DWTS Season 16 – TWO New Dance Styles
It’s official. From the ABC Medianet press release:
“Episode 1601″ — “Dancing with the Stars” is back with an all-new cast of fresh faces hitting the dance floor. This season features two new dance styles, contemporary and jazz; three new professional dance partners — Lindsay Arnold, Sharna Burgess & Gleb Savchenko; and notable theme shows. In May, “Dancing with the Stars” will commemorate their 300th episode with a spectacular celebration. The competition begins with the two-hour Season 16 premiere, live, MONDAY, MARCH 18 (8:00-10:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show” premieres in week two, with the first elimination on Tuesday, March 26.
Click the link to read the whole press release. I didn’t see anything else that was interesting or different, except maybe a new App.
Anyway, I can’t even begin to express how stupid I think this idea is. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the ballroom styles we had and if we lose Argentine Tango or Paso in order to have freakin’ Jazz, I will be pissed. It was bad enough last season when you had people who had been on the show before and you wanted to challenge them, but this is crap. The judges have a hard enough time judging Ballroom fairly, how are they going to manage dance styles they know nothing about?? At least Bruno and CAI might have a clue about Contemporary, but Len?? No. And most of the pros have little to no experience in and have never been trained in either Jazz or Contemporary. This might give Derek, Mark, and Lindsay a leg up on some of the other pros, but man…I don’t care about contemporary. This is a fail in my book.
Everyone from the show always said how much fun he was and how much they liked him. I...
I still do not understand why they needed to add new styles they shouldve kept their usual style i understand adding them in the all stars season since everyone was pretty good (besides Bristol and Pam) and they all had dance experience by that point but DWTS dance style wise shouldn’t tried to fix whats broken and Jazz especially will be a mess this season if u remember Apolo jazz routine was a mess. I understand if they wanted to ad these styles for the semi finals or finals when everyone has dance experience but besides that these styles should not be on a ballroom show. I am honestly debating now whether or not this will be my last season watching the show because im getting tired of all these changes last minuet that fail in the end.
I could not agree more. Keep the ballroom dance styles….
O joy, we get more theme nights
*skud missile sound effect*
The sound you just heard was this show continuing it’s ever-accelerating descent into self-destruction. Still wondering why they think emulating another failing show (SYTYCD) is somehow going to boost their ratings….
This is so annoying. The previous dance styles were fine. I hope we don’t lose any of my favourite styles now. This sucks
Rage rage rage rage rage rage rage rage rage rage rage rage.
That is all.
Add me to the list as thinking this is a tremendously BAD idea! WTF sums it up for me.
I don’t know what to think
Ick, I don’t like contemporary or jazz either! Now watch…come time for them to perform it, I’ll end up loving what they pull off. And knowing Derek, he’ll do something really cool. He can do anything and make it work.
Man… where are all that ballroom styles? where’s salsa, a. tango, merengue, lambada, wcs, american smooth, and all other cool ballroom dances?
What a shame… =/
Don’t get me wrong, I love contemporary and jazz myself as it’s what I’m trained in. But adding them in the mix here is a bad idea. They need to be focusing on one style of dance. People who aren’t trained themselves in the area shouldn’t have to teach others it. And judges who aren’t trained aren’t going to know how to judge properly. It seemed like they were going in a “Back to Basics” direction but I don’t see that anymore…
I thought they were more clever than that.
Are they aiming to be the only dance show on TV (I don’t follow SYTYCD so I don’t know where they’re standing at)?
All I gotta say is, Wine is ready, seatbelt is fastened, remote control in hand, and two little doggies ready and willing to go out at any time.
*bangs head on wall* All i wanted was for Contemporary to be the only new dance this season… but noooo they have to put in something even worse!
UGH! RAGERAGERAGERAGERAGE.
They better not get rid of: Arg. Tango (my favorite one), the Paso, the V. Waltz, the Samba. If they have to get rid of 2 I GUESSSSS the Waltz and the Rumba (or the Salsa)
@Carlos – Merengue I think it’s too… latin for DWTS. I hope they kept the salsa and the Arg. Tango. The lambada I’m not particularaly fan off and isn’t the American Smooth just a Foxtrot with lifts? Meh.
