Choreography on DWTS – What’s the Problem Here?
So, as may of our long time readers know, Courtney and I have been quite critical of the choreography done by Mandy Moore on DWTS. With the exception of a few numbers last year it seemed like it consisted of some combination of bumping and grinding – male and female. We even heard a rumor of a comment Derek made regarding a male pro dance last season…one that he was subsequently not a part of. While Derek is in his own league and may not be required to take part in pro dances any more (can you think of one where he was there the whole way through??), I think our source was solid at the time.
We’ve also been uber critical of some of the male pros choreography, namely…well all of them except Derek and Mark, really. Now, the childish reader likes to claim that’s just because we like Derek and Mark more. Well, yes, I do…but that’s not necessarily true of either Vogue or Courtney, and it doesn’t automatically mean that the choreography by those men is better than I claim. And if one of the men does something I like – I say so. But I think that much of it has been objectively less than stellar. The women fare much better…and I’m not sure why, except perhaps they get some outside help. Like WAY outside. Away from DWTS.
So you probably wonder what I’m getting at here. Well, I was watching the video that Vogue posted the other day – choreography for the TV Academy by Mandy Moore. It was FANTASTIC. She’s getting raves for La La Land (although I’ve seen a very few “derivative” comments – haven’t seen it yet myself) and she’s done some great stuff on SYTYCD. She’s more regularly great (with a few less great, but every pro has those) on SYTYCD than she has ever been on DWTS.
So what’s the problem on DWTS? What is the formula of that show that’s creating a hang up – for Mandy, in particular. I think the men besides Derek and Mark (and maybe Sasha and Gleb – although I was disappointed in both last season) may just not be great choreographers. They’re decent…not great. No shame in that – it’s rather rare that someone is both. Is it the dancers’ style that’s at issue? The one main difference between DWTS and those other shows is the style – DWTS is predominantly ballroom while the others are some combination of Jazz/Contemporary/hiphop/etc. Or is production dictating too much of what happens on the dance floor, to everyone’s detriment?
Side note: there is a rumor going around that the dancers in the Christmas show last season ( Morgan Larson, Fik-Shun, Kayla Kalbfleisch and Kayla Radomski) could get elevated to troupe. Keep in mind that this is from Just Jared, who doesn’t have much of a track record on breaking DWTS news. I call BS on that one. Besides, that’s yet another site that is ripping off the “pro watch” idea that we’ve been doing for YEARS now. You know what they say: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Anyway, IF this were true, it would sort of play to the idea that the dance style is at issue.
Vogue: It’s so true, Heidi. Mandy seems to be much better on SYTYCD. Maybe her La La Land work was exceptional too from everything we hear, but, with a couple of exceptions, I haven’t been impressed with her choreography on Dancing With The Stars. I will say I thought the La La Land Pro performance on Dancing With The Stars last season was stunning, but, that’s just it for her work on a higher level. I have just never been a fan to bump and grind since that’s mainly her thing on Dancing With The Stars for the most part. She also seems so repetitive. I like theatrical, creative, and well thought out choreography and production. I like it when a choreographer does new things. It’s also an “it” factor that is unexplainable when a dancer and choreographer can take you to a higher place. My favorite choreographers on Dancing With The Stars have been Derek, Mark, Lindsay, Peta, and Sharna. I also loved Gleb’s choreography on Dancing With The Stars Russia. He was exceptional and on a level I’ve never seen before. Last season, we saw a glimpse of what he can do, but, I don’t think Jana could handle anything too complicated. I also thought Sasha was really creative at choreography with Terra last season, but, like Gleb, there were things he couldn’t do. Anyway, great commentary. I love it.
