Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas

[DanceMentor]

It was cool how Dancing with the Stars featured Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas on the results episode for the second show (season 2). I know that Ryan was groomed directly by Franky Manning. He and Jenny have always been a pleasure to watch. I would have loved to see them dance to a Basie tune or something, but I thought they did well.

Here is there website:
http://www.ryanandjenny.com/

[star_gazer]

Swing Kids is one of my favorite movies…the dancing is incredible. But last night’s Lindy did nothing for me. It just didn’t click.

[mamboqueen]

Were they in the Broadway production of Swing?? Just trying to think of where I've heard their names before....

[DanceMentor]

I think Ryan Francois choreographed Swink Kids if I remember correctly, but not sure about the broadway production. I've definitely seen better from Ryan. Mainly, I think the problem was the music.

[GJB]

Were they in the Broadway production of Swing?? Just trying to think of where I've heard their names before....

Yes, they were in Swing.

[Phil Owl]

Indeed, they are very accomplished, but I must say it struck me as far more stage acrobatics than it did swing dancing, just this Owl's opinion.

[wyllo]

I was really excited they chose to have a swing couple perform, its nice they decided to feature a partner dance from outside the competitive ballroom world. I'm not very familiar with Lindy so I can't say if it was a good or bad performance, but I enjoyed it (except for the costuming, which wouldn't have been my first choice).

[Medira]

I'm in the same boat as star_gazer. I love watching lindy, but the routine just didn't do anything for me. It came off as sloppy and haphazard.

I wonder if this is going to be a trend for the results shows...bring in professional couples from non-DanceSport disciplines for demonstrations too? Salsa, WCS, hmm...I wonder if they'd consider sport acro too.

I wish they had kept the pro demo of next week's dances as well though.

[SDsalsaguy]

I wish they had kept the pro demo of next week's dances as well though.
Yes, I really liked that from week 1. Additional numbers are great, but that added something.

[bjp22tango]

Indeed, they are very accomplished, but I must say it struck me as far more stage acrobatics than it did swing dancing, just this Owl's opinion.

Most dance demos (of all types) are choregraphed for exhibition, not "the basics" of the dance. It would be "boring" to the audience.

I liked the swing demo. There were only a couple of slightly missed balance points in the aerial, otherwise they were spot on. I liked the way they used the music lyrics to determine which moves they would use, which is a hallmark of Lindy Swing.

They are used to dancing to much faster music than this, and they were dancing their style of Fast Lindy so at this tempo the effectiveness of their style isn't truly appreciated.

[SDsalsaguy]

They are used to dancing to much faster music than this, and they were dancing their style of Fast Lindy so at this tempo the effectiveness of their style isn't truly appreciated.
Yjay makes a lot of sense to me, especially in light of how awful that band is for playing real dance music.