I had high hopes for this week, thirty-three is one of my favorite numbers. When both of your kids have birthdays in the same week and you’re hosting the huge family/friend party on Sunday, things tend not to go as planned. I got to as many posts as I could and of course I have my fav SYTYCD performance of the week below, but I’d love it if you could help me out.
Nigel reminded me of a George Ballanchine quote, “I don’t want dancers who want to dance. I want dancers who have to dance.” I agree with Nigel, this performance captures that statement, plus the lighting is fabulous.
It’s Saturday and time to review the treats from the week. SYTYCD was back in a Mia Michaels kind of way. I’ve picked a powerful performance for you and you’re not going to want to miss it.
This week the great dance show was back and all performances were choreographed by Mia Michaels. Oh, bells!! Love Mia’s choreography. But the Top-14 faced a great dancer-challenge. They’d be performing previously performed routines, routines choreographed for past seasons, making it really easy to see where this year’s dancers fall short in direct comparison to past contestants. It may have been a bit cruel, but so is the life of a dancer. One performance stood out. It was not better than the original, but stood on its own. This routine made me cry when Kayla and Kupono performed it in season five, so powerful. I do suggest watching both performances, but please watch Lindsay and Cole first.
Both performances made me cry, how about you?
Lindsay & Cole performing “Addiction” choreographed by Mia Michaels
This is ‘Shoofly Pie’ by The Wood Brothers from the album ‘Smoke Ring Halo’
It’s a team of two brothers. One plays guitar and sings, and writes most of the tunes, and the other plays bass and sings.
The bass player, Chris Wood, has been a part of a very successful instrumental group called Medeski, Martin and Wood. They are definitely an influence on my Jazz trio and on me personally.
Apparently, Chris and his brother never really played music together until later in life. They’ve added a drummer, who also sings, and it seems they’ve really clicked. I’ve enjoyed their previous albums but this one really stands apart. It’s not quite as loose while still feeling greasy and funky.
They have a rootsy sound which allows them to cover a lot of ground. From blues to gospel to southern soul to funk to folk, they’ve got it all in there in one shape or form.
I’m anxious to hear their albums from here on out. I really think they’re on to something!
No surprises, I found fabulous stuff this week to share, but the hubs forgot to send me a music clip. I’m not going to leave you hangin with nothing, though. I’ve included a clip of one of the hubs all time favorites. A song writer that has greatly influenced my husbands song writing and double score that the performance was recorded near our own Detroit Rock City.
No surprise, I have great links to share today. I’ve told the hubs to take a break until SYTYCD is over, but they’re taking the next two weeks off. Jeff will be back next week with more great music. Wait till you see the clip I have for you this week, you’re in for a real treat.
An interesting week of performances. Some great, some okay, and some strange song choices. I had no idea which performance to share until it came time for the guest performance. Sorry contestants, but you were smoked this week by Alvin Ailey. The company has been around since 1958, so no one should be surprised. Check out the power and conflict in this piece choreographed by Robert Battle.
Wow, did that week go fast or what. Hot and fast. The only way to recover from that kind of week: relax with a good book. So, now that you know what I’m doing today, well, for as long as I can anyways 🙂 below I have as many fabulous blogs as I was able to read this week. And Jeff is finally back this week. His music pick this week even has a follow-up pick for next week.
From @smoulderingsea #editortips on 7/3/12 : Using “S/he could tell that…” to interpret another character’s actions is a cheap way to avoid breaking POV.
Pitch
From @smoulderingsea #editortips on 7/2/12: Challenge yourself to write a query pitch/blurb in only 150 words. It’ll force you to cut out anything extraneous and focus.
Editing
Seeing Creative posted about her experience with SmartEdit!! 🙂 : Edit Smartly
My hubs is a drummer, you knew that right? Okay, so his theme this week and next is…
Really great drummers who are also really great singer/songwriter/guitarists.
The first one is obvious:
“Rope” by Foo Fighters, from the album “Wasting Light”
After having seen them live together, we both know just HOW MUCH they rock.
What I really like about Dave Grohl’s approach is that he released the first album under the band name with no attention to himself. He could have easily used his post Nirvana fame to push the project through, so to speak. Instead, he decided to let the music do the talking. I think that’s admirable, but I also think it was a smart move. It gave people the chance to judge the music purely on…the music. What a concept! No preconceived notions or other celebrity crap – just music.
Over the years, the band has been extremely successful at taking Dave’s songs and making them their own. I think this album is one of the best examples of this. They all play their roles to a perfection and sound like a BAND.
Happy weekend folks!! Boom, bang look at all those cool links for writers. Jeff took another week off from picking out great music. Not to worry, SYTYCD had loads of fabulous performance I wanted to share this week, so which one was my favorite?
I’ve completely fallen for @smoulderingsea and his #editortips, if you miss the daily tweets you can still catch them on his blog. Here is my fav from yesterday: When editing down backstory and inner monologue, keep only what the reader needs–not what you needed to sort your story.
Dance to inspire
So many great performances this week as SYTYCD season 9 revealed their top 20. This performance was by far my fav, enjoy
It’s a week of transitions for me, but one thing that doesn’t change: I’m still learning tons from my blog reads. Good stuff this we folks. Hubs is getting another week off, but I’ve picked something for you.
The hubs was given another pass this week, another crazy gigging week for him. Don’t feel bad for him, he had a ton of fun, we just didn’t get to see a lot him, bummer.
I’ve picked “If You Want Me” by The Swell Season. Marketa Irglova’s voice is hauntingly beautiful, enjoy
Happy Saturday and thanks for stopping by today. I’ve got some of my favorite links of the week for you, but I’ve given the hubs the week of from his music picks. He’s been working hard all week so I guess that’s okay 😉 Instead I’ve picked an audition from this years So You Think You Can Dance.
Love learning from folks who have been there and done that
Lots of memorable auditions this year. This one stands out because she’s a mommy who has not given up on her dream. Listen to her story, watch her beautiful moves, and stay till the end, because her daughter dances too.
Back to my regular patterns this week. I have writing links for you and a music pick from Jeff. The video is a funny clip from Fred Armisen’s show “Portlandia”
The coolest thing: Kristen Lamb you are awesome! She has created a place for writers to not be alone 😉 you can chat with other writers in your genre and it’s a place to learn from WRITERS. Hurry, click away, come back to my list later I Bring You…A Gift–A New Era for the Digital Age Artist
“Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood” by St. Vincent, from the album “Actor”
St. Vincent is actually Annie Clark. I think she got her break playing with the Polyphonic Spree. She’s a wonderful singer/songwriter/guitarist.
Her music is so interesting to me. I can hear the influences, but the way in which she stirs them up and spits them out is very unique to her. I think it starts with her guitar style and musical knowledge. She’s not the average singer/songwriter nor is she the average guitarist.
I’ve heard that she writes the tunes on the guitar and then deconstructs them in the studio. I really like that idea and the end result. Sometimes it can be a little too out there for me but then, after a few listens, I’m back in again. That’s the point, it seems – draw the listener in right away but also give us something to discover over time. I think all truly great music does this.
I’ve also seen some clips of her playing her songs stripped down to just voice and acoustic guitar. It’s clear that all the studio production is merely a means to create interesting layers to already great tunes.
Plus, she has Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley’s drummer) on drums. Musically, you can’t go wrong with that guy in your band!
S.J. Maylee 