Courtney: I tend to find myself best summing up Mandy’s choreography on DWTS like this: every female dance looks like something Beyonce might do, and every male dance looks like something out of Chippendales/Thunder from Down Under. And while that type of choreography suits Beyonce (she is singing at the same time, so it stands to reason that she is not going to be able to do a whole lot more than gyrating in place or flipping her hair) and it suits Chippendales/Thunder from Down Under (they’re selling sex, so it makes sense to have sexy, chest-baring choreography), we have at our disposal on DWTS some highly trained, highly athletic, ready-to-put-in-112% dancers that don’t have to worry about getting out of breath from singing or are only able to rip their shirts off. The cheapness of the choreography does their talent a HUGE disservice. And I honestly think that Mandy’s lack of background in ballroom and its nuances is likely at the root of the problem – she doesn’t really know how to utilize these dancers, so she reverts to something cheap and foolproof. Why they opted to go the Mandy route and not hire a ballroom choreographer (Shirley, Corky, take your pick) to do these numbers is beyond me, unless they thought Mandy would draw some of the SYTYCD viewership over to DWTS (and I don’t know that Mandy was popular enough on that show to really have that kinda pull – NappyTabs, yes; Mandy – ehhhh).
As for the disparity between the quality of choreography we see from the female pros vs. the quality we see from the male pros – I think we’ve got two things in play here: type of training, and ego. One thing that set Derek and Mark apart from the rest of the male pros was the fact that they were cross-trained – they did competitive ballroom, but they had also received instruction in jazz, tap, gymnastics, hip-hop, etc. Looking at the current line-up of male pros, I think the only one besides Mark that has received a good amount of cross-training in a style other than ballroom is Sasha – possibly by virtue of his gymnastics background. The rest seem to be a bit more “strictly ballroom” – and I find that to be a pattern among ballroom dancers from eastern Europe: they tend to focus very, very, VERY hard on one discipline, and don’t pay a whole lot of attention to anything outside of their specialty. Seems to be a bit of a cultural thing – American dancers tend to dabble a bit more in multiple styles, while the Russians/Ukrainians/Lithuanians/etc. tend to specialize. And it works for the eastern Europeans – there is a reason why International Latin & Standard competitions tend to be dominated by dancers from former Soviet republics. But within the context of DWTS, which is about as much of a “serious ballroom competition” as The Bachelor franchise is a “serious dating show”, the format tends to favor the dabblers more – the ones able to churn out a routine that is eye-catching and entertaining to an untrained viewer, while still being somewhat pleasing to a staunch ballroom judge like Len. And I think that’s one part of the big picture of DWTS that Val (and to a lesser degree, Maks) consistently misses: he loves to tout his choreography as being “real ballroom” or “something you’d see in a real ballroom competition”, but that’s just the issue – this isn’t a real competition. And when he does try to step out of the ballroom box (without training, mind you), it’s usually with mixed results – Ginger’s tap-heavy freestyle comes to mind. I would say that “specializers” like Val, Artem, Gleb, Tony, Keo, etc. could seriously benefit from seeking some more diverse instruction in the off-season – take a page out of Cheryl’s book and go immerse yourself in Argentine tango, or follow Derek’s example of diving headfirst into tap. Maybe if the show stopped jamming tours down everyone’s throats twice a year, the pros would actually have time to do it.
Aside from the obvious cross-training issue, I think the choreographic failures of some of the male pros also have their roots in a bit of ego – part of me thinks it may just be as simple as some of the male pros being too proud to admit they need help or seek out further instruction, while female pros are a bit more open to seeking help. The old “I refuse to follow the instruction manual/stop and ask for directions/admit I don’t know everything” act that so many men still seem to ascribe to 😛 But again, it could also stem a bit from the “dabblers vs. specializers” divide – more of the current female pros have been brought up with more diverse training, and fewer seem to come from the “I am an expert in this and ONLY THIS” side of the tracks. I will say I found it interesting when they cast three male dancers in the troupe a couple seasons back that seemed to be less ballroom and more hip hop/jazz/contemporary – as if they’re trying to affect a bit of a shift over time. But honestly, if they want well-rounded pros that still able to keep up with the vigors of ballroom, I’d say their best bet is to start looking for male pros from VIBE (where they’re taught all different types of dance), rather than trying to find jazz/hip-hop/contemporary/whatever dancers that they can give a crash course in ballroom to – same goes for the females. It’s a delicate balance.
