Superstars of Dance???????
I was really enthusiastic about viewing this latest in the “dance” flood of programs; I thought , hey, maybe this will be worth the time. Well, I was wrong. First of all the announcer introduced Michael Flatley as the Most Popular Dancer on the Planet- now which planet exactly did he mean. Flatley, the Chicago Born Irish Champion, is well-known, but most popular? Then we have the Samantha Harris wannabe, Miss something or other. The Miss America, USA, World, and Universe competitions have been downgraded to the cable networks, so this sort of gave me my first indication, that while imitation is the greatest form of flattery, it could be “bargain basement” flattery. There was some recognition with the judges of DWTS, name or background, but these 8 ? Was I the only one who didn’t recognize anybody. Then, let’s talk about the audience – looks to me like they grabbed a bunch of people off the street, handed them national flags, and maybe even some liquid encouragement. They didn’t even remotely resemble people from the competing countries. Finally, was it pc in this day and age to have a country vs country type of competition? Search me…….
To be reasonably fair, some of the dances were pretty good – some were extremely odd.
The step dancing from Ireland was good, along with the ballroom from Russia and the ribbon dance from China. But Popping? Come on folks, and that Argentine soloist would have been better off if there was a pole included with the chair. That Indian hip-hop, rap thing was strange but interesting, however, to me the gumboat “stomp” and the Australian gymnastic-type weird dance no way! Finally when they said a Zulu solo, I said “Why didn’t I watch Masterpiece Theatre?” Turned off the show at 10:15 to watch local weather.
Now I’m sure the promos today will say, the Greatest Hit of the New Year, or something like that. Good Luck to them, and thank heaven Dancing With the Stars will be back in March.
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February 18th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
These were superstars of dance. It was supposed to bring dances from countries around the world. Dances that may look odd to people in the US are probably very normal or traditional in their country. And yes, popping is strange, but it is fast growing here in the US. Michael Flatley is very well known, not just here. He has traveled around the world with his dance troup. He is also listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. Is there any other dancer alive who’s name is as recognized around the world? Open your mind a bit. It was wonderfull seeing other countries interpretations. And, yes, Dancing With the Stars was good, and I’m glad people are being reintroduced to dance. It was hard leaving my school’s ballroom dance association, and Dancing With the Stars was like watching old friends…but please. Now it is getting old, and people watch to see how bad celebrities can mess up. Obviously you do not dance.