We can just hope that there is a *huge* difference between those that *can* pull off the new styles and those that *can’t* that they’ll retire them, as they’ve done with other dance styles that they tried out for a season (or two). A. tango was one of 3-4 new styles, and it was the only one that stuck around. And once they see that there’s only one or two of the pros (most likely Derek and one or two others) that can pull it off they’ll realize they shouldn’t put them in. Kind of like the decade themed dances – Derek was really the only one that made them work (and there was Dmitry & Mya’s 70′s samba), and so now they’re just a distant memory, other than Derek’s two pasos. Here’s hoping, anyway.
joining in with the banging my head on my desk repeatedly crowd. WTF!!!!!!
first I thought the costumes were really meh at best – although I’m sure the local WalMart is thrilled at the uptick in sales.
then they couldn’t spring for a second color of spray tan – everyone’s the same shade!
you know damn well that they’ll have to drop at least one ballroom styles to make room for 2 new regular dances. really – they couldn’t have saved this for the semi finals?
notable theme weeks. oh joy.
at least I’m still love love loving 84% of the cast
Oh – meant to add, at least the first elimination is not until after the second dance, so that’s a comfort.
The only reason I’m excited about this is to see what Derek comes up with. He can do anything. I worry about the others, but maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised. I think producers are desperately trying to get the Emmy win for choreography. They’re tired of losing to SYTYCD.
Y’know, Steph, I hadn’t thought of the Emmy angle. I bet that had at least something to do with this silly decision.
The problem, Steph, is that Derek will come up with something amazing and get a 29 and another pro will choreograph a piece of shit and also get a 29 – like last season’s Gilles Bollywood – because the Judges aren’t informed enough to distinguish between the great and the horrendous. THAT will piss me off. Again.
As for the Emmy theory, it’s a good idea, but I have a hard time believing that the producers seriously expect an Emmy worthy routine out of a bunch of pros who don’t actually specialize in either style when those same pros can’t get Emmy nominations for what they DO specialize in, unless their names are Derek or Mark. I’m a FIRM believer that the Emmy panels lean toward contemporary very strongly because the voters are contemporary choreographers/dancers. But those same people are EXPERTS in contemporary and will look down their noses (rightfully so) at Ballroom professionals putting together dances for untrained dancers – which are RARELY given nominations to begin with.
Derek is, IMO, gaining serious cred in that community and I would not be at all surprised to see another dance from him and Allison Holker this season (I know they’re working on one and Derek supposedly wrote the music) – THAT should be where they make their Emmy grabs. I think this route actually might hurt their chances.
I guess I was sort of relieved, thinking this means they would only do 2 of the crazy things from last season, taking it as good news that there would be no bollywood, etc…But then I realized that those crazy producers could still just throw them in on a whim… Please don’t get rid of AT or PD! Go ahead and get rid of rumba as I think it’s usually boring (imo).
OK, I’m not happy, but I’m not going to fly off the handle just yet. I’ll wait until mid-season for that when they throw in some wrinkle they need to keep their storyboards in tact.
Guess I better start preparing for week 3 – it’s bound to be my *favorite*
“Personal Story Week”.
As for the 2 new dances. *sigh* Maybe TPTB are trying to finish off SYTYCD by incorporating Contemporary and Jazz into their show and luring away the competition’s viewers. If so, it’s a dumb idea.
I will rage if either of the new dances replaces Argentine Tango. It’s my absolute favorite.
To me it makes sense to pare down to one waltz, and let the couple choose either Slow or Viennese.
They could also eliminate Rumba as far as I’m concerned. I find 90% of them either boring or cringeworthy. However, TPTB will keep it because it’s good for showmancing and dances for the dead on personal story week.
I used to love Paso, but now it’s just an excuse for the men to strip. Of course, with “Sean Shirtless” on this season, we know there *will be* Paso.
