It shouldn't be a secret that I adore a dancing show. My love for #DWTS fades with every year that it's more a commercial for ABC and so I'm more invested in #Strictly for sure. But there's tons of talented dancers, particularly from before it just became a cycle of pulling troop from #SYTYCD (some of them are wonderful but it doesn't provide variety). He's one of the "Burn The Floor" recruits and I tend to be fans of them.
For most of the years he's been on, Keo gets the partners that will go out in round 1. He gets a pounding in the press but it's not his fault. He's a good trainer and choreographer. He's gotten the older contestants and sometimes ones who don't want to be there. But in his 4th cycle as a pro, Season 22, he got Jodie Sweetin. They were great together. She was a better dancer than the judges gave her credit for & the judges dance with the two of them & Nyle & Peta is a real highlight of the show.
It was a tough season, as the football players always get votes and Wanya Morris was really good. And Ginger Zee, being an ABC employee, went longer than Jodie or Kim Fields, although skill wise they were pretty equal. Jodie was the strongest for sure.
I was worried on switch up week. Keo is well taller than Kim Fields and they were assigned a Viennese Waltz so the height can matter with frame. But they were given the perfect song- "These Arms Of Mine" by Otis Redding. And in a shock of creativity, they didn't just slap a bridesmaid's dress on & make them spin around in circles.
It was a real genuine story, set in early 60's, so true to the era of the music. A sparse apartment and a portable record player. It's perfect.
And it's a beautiful dance - romantic but also sexy as hell and their connection is lovely.
If you think about that time - they maybe would have to dance at home because they couldn't get in clubs. Or had maybe been somewhere like the Checkerboard in Chicago or Webster Hall in NYC and wanted to keep dancing at home.
It evokes Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis for me - the costumes and even a bit of resemblance.
I've watched it once or twice a year since then. I still love it. And I still don't get the scores. Len hated it. Hated it. Maks gave Keo a really hard time about the height difference, which I thought was dealt with beautifully. Their frame is spot on. Extension is perfect and graceful. It's a solid 9 and honestly I'd maybe give it a 10 because it was so different from any other Viennese waltz we've seen. It was groundbreaking.
and they got 6's and 8's. I can't even watch Len's criticism. I know he's a pro & whatever. I think the concept just eluded him. That part of American history isn't something he'd be invested in. Aware of for sure, but not invested in the way others could be.
A friend asked me yesterday "What qualifications do you need to be a storyteller?" I guess my only answer would be inspiration and desire. Quite of lot of my opinions about that dance are just the story it evoked for me. But that's what makes it so great in my head. I felt like that was a real couple with a story to tell. That dance was just a slice of life of people I wanted to know more about. I'm eternally grateful to Keo for creating it & the two of them for dancing.
It's a lovely piece of business and I hope they know how much it meant to some folk.
Art can be storytelling on so many levels. What a dance or a painting or a song makes you feel and the connection that's personal to you? That's the greatness of it.
Again, a lovely bit of dancing and more. Give it a watch.
"These Arms Of Mine"
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