How excited am I about the partnering of Anya Garnis with Danny Tidwell on TV show “So You Think You Can Dance“!! The worlds of ballet and ballroom — my two very favorite of course of course, are coming together!! And the judges are IN LOVE with them! As they are with my former teacher, Mr. Pasha Kovalev and his lovely partner, Jesse. Tony Meredith coached them on their waltz — I was dying! It’s so incredibly surreal to see people you know on TV… Seriously though, subjectivity aside ( 🙂 ) , Anya and Danny’s jive simply rocked, and, as that one judge said, Pasha and Jesse just raised a normally not tremendously interesting dance (at least on TV — I do think Standard ballroom comes alive when you see it LIVE) — waltz — to a completely new level! And Jesse is so sweet — such the underdog. Who CAN’T relate to her need to get out of a dead-end desk job and fulfill her life’s passion! I’m so excited — this is by far the best SYTYCD yet!
By the way, about a year ago, Dance Magazine took nominations for their annual, “sexiest dancer” issue. I wrote in nominating Pasha and Anna, knowing full-well how ballet-centered the magazine was (which is fine of course, but it is called “Dance” and not “Pointe”) and knowing they’d stand no chance, but still wanting just to get their names out there to the powers that be in the dance world. Of course they didn’t need me for that… and of course Dance Mag. gave them no mention in the issue (which I didn’t really expect them to; I know no one else who reads that magazine nominated or voted for ballroom dancers). But I do hope the editor, Hanna Rubin, at least did a quick internet search and just looked them up to see who they were since they must have been so out of the ordinary for that publication — I really do think they are amazing performers (as one judge — Mary Murphy I think — mentioned) and they would be seen someday… I just think in general, it never hurts to take your readers seriously… and not that she didn’t … I’m just saying…
