I have no gaydar to speak of, but there were a number of male dancers who pinged me besides Anthony. And Nigel let them through. I'm not saying he's not a big ole homophobe, he is. I think he either has a stricter set of criteria or a quota system and Anthony was too late in the show.
Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us? Zoe: Big damn heroes, sir.
'Safe'
Non-Fiction TV: I Reject Your Reality and Substitute My Own
This thread is for non-fiction TV, including but not limited to reality television (So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef: Masters, Project Runway), documentaries (The History Channel, The Discovery Channel), and sundry (Expedition Africa, Mythbusters), et al. [NAFDA]
SailAweigh - May 29, 2008 5:16:25 pm PDT #5126 of 23273
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Jesse - May 29, 2008 5:21:24 pm PDT #5127 of 23273
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
If you can "dance like a dude," you're OK.
SailAweigh - May 29, 2008 5:51:45 pm PDT #5128 of 23273
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Exactly.
amyth - May 29, 2008 6:21:23 pm PDT #5129 of 23273
And none of us deserving the cruelty or the grace -- Leonard Cohen
amyth - May 29, 2008 6:22:06 pm PDT #5130 of 23273
And none of us deserving the cruelty or the grace -- Leonard Cohen
Nigel is a dick and a huge homophobe and he could go in there and dance better than some Cortez/Thomas/Baryshnikov/Nuryev hybrid super-dancer and he still wouldn't get on the show.
I couldn't agree more. Nigel's homophobia and heteronormativity keeps getting more blatant.
brenda m - May 29, 2008 6:23:05 pm PDT #5131 of 23273
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Apparently you could agree more after all.
amyth - May 29, 2008 6:27:52 pm PDT #5132 of 23273
And none of us deserving the cruelty or the grace -- Leonard Cohen
I found hidden reserves of agreement at the last minute.
meara - May 29, 2008 8:19:07 pm PDT #5133 of 23273
Nigel's homophobia and heteronormativity keeps getting more blatant.
Hell yes. I mean, I keep thinking about a friend of mine from DC. She auditioned for some Missy Elliot show where they were trying to do some kind of "you can sing and dance and be the next star" thing. And she got past a certain amount of the audition rounds...but she's gay. And butch. And they couldn't figure out what to do with her.
She can dance like nobody's business. (And god knows ehe's got stage presence) And I imagine her auditioning for this show, and she'd knock the socks off some of these poplocking boys. But she couldn't be on the show. Because in her style she'd be fine...and she's a good enough dancer (I've seen her do choreography for shows in hip hop styles and stuff) that she could definitely do a lot of the stuff just like some of the untrained other dancers have....but not as a GIRL. I can't see her in a dress. Following. And I can't see them letting her lead. :)
Is it just me, or are we not seeing hardly any ballroom people this year? And hardly any GOOD hip hop people??
meara - May 29, 2008 9:18:49 pm PDT #5134 of 23273
On the one hand I feel a little tiny bit sad for the Julliard kid because yes, he is good and all but, but...sweetie, if you really are going to be a dancer, you need to get used to rejection. And unexplained rejection. Though I supposed normally you won't have cameras following you around after. But still.
Oddly, what I'd really like to see is a montage of mediocre dancers. Like, a bunch of contemporary dancers who were just OK. Or ballroom people who didn't get to go on to choreography. Etc. Etc.
amyth - May 30, 2008 1:41:27 am PDT #5135 of 23273
And none of us deserving the cruelty or the grace -- Leonard Cohen
I agree that the Juilliard kid needs to develop a tougher skin, but it felt (to me) like a lot of his reaction to the rejection was frustration and anger that he was being rejected precisely because he was gay, and he didn't feel safe saying that on camera. But yeah, he needs to grow up.
I wonder how Nigel would have reacted to your friend? Probably told her that she looked "frumpy" and that she needed to put on a nice dress.
You're right! No ballroom! Weird. It always seemed like the three things you could count on were 1) Russian ballroom dancers, 2) Mormons, and 3) students taught by Denise Wall.