were partners for the first five weeks of season 3 and they were great.

Neil & Lauren, Jazz ("Night of the Dancing Flame")
My absolute favorite of everything they danced together. All hail Wade Robson.

Neil & Sara, Disco ("Knock on Wood")
Neil is so adorable in this, and I love Sara too!

Comfort & Twitch
Comfort and Twitch are both hip-hop dancers, although again, Comfort is specifically listed as "hip-hop/krump" and Twitch is "popping/locking/krump."

Comfort & Twitch, Hip-Hop ("Forever")
Comfort had a much harder time than Twitch adjusting to non-hip-hop styles, but they did get one great dance together on the show. (They also did a smooth waltz together, which I will not be linking.)

Twitch & Katee, contemporary ("Mercy")
UNF. You want to talk about theatricality? Right here, baby.

Mark & Courtney
Mark and Courtney are both contemporary dancers, although Mark is listed as "jazz/Broadway/cultural" while Courtney is "contemporary/jazz." I could link you a ton of videos for them, because I loved their original pairings (Mark and Chelsie, Courtney and Gev). But I'll try to limit myself.

Mark & Courtney, jazz ("The Garden")
Mark and Courtney only danced together for one week out of Season 4, but we got one hell of a dance out of it. This is so perfectly suited to both of them.

Mark & Chelsie, jazz ("Kiss Kiss")
I could write reams about how much I love Mark and Chelsie. They were such an amazing partnership. "Bleeding Love" got all the attention, but I really really love this routine too.

Courtney & Gev, jazz ("Standing There")
Gev wears an Indiana Jones fedora. End of story.

Kathryn
Poor Kathryn, stuck on a redheaded stepchild of a season, and overshadowed by her partner (at least in the eyes of the judges) for the first five weeks. Actually, I thought she and Legacy were wonderful together, but she didn't really break out and make a name for herself until much later in the competition.

Kathryn and Ryan, Cha-cha ("Put Your Hands on Me")
This was the dance that made me sit up and say "WOW." Kathryn BROUGHT IT. She was an entirely different person in this dance. This video also includes one of her solos in her own style, contemporary.

Kathryn & Legacy, Viennese Waltz ("Your Guardian Angel")
This is a great one for showing the connection between Kathryn and Legacy. Just look at how their eyes stay locked on each other. Awww.

I was going to link some more videos of dances I loved from seasons 5 and 6, but holy crap, I'm tired. Another time!