Waltz will probably be dropped as it has hardly been used except for 1/2 dances since season 12.
I hate that they are adding Contemporary and Jazz. What made DWTS different and special was that the show focused solely on ballroom. Why fix what ain’t broke?
Also, DWTS is way more successful than So You Think You Can Dance (although I love SYTYCD as well) anyways, so why the need to be like that show? Why is it THAT important to attract the younger viewers?
A true dancer with solid training can dance anything!!, why do you think so mnay classically trainrd dancrs havr no problem dancing jazz hipnhop ballet they are true dancers and are well rounded and versatile and theynwill be probablynsomenof the best ballroom dancers to see. Ballroom is the easiest form of dance to learn for a trained danceer. The women of ballroom are case and pointnthey can do everything the men will struggle and more often than not do notnhavr thr chops to dance any other style.
I also think that one of the waltzes and one of the tangos will be dropped.
Actually I have nothing against Conteporary, I think it’s a beautiful dance. I think they have to (try to) bring new stuff every season, which can be a huge risk, but sometimes they bring on something like the half paddles, which I hope remain because I thought was brilliant!
On the other hand (and now I’m gonna agree with you) if Argentine Tango and Paso Doble, my favorite dances, go away so Contemporary and Jazz (didn’t like this last) could fit in I’ll join you in the “piss off club”!!!
I remember now Mark Ballas telling about 26 styles of dance that they could pick to the show, least they just announced those two, but if they are clever PD and AT will remain…
“Ballroom is the easiest form of dance to learn for a trained dancer”? Clearly you’ve never done any ballroom and don’t know much about it, Valerie. If that were truly the case, then Travis Wall, one of the most lauded contemporary dancers ever on SYTYCD, wouldn’t have been compared to the Gingerbread Man from Shrek when he tried to a quickstep. I think contemporary is the easiest to learn – it’s one vocabulary of technique. Ditto for ballet & jazz – each type of those dances has one set of “rules” for where to put your feet, how to move your hips, etc. Ballroom has upwards of 10. No way in HELL ballroom is the “easiest”.
Me thinks someone is speaking with the arrogance of a contemporary dancer.
Yeeep – my thoughts exactly, Heidi. Mia, is that you? Did you take time out from congratulating yourself on your creative genius to come school us on why contemporary dancing is “soooooooo much harder than ballroom”?
Ouch!!! haha. That was funny, Courtney.
Ummm so Heidi…do you think the TBTP are living in the “bubble”….lmao!!
Up to their old tricks….add two dances that are judged “subjectively” rather than on actual “specified” step content and you have a perfect way to MANIPULATE tfavor whoever they are pimping this season at I would guess some very KEY weeks. I mean….!!!! Jazz? I mean really what are we, back to Introduction to Dance for 4 year olds? And contemporary, judge what? a mood, if a leap is high enough, maybe the choreographer feels a too-high leap is excessive to interpret “love” but a judge feels it should be VERY high to show “love”. So obvious so stupid, as usual. And determined to REALLY piss off viewers. I don’t know who said it but if they don’t do AT or Paso because of these !!! AAARGH
I really don’t think they’ll drop the PD since it’s been going since the first season (or second season.. not sure). Also I don’t think they’ll drop the AT because everyone loves those.
My guess is they will drop the Salsa (because they have had Salsa-free seasons before), the Waltz (the V.Waltz is much more entertaining), or the Tango (even though I love it, I think they will find that the AT is enough for this season). Don’t think they will drop the Rumba if they have “Personal Story Week” seeing as half the dances that week are Rumbas.
OR! They won’t drop anything and make everything much harder for everyone and everyone has to learn all the dances even if it means that they have to learn 2 dances every week. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. (ok maybe not…)
Totally agree, Heidi!
You said it, Lynne.
If it aint broke, dont fix it.
