Long time lurker w/a comments/questions. Did anybody here attend the dance-a-thon? I was curious about how successful it was (Drew's dance I believe went for $1900 which is not the highest auction price in the world when you throw in the air fare and hotel room for the winner), if any pro dancers attended, how many were in the venue. Here in NYC so far it has gotten exactly zero coverage while every other summer solicitice event, from a dawn-dusk yoga-thon in Times Square to K-Fed spokespersoning for a cell phone company - got plenty. I guess it was a busy day for events and B-C-D level celebs all around town. There was nothing in the Post, News or Newsday the day after. Not even a photo. All those wire image snaps gone to waste. I know it's summer but I'm thinking maybe Drew should jazz up his appearance at these events a little bit, given how unstarlike he can look in a striped polo and converse sneakers.Second, relevant to above, I went to the Colors of the Rainbow dancing classrooms finale at the Winter Garden today, which was exactly like being in the final sequences of Mad Hot Ballroom. There was Pierre looking and acting like Pierre - great crowd control, great kid skills, great common sense. Charlotte Jorgennson was a judge again - looking a little different than I'd ever pictured - tinier and rounder. Not heavy in the least, just rounder than the lean, angular blonde I pictured, and shorter in the leg. Arthur Mitchell of Dance Theatre of Harlem was also a judge, along with . . . YaYa DeCosta (LaCosta?) of America's Next Top Model and "Take the Lead". Can somebody explain her dance judge credentials?It was tough to judge live from the audience - there were a lot of traffic jams up there, the kids are short, and the costuming makes the overall effect look cluttered, so it's hard to single out stand-outs. I totally blew guessing the winner or even the finalists. And when the three gold teams were waiting, I was looking for which of the Violet and Green teams were going to win, automatically ignoring the Emerald Team, who got the trophy. The girls of the Emerald Team were dressed more for church than a dance competition - long stiff pastel dresses, it looked like they even had petticoats and slips underneath, and white stockings even, and a fairly mismatched looking bunch both with each other and in partnership. The Emerald team was obviously doing a great job while I was ignoring them based on cosmetics.Since I completely missed them and can't go back and see what I missed, I will assume they were the most consistent doing what Pierre said judges needed to watch for (in the movie) - number one, be in time. And number two, stand up straight. And maybe keeping their feet close together in the box. Because they did nothing striking.I saw a lot of outstanding things but no consistently outstanding team. I saw a lot of kids with great rhythm and cuban motion, but I am willing to believe some of them moved smoothly and rhythmically NOT in time to the music. In the merengue I'd notice one team do great, and then that team's foxtrot pair would come out and be lackluster, and on and on. Of the nine competing teams, about six teams appeared to have about two stand out pairs in a particular discipline, but come the next dance the same team woldn't stand out. While I wrongly x'd out the Emerald Team, I am pretty sure they didn't have what I'd call a star pair. So would I be wrong to guess that the winners won through consistency, while more noticable teams were hurt by inconsistent level of quality? Also, keeping in mind limited resources, why are some teams decked out in dancey looking dresses while a few look like their religion prohibits them from acknowledging they are corporeal belonw the neck and above the shin? And why do some of the teams dance in wedge shoes? I know the costumes and shoes are done on the cheap, so why not cheap ballet flats instead of cheap wedge shoes that impede dance motion?
