So You Think You Can Dance: Mia Michaels Tribute

A few weeks ago the producers of So You Think You Can Dance did something they have never done before in their seven seasons: they had the dancers recreate routines from past seasons. The one thing they had in common was they were all routines choreographed by Mia Michaels.

I like most of Mia Michaels routines, and they did many of my favorites and other fan favorites. However, none of the dancer's interpretations of the routines lived up to the originals. It may be because we are all so used to the originals, or that many were choreographed specifically for the strengths and individuality of the original dancers, and in some cases simply because the original dancers were just better. But in spite of the reasons, it was still interesting to see the routines recreated by the season 7 dancers.

Among the routines they included, was my favorite (as well as many others' favorite) Mia Micheals routine, The Bench. It was not the best of the night, however. I think that if I had never seen it before, with Travis and Heidi, that I probably would have liked it better. But a great routine like that becomes ingrained in your memory with those you first saw perform it. And Travis and Heidi not only performed it perfectly, they had the right emotion also, which was what put it over the top. You can see a performance of it here.

I think the best routine of the night was "Gravity," performed by Lindsay and Cole. The theme of the routine is someone who is trying to overcome an addiction, and it was orginally performed by Kayla and Kupono. I just love Kayla and Kupono's performances and characters, it's so intense and emotional, but Lindsay and Cole performed it well also. It's interesting to see how differently the couples interpreted the dance, especially how differently Cole and Kupono interpreted their role as the addiction. Which do you like better?

Kayla and Kupono - Gravity


Lindsay and Cole - Gravity


My favorite Mia Michaels routine (other than The Bench) is a group dance from season 7. The routine is performed to Sting's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." I wish they would have done this routine for the group dance for the Mia Michaels tribute episode instead of the routine they did. I don't even remember what that group routine was, is was so unmemorable for me.

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic