Step It Up and Dance - Bravo TV feat Jerry Mitchell

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 3/8/08 at 6:54pm

So I was at the gym today and flipping through channels and I saw a familiar face on Bravo - Cody Green (a swing in the Grease revival) in a commercial for a new show called "Step It Up & Dance." I went to the website, and lo and behold, guess who's involved?
Celebrated actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley will serve as host and Emmy Award nominee and Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell will mentor the 12 dancers chosen from around the country, as they master every conceivable dance style, from ballet and ballroom to Broadway and burlesque.

http://www.bravotv.com/Step_It_Up_And_Dance/season/1/about/index.php

So between this and Blonde, is Jerry Mitchell the next Tim Gunn?

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 12:12pm

Um, bump?

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 1:03pm

Michelle Aguilar Camaya of The Lion King is also in the final 12.

[Trish2]

Posted: 3/9/08 at 2:52pm

Do we REALLY need another dance reality show? This sounds dreadful.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 10:54am

Anyone else watch? Cody was amazing! I'm so excited to have seen him as Kenickie a few months ago.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 11:03am

We have a Cody love fest going on in the thread on the Off Topic Board

[Trish2]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 11:53am

Well, its just what i expected and worse. 12 mostly unappealing, poorly trained and grungy looking dancers ( Cody and Michelle notiwthstanding) competing in a rehashed version of every other reality dance show out there. Only worse.They couldnt find 12 better dancers for this show? I thought that with Mitchell attached there might be some sense of dignity, but alas no.There is nothing reminiscent of Broadway type auditions or calibre, which I hoped there would be. Jerry is no Tim Gunn and his contributions as a mentor have yet to be realzed. Jerry, like anyone else, is in it for the money and fame. Too bad he sold out to this lackluster, poorly conceived show. If you live in Manhattan and see the billboards and signage everywhere, it looks as if they're contestants for some grunge music video. Plus, aside from Jerry Mitcehll, all the judges are LA based and work mostly in music videos and tours for recording artists. Naturally, when you have Vincent Patterson ( A Chorus Line -the Movie) you know your'e doomed. In addition, the judges are trying to copycat judges commentary and banter from most reality shows, with a much lower trailer park vulgarity. To have one of them even mention the word "faggot" was especially demeaning and mean spirited. What a waste of a time slot.
Updated On: 4/5/08 at 11:53 AM

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:00pm

To have one of them even mention the word "faggot" was especially demeaning and mean spirited.

That was Miguel's word.
From Jerry Mitchell's interview on AfterElton.com

---------------------

AE: And he asks her “Did I look like a fag?” And she says, “Yeah.” [Mitchell laughs loudly.] I wasn’t offended by that, coming from her as a part of the dance community, but I do wonder, is that fair? How big a deal is it if someone is perceived as effeminate when they’re dancing?
JM: Look, he asked the question, right? And she answered it. So she was being honest. What is important for a dancer is to know the image that they’re projecting, especially when they walk into an audition. In this particular show, they’re being themselves, so they’re projecting a self image, but if I were walking into an audition for, say, South Pacific, which is running on Broadway right now, I’d probably want to tone down my gay quotient and up my straight butch military quotient. To have that knowledge of what I’m projecting as myself and be able to work with it, is going to allow me, in the real arena, to be more profitable as a dancer and book more jobs.
So if Nancy’s giving that critique to someone and they want to hear it, then they should hear it. And if you don’t care, then you’re limiting yourself, because dancers are actors. You have to act the part. It doesn’t matter what you do personally, you have to act the role that you’re playing. We all hear about straight guys who play gay parts, why can’t a gay guy play a straight part? He certainly can, if he’s able to act it on stage.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:03pm

Vince Patterson choreographed Madonna's 1990 BLONDE AMBITION WORLD TOUR (which homaged Bob Fosse in numerous numbers); choreographed Alan Parker's film-version of EVITA and co-choreographed the Broadway musical KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN along with Rob Marshall.

Doomed? His choreography credentials speaks volumes, excluding the fact that he was an extra/dancer in the 1985 A CHORUS LINE film.

[Trish2]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:26pm

Regardless of him, the show is terrible and does nothing to elevate or educate on the "reality" of auditions.

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:37pm

That show is brilliant! Especially when one of the contestants is talking about Elizabeth Berkley and said "She danced so hard in that movie, oh and she sang 'I'm so excited'" LMAO! How can you not love the pure cheese that this show is! Especially the fag question!

[dramadude]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:40pm

CODY GREEN IS AMAZING!!! I HOPE HE WINS!

[Trish2]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:41pm

It was vulgar and crass. Aside from humiliating and prejudice.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:50pm

Trish2 -- go play with your Carol Channing doll and leave the geniuses at BRAVO to their reality show gems.

You not tuning in isn't going to affect their ratings one inch.

And yes... Cody is the ONLY reason to watch.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 12:51pm

Okay, Trish2... take a deep breath. It's been ONE episode.

Future episodes could very well have them going to more realistic auditions. The setup for the first episode was obvious and necessary... the producers needed to let the dancers know that they are there to compete, not to have a good time. So the fact that their "night out" was staged was a great introduction to the show, in my opinion, and even reflected the real world of dance if you think about it. Dancers don't dance for fun... they do it for a living.

With the drama of one of the dancers already getting injured, not to mention the fact that they had to introduce every single contestant to the audience made for very little screen time for the first actual challenge. It's how all reality shows begin.

Relax... these shows only get better as they go on (Project Runway, anyone?).

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 2:24pm

I thought he looked familiar, but I had only heard about Movin' Out in London, then when I watched the tv show did I get the Grease connection...if there was anyone memorable about Grease, it was him...

I agree, he's pretty much the only reason to watch this show.

Though I did find this quote from PAPERMAG amusing:

WS: Would you ever do a reality show?
CG: No, I don’t think so.
Curtain Cutie: Cody Green

[matty159]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 4:00pm

Agreed on Cody, but overall, it was not the train wreck I thought it would be.

[dancegirl]

Posted: 4/5/08 at 10:12pm

The thing that shocked me the most was the quality of most of the dancers. They are supposed to be 12 of the best dancers in the country, yet some of them look like they can barely dance at all. And to call Elizabeth Berkley a "celebrated actor and dancer" is really using both terms loosely. Who has celebrated her talents? The only reason anyone went to see "Showgirls" was to see her naked! I did like Cody though, and a few of the others, but some of them are just a mess.

[Trish2]

Posted: 4/6/08 at 12:40am

I would say that TWO of them are employable. In the dance business that is.

[NomiSuperFan]

Posted: 4/10/08 at 3:46pm

I'm so excited to see that you guys are feeling Cody. I just called him as the winner on my blog, and now I feel totally vindicated! http://stepitupanddance.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/the-ehs-have-it/

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/8/08 at 1:07pm

I still think it's funny that Jason Alexander said "as a staunch heterosexual........."......not from what I've read some of the posters on here say!