PureDWTS Rants & Raves: To Lift or Not to Lift?
For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed me “getting up on my soapbox” the past few weeks regarding something that has been debated from several different angles around PureDWTS: lifts. We’ve casually kicked around the pros & cons of them: do they enhance the routine, or are they just filler? Should they be required? Should they be prohibited? Are they safe? What exactly constitutes a lift, anyway? Well here it is, kids – the place where we can really get down to the nitty-gritty of lifts.
My sudden fixation with the topic started about 2 weeks ago, while watching a movie with my boyfriend (who, as many of you know, is a pro ballroom dancer/teacher). He kept squirming around, trying to get comfortable, and failing. Finally, getting annoyed with all his wiggling, I asked what was wrong. “Oh, I just strained my neck a little bit doing a lift with one of my students today. It’s just a little sore.” Seemed benign enough – minor soreness from doing a new lift. But over the course of the next week, the pain intensified, to the point where he was unable to turn his head to the right AT ALL, and had to turn his whole body to face me when I was talking (which was actually kind of cool, since it made me think he was just really listening to me intently ;-)) and had to institute a temporary ban on lifting at the dance studio. He iced it. He put a heating pad on it. He stretched it. He used a special neck pillow. He took some Tylenol. He went and got 3 massages in one week – all to little avail. Things were starting to take their toll on both of us, as my bf was in too much pain to ride his motorcycle, sit upright for very long, or do any sort of vigorous activity. Finally, at the recommendation of one of his students (and me, as I had been HOUNDING him about it), he finally went to the chiropractor last Friday, and after taking one look at my bf’s x-ray, the chiropractor exclaimed “Ooh, no wonder you’ve been in pain – your C4 & C5 vertebrae are wayyyy out of alignment!” A few minutes with the TENS unit and some adjusting with the chiropractor later, he was FINALLY experiencing some relief. That was a week ago – he’s been to the chiro a few more times since then, and he’s probably 85% better. But the no-lift rule at the studio still stands until he’s back to 100% and gets the all-clear from the chiropractor.
So the most obvious question brought up by my bf’s dilemma is “Are lifts safe?” The answer: no. Read my lips: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “SAFE” LIFT. Sure, there are techniques to make them safer, and some are clearly safer than others, but all lifts are inherently dangerous, as there is always going to be the risk of injury from falling or being fallen on, as well as other sprains, strains, and even breaks from trying to correct a fall that is already in motion. In fact, the very appeal of lifts is in the danger – the awe-spiring risk of doing them in the first place, and often the romantic notion of the delicate lady being in harm’s way, but protected by the strong arms of a handsome male lead. No wonder all of my boyfriend’s students want lifts in their showcase routines! 😉
Which brings up the next question: should they even be doing lifts in the first place? Obviously, it’s always going to be safer for a couple already experienced in lifting to be doing lifts (check out Eric Luna & Georgia Ambarian, the current world champions in the theater arts division), and it’s a downright TERRIBLE idea for two inexperienced individuals to start attempting them without the guidance and supervision of someone with experience (this is a good example of people that should NOT being doing lifts!). But both my boyfriend’s predicament and that of the couples on DWTS is a bit more of a grey area – the situation where only half of the couple is experienced. In this particular case, I’m a firm believer that the more experienced member of the partnership is the one more likely to get hurt, regardless of gender. Since they’re experienced, they’re going to be more likely to be hurt by the rookie mistakes of their partner, and more likely to try & protect their partner from harm…and possibly injure themselves as a result. My boyfriend is a good example of this, as his neck injury was the result of him compensating for a student who couldn’t quite get the right leverage to get up onto his shoulder; Kym’s neck injury this past season is also a good example, as it was Hines who lost his balance and fell onto Kym, likely due to pure inexperience. Toni Redpath (a former Australian ballroom champion & a frequent guest judge/choreographer on SYTYCD) did a great video blog a few weeks back (thanks for pointing this out, Evaine! Quite timely ;-)) which did a good job of explaining why lifts are allowed in ballroom routines on SYTYCD but not on DWTS – and the biggest reason was *drumroll* EXPERIENCE. All the dancers on SYTYCD have some experience with dance, which makes the transition to lifting quite a bit smoother for them than a celebrity with zero dance experience. Not only does it make life a bit easier on the celebs, but it keeps the couples safer, too.