I love contemporary and I love jazz, but not for DWTS. Like CC said, if they add new dances, they should be ballroom/latin. Want jazz? How about a group routine(except the season 13 thing was a hot mess, we should just let it die) Contemporary? Have Derek/Mark/Lindsey/Chelsie and friends do
contemporary pro dances. Dont make those competitive dances. Barely any of the pros are skilled in it, so why make them chroegraph a dance they dont know. If I HAD to pick a nonballroom dance to be on the show, it should be ballet. Hopefully jazz and contemporary will be occcasional dances such as salsa, jitterbug, lindy hop, etc.
What happened to the first week being two dances so they could actually compare celeb to celeb and score accordingly. Oh, wait, they’ve decided how to score already, it doesn’t matter….
Blech. DVR fast forward, here I come. I think I spend more time in season reading your summaries than I do watching the show sometimes.
I’m late to the game, but I agree with most everyone here. HATE HATE HATE them adding contemporary and jazz!
And I wonder what 2 dance styles are going to get dropped. I figure one will be the slow waltz. This is JMO, but I figure they’ll keep rumba – what other dance goes with the maudlin, tear-jerking music of “Personal Story Week”??? I think CC may be right; they’ll dump Tango along with the waltz. Either that, or they’ll just start the 2-dances-a-week crap early, and only drop 1 style.
Fudge… I’m fired up about most of the cast, but TPTB are doing their best to take the fun out of it..
Court (#3) – LOL! I love your comment, and agree completely!
Why are they doing these dance styles? I thought this was a ballroom competition. Leave those types of dances as options for the freestyle. There are only a couple of pros, Derek and Lindsey for example, that have some experience in contemporary and jazz. Plus the judges are going to have a hard time judging the routines so it doesn’t make sense to have these dances.
But even though I have my reservations about this idea, I wish all the couples the best in the choereraphing and dancing these routines. Lord knows they’re going to need all the luck they can get.
Jazz? Oh no. I don’t like contemporary either, but now jazz?? Turning into “So you think you can dance with the stars”…. Hope they drop one of the waltzes. And the rumba for all I care. But not AT or paso.
So confused by Valerie’s comment above, that I’m compelled to post that’s NOT the Valerie that’s posted a few times regarding her soft spot for Andy Dick, cuz I’m that Valerie. That’s all.
#24…and here I thought you were just taking a swipe at Karina….hmm?
I agree that these styles benefit Mark, Lindsay & Derek. After the Bhangra dance last season, I have no worries about Derek AT ALL. Imagine if Val & Kelly or Tony & Melissa got stuck with that? Perhaps getting Contemporary out of the way will help some celebs and Val lol.
Some celebs are practicing their second dance….all sound like “regular” ones….for now.
I think you’re taking it too personally, sheery. Valerie (not ValerieW) was basically just talking out of her ass in general about ballroom – and with an awful lot of typos, I might add.
Not really feeling contemporary and jazz being added to the dances that have to be done on DWTS. I feel that there will be pros, especially Derek and Mark, who will excel at these dances, but the majority will not. As much as I liked Apolo and Karina last season, I thought their jazz dance routine was terrible. DWTS should just stick to the dances that have always been done on the show rather than adding new dances that not even the judges will be able to judge fairly or consistently because they don’t know much about those dances.
Sally (#38), Yep they need rumba for dreary “personal story” week. I’ve already got my box of tissues ready – to stuff in my ears and cover my glasses.
Evette (#39), I agree these other styles should be reserved for the freestyle. Putting non-ballroom dances in the run-up to the finale limits the finalists’ options for choosing something “new” and different for their freestyle. I’m already not a fan of the freestyle routine, and the last few seasons, I’ve been even less impressed. Guess that will continue.
I’m with you, Cidra. I hate PS week and I haven’t enjoyed a freestyle since, I think, Kyle’s. I don’t like this new dance styles business but I don’t know if I can dislike any style more than I already dislike Waltz and Rumba. There were only a handful of those during the seasons that I found truly enjoyable.
I was cool with contemporary but I detest jazz. I always used to change the channel when they do that on SYTYCD when I watched that show. I’m guessing salsa is gone.