But let’s say experience is not an issue. From a choreographic standpoint, should everybody be peppering lifts into their routines? I certainly don’t think so. Heidi always brings up an interesting argument whenever someone starts comparing ballroom on SYTYCD to ballroom on DWTS and the subject of lifts comes up: when used in excess, lifts tend be a bit of a cop-out, choreographically. It can often let bad dancers get away with not really dancing, and results in a routine that is more “flash & trash” than meat-and-potatoes dance steps – and can end up looking NOTHING like the dance it’s meant to portray. The best example of this that I can think of is Channing & Philip’s samba from season 6 of SYTYCD. While not inherently “bad”, the routine only has a few basic samba steps in it, and the rest was a lot of shimmying and (rather clumsily-executed) lifts. Of course the video cuts out before the judges give their commentary, but I distinctly remember Adam actually calling out the choreographers on this one for making the routine “too lifty”. I feel like lifts can also interrupt the “flow” of a dance if not placed properly – for a lift to work choreographically, I think it has to have proper timing & musicality, and have very fluid transitions in & out of it. Otherwise you end up with routines like Channing & Philip’s, which feels jerky & disjointed – “Look I’m doing samba, I’m doing samba, I’m doing samba…ooh now I’m stopping samba & doing a lift…aaaaaand I’m back to dancing samba…STOP! time for another lift-and more samba….” It’s just visually…displeasing. Now don’t get me wrong – a few well-placed, well-executed lifts can enhance a routine. A great example is Riccardo Cocchi & Yulia Zagoruychenko’s samba showdance from the 2009 America’s Ballroom Challenge (does the move at 1:06 look familiar? Derek used it at the end of his samba with Nicole ;-)). Only one lift, and they ended up winning the showdance category, over 5 other couples – most of whom had more lifts. IMHO, you don’t need lifts to make ANY routine on DWTS (including the freestyle) look good. Derek had no choice but to come up with alternatives to lifts in season 11, when Jennifer made it clear from day 1 that her neck injury made lifting an impossibility – and they still managed to win, and create some very memorable routines while they were at it. Their lift-minimal Argentine tango still stands out to me as one of the best we’ve ever had on the show.
So the bf & I were talking about lifts at-length the other night, and he said something that stuck with me: “You know, DWTS is great for the attention it has brought to ballroom dancing & all, but it’s really left some people with an unrealistic idea of what ballroom is and isn’t.” He went on to explain that he gets new students in the studio who are frustrated upon finding out that they won’t be dancing eye-catching routines like the ones on TV right off the bat, and many of them seem more concerned with costumes & music than technique & solid choreography. I can imagine it gets very frustrating for dance teachers like him – especially when the demand for flashy nuances like lifts necessitates them risking their own safety. The format of DWTS has actually forced my bf’s studio to start doing more showcase routines with their students (as opposed to focusing on good technique for competition) – and as my bf puts it, “every single one of my ladies wants lifts in her routine – and if they think one of the other ladies has more/better lifts, they’ll ask for more. It’s KILLING me!” And me as well, since he often comes home cranky & sore and barely able to move…let alone do other activities. 😉
So I’ve said my piece with regards to lifts…what do you guys think? LAY IT ON ME 😀
Yep, that is one of my biggest complaints with the ballroom on SYTYCD – it doesn’t look like ballroom, most of the time, but a bunch of lifts strung together with no real technique in between. I often contended on twitter that the judges (‘cept for Mary) and the dancers can’t DO Ballroom so they use the dancers strength to do showy lifts – and then rave about it.
It is SO obvious when a DWTS choreographer is on SYTYCD (except for Dmitry) because the ballroom is GOOD…to great in the case of Louis’ recent Tango that had only ONE lift at the end. That was a fantastic dance that deserves an Emmy nomination – which is unlikely to happen because the Emmy voters have the same problem as the SYTYCD judges and dancers – most are contemporary, can’t handle ballroom, and therefore look down on it. I exclude Dmitry from great ballroom that is different from SYTYCD normal because Dmitry is originally FROM that show and it shows on DWTS – he still hasn’t quite got the DWTS format down, IMO. Good choreographer, I”m sure – but certainly still more at home on SYTYCD. And no, that’s not exactly a compliment. Sorry. 🙂
Most of the times in DWTS, when lifts are allowed for some dances, they are mainly used as filler to compensate the lack of technique. The best argentine tango in the show was, to my opinion, Gilles & Cheryl’s and there was only 1 lift at the end too.
But it could be worse you know, in the french DWTS, lifts were allowed for all the dances and it really sucks.
Great piece, Courtney!! Kudos!
1. I totally back the almost total lift ban on DWTS. Especially after Evan’s concussion in S10, Kym’s horrific accident last season and all the various bumps, drops and missteps we’ve seen over the years.
2. I’m glad your boyfriend is feeling better. Maybe he needs to put Toni’s blog on repeat for his students? (People really need to get realistic! Sheesh!!)
3. Louis’ tango routine for SYTYCD kicked ASS! It was amazing!!
Lifts are ok sometimes, but, after reading Court’s post and the accidents we’ve seen on DWTS, I think they should ban them. I’d rather just see a dramatic, theartical dance and danced well anyway.
Excellent post Courtney!!!
I agree, the dance should speak for itself. This was also expressed by Derek Hough. Is it just me, but I really don’t notice Derek having many lifts in his dancing routines. They really should be banned at times, too dangerous!
I think the lifts are okay in the freestyle and dances like Argentine Tango and Jitterbug.
But maybe they should have a rule about how many lifts they are allowed per dance to minimize the risk of getting hurt and also so we don’t get those dances that contain more lifts than actual dance.
I don’t think they should ban them completely.
I like the lifts when they don’t overpower the dance and maybe they should practise them in water as we saw Derek and Brooke do in season 7.
I love a good breathtaking lift, excitement is what the audience wants, right….
However, after that horrific accident with Kym last year, I would say maybe minimal style lifts allowed. But realistically, reading what Courtney has said, combined with the accidents that have occurred on this show, they are just too dangerous and risky and probably should not be allowed.
And Courtney, Louis should be Emmy nominated for that Tango performed on SYTYCD, it was incredible, the lift at the end reminded me of the lift that Kym and Hines tried to undertake with disastrous results, and reminded me how quickly it all could go terribly wrong.
But who’s fault was it that Kym wanted to put a lift and neither she nor her am partner were comfortable to do? The rules are there…. Some pros should know better. Derek clearly knows what he can or can’t do.
Thanks guys 🙂 Glad this is generating some good discussion!
I couldn’t agree more with Heidi that SYTYCD has a certain bias against ballroom dancers – I think they’re intimidated by it, and don’t fully appreciate the extreme skill necessary to make it look good. I’ve noticed that the ballroom contestants have been getting scarcer and scarcer in recent seasons, and they seem to be getting sent home earlier & earlier. And the praise for lift-laden, sloppily-executed ballroom by contemporary dancers has just gotten even more sickening. I have to wonder if Mary sometimes bites her tongue when critiquing such a watered-down ballroom number – as if she knows that the routine is crap, but is so far under Nigel’s thumb that she feels she can’t be honest. And Louis’ tango for Marko & Melanie, while brilliant and totally Emmy-worthy, won’t get a nod, because the panel is primarily contemporary dancers, who seem to believe that all dance has to be deeply rooted in emotion and seem to turn up their noses at heavily choreographed styles such as ballroom. I once heard the head of the dance department (a hardcore modern/contemporary dancer) at my college quite arrogantly claim that ballroom was “far too inorganic and impersonal to ever have a profound impact on the world of dance”. Gee, then I guess the popularity of DWTS is a total fluke then? I dropped her class the very next day.
And thanks for your concern for my bf, Evaine 🙂 He’s feeling much better now, and still going to the chiropractor & massage therapist on a regular basis. His studio’s next showcase is later this month, and he’s already kind of locked-in to performing some of these lift-laden routines, so he’s going to go ahead and do them – albeit very cautiously – but is going to impose a “lift limit” on any subsequent showcase routines…he’s gotta put his foot down with his students at some point. He’s also trying to get his boss to bring in more Latin & ballroom coaches to choreograph for them, as opposed to the many theater arts/cabaret coaches they’ve had in this year. No wonder all of his routines have gotten so lifty!
And you’re right about Derek, Margaret – if I remember correctly, Derek mentioned a few years ago (maybe in season 7?) that he doesn’t like to do a bunch of lifts & tricks because they scare him. He’s injured himself a few times trying to do them – I can’t blame him for being reluctant to throw them into routines willy-nilly. If anything, I think the lack of lifts has actually made him grow as a choreographer – he’s at the point now where his creativity enables him to create a great routine without having to use lifts. I think Maks has also grown in a similar manner – I’m seeing fewing lifts and “gimmicks” from him and more solid, entertaining choreography.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but are the lift rules on DWTS such that lifts are allowed in the finals and other than that, only for the Argentine Tango?
(And I’d just like to mention here that the ballroom dancers on SYTYCD Canada are doing very well this season. And did you know that Jean-Marc Genereux has his own shoe site now?)
@Evaine – I believe it’s the freestyle, Argentine tango, & the salsa that are allowed to have lifts in them. And in the past, it’s also been allowed in the jitterbug & Lindy hop as well, and there’s been a few instances where they’ve been allowed in some of the regular dances (I think in season 6, but only towards the end of the season). But the fact that they’re only allowed in a handful of dances hasn’t prevented some pretty scary injuries (Kym’s last season, as well as Evan’s concussion in season 10 and I think Derek hurt himself trying to jitterbug in season 7) and also some pretty watered-down routines (The Situation & Karina’s Argentine tango comes to mind…pretty much all lifts with some shuffling in between). Sometimes I think more stringent rules are necessary…i.e. no more than 2 lifts per dance, no lifts deemed higher than x-level of difficulty, etc.
Speaking of level of difficulty – in the theater arts division of ballroom, they do categorize lifts by “level of difficulty” and sometimes height (i.e. above the knee, above the hip, above the shoulder, etc), and some competitions impose limits on how many difficult lifts you can do. I’m wondering if they could come up with some sort of similar system for DWTS – obviously it’s going to be a lot safer to swing your partner around mere inches off the floor than it is to hoist them completely above your head.
I was agreeing above with what Heidi said about the Emmy Nomination for Louis, not Courtney, as I had stated….Case of brain and fingers not working together……(sorry)
I’m ok with generally limiting lifts. However, I’m totally for banning the lift NAZI!! I think it’s totally lame every time she mentions that she docked a point because the foot slightly came off the ground. That doesn’t impact the dance. It’s one thing to do a lift and another to have your foot come up slightly off the ground.
Derek hurt himself in season 7 on that roly poly move that wasn’t a lift – but I’m sure that the other lifts in that routine just exacerbated the issue.
Maddy, I agree that Derek is one of the more cautious pros, but I think they get so caught up in the competition aspect – not with other pros, but with the judges and wanting a great score that they can get carried away. Derek seems to have a rather firm grasp of what can go wrong and that it’s live TV so he’s generally a tad more cautious.
In the Australian version, lifts are allowed, and if the celebrity can’t dance that is basically all they do in their dances. It’s pretty annoying.
Paso.. Lift.
Cha cha.. Lift.
Foxtrot.. Lift.
Samba.. Lift.
They even put them into quicksteps and waltzes which ticks me off, and because of the long gowns they wear for those two dances, they usually get stuck.
I think leaving the lifts for the Freestyle and AT on DWTS is okay. It seems that’s what everyone is waiting to see in the FS, what kind of lifts will the pros create for their celebrities. But it would be interesting to take lifts out completely and see what types of freestyles we will get. I think that will lead to even more creative dance steps. But it does annoy me when Carrie Ann takes off points for accidental lifts! She has played favorites before where she ignores one couples’ illegal lifts and takes points off another couple.
The ballroom on SYTYCD annoys me to no end! It has gotten better in the last few weeks, but I remember that there were a couple of waltzes or VWs that were just life after lift and practically no waltz in hold… and the judges raved about it! Courtney, I can’t believe that modern dance teacher dissed ballroom like that. I see the same things from the contemporary dancers on SYTYCD every week.. it has gotten boring to me. Ballroom/latin dancers have to master like 10+ dancers to be comepetitive, right?! That’s incredible to me!
True enough that a well executed lift can enhance a dance routine However, Lifts are like gimmicks and tricks and as Len Goodman said a few seasons ago “Gimmicks and tricks are the last refuge of the untalented”
I agree with John. The only thing that bugs me about “no lifts” is when Carrie Ann docks a point when the female’s toes come about an inch or two off the ground because she’s being dragged along the floor by her partner and her shoe rubbing against the floor causes it to “skip” and then this is considered a lift by Carrie Ann. Ridiculous.
OMG, Eric Luna and Georgia Ambarian are amazing!!! I’ve never seen them before but I’m going to watch more of their dancing. Personally, on DWTS I like the lifts when they’re allowed but I don’t want anybody to get hurt doing a dangerous lift. In figure skating, I love the pairs skating which also has dangerous lifts. In ice dancing, they’re only allowed to lift up to shoulder level (I think that’s the rule) so it’s not as exciting and dramatic as the pairs skating. I’ve been watching SYTYCD more often this season than I have in the past. I don’t care for the hip hop or the break dancing or similar styles. The contemporary dancing just looks like a bunch of random jumping and spinning and flailing to me. Also, I don’t like the snide remarks they occasionally make about DWTS. That shows a lack of class.
SYTYCD lacks class because Nigel is totally insecure about their ratings being half of DWTS. And the dancers (Pros) aren’t as technically competent.