Heidi: I agree with what you both said, and I would add that knowing a style doesn’t mean you can choreograph it. I don’t think the men are particularly strong ballroom choreographers, although they are certainly great dancers. Witney, for example, is a cross trained pro and I don’t think she can hold a candle to what Lindsay and Sharna (and I keep thinking of Peta with Tommy – great) have done. And Alfonso doesn’t really count because…he was Alfonso. Witney does better than many of the men do, but I think a lot of what we’re seeing is the women not being afraid to go to a variety of places for help. Witney, I think, may have stopped doing that as much after the Emmy brouhaha. Which is a shame, because there is no shame in doing that, yet some fans make it shameful.
As for the ego thing – absolutely agree. I do think that the eastern Europeans definitely take great pride in strictly ballroom. Or they are stressing that because they don’t know how to do other things. It’s also possible that they can choreograph great ballroom for ballroom competitions – but it’s just not exciting to many of us in the audience. We don’t care about what works in Blackpool – we want to see the next Super Mario freestyle, or Futuristic Paso, or Tommy and Peta’s Cha Cha or the Buble Foxtrot. Now, those dances may not have had exceptional ballroom choreography but they made the viewer feel joyful or amazed or…SOMETHING. That’s the key – they make you FEEL. I think that some of the men…and maybe Mandy on DWTS…lose track of that. The men are trying to teach and choreograph proper ballroom and lose the feeling. Mandy is trying to fill a bumper spot with dancers that aren’t cross trained AND when she uses pros to help her with the choreo, she uses those who aren’t name choreographers in their own right.
Vogue: Exactly!! If you can’t “feel” it in some way, the dance isn’t going to make an impact or have a message to send. It’s those dances you can feel in your heart and soul that are Emmy worthy and unforgettable. Well said, Angels!
So…what do our readers think??
I honestly think that better, more memorable choreography is the one thing DWTS needs to “fix” to keep me as a viewer. The lack of truly memorable dances is bothering me more than obvious manipulation, judges in La La Land, the lack of big names, the showmance’s and the growing tackiness.
And it could be the easiest thing to fix! Have someone other than Mandy Moore do some of the opening numbers and / or pro numbers. Have “ghost” choreographers available to the pros and make it known that they should use them! Maybe say in a production meeting that they want fresh ideas or more influences from diverse styles to change things up since the show is getting on in years. Maybe, in addition to the MBT, have an award for Best Choreography as well. It could even be decided solely by the judges. That should flatter them! Perhaps once a season, instead of a guest singer, have a renown choreographer come in and do a number with the shows pros or troupe.
In terms of Mandy, I remember an interview (might’ve been an AfterBuzz episode actually) where Jenna and Artem were guests and it was around the time Mandy had taken over or was at least doing the majority of the pro numbers and Artem said he thought Mandy was hired because she was the best outsider at tempering the pros egos and getting them to dance as a unit rather than competition dancers.
As for the pros choreography, I just think because the viewer demo for the show is largely women, the female pros have to do more to tear interest away from the men. The men are coddled more I think and don’t have to do as much to impress.
DWTS is a ballroom show not a hip hop contemporary or jazz show. It’s also been on for 23 seasons which means as long time viewers we’ve seen all their is to see in different dance styles. Plus a reminder that the show is about the celebrity learning to dance, not about how a pro choreographs. Personally I think sometimes too much expectation is put on the pros heads from viewers especially the male pros. Mainly because Derek has set the bar so high, Derek is a one off and I think people need to appreciate that.
I honestly feel for the newer pros, because I think that the show is so much harder to step into than it was in the beginning. We literally watched Derek and Mark grow and learn on the show, and I think pros are expected to be amazing their first season nowadays. Of course, Derek and Mark were also willing to do the work and take the classes to be better.
I agree with CM that the female pros have a less of a built-in fanbase than some of the male pros (not that a pros fanbase will win the mirrorball on its own), but I also agree with the comments that the female pros are more willing to ask for help or get creative. I wonder how much of that is encouraged however, since the show seems to want this illusion that the pros can do it all. I remember Peta and Nyle’s freestyle package and some of the comments from people that Peta “cheated” by bringing someone else in. I personally like when the pros get help when they need to to and I wish more would utilize it. I am actually pretty happy with most of the female pros though.
With some of the male pros, I wonder how much of it is lack of ability and how much of it is complacency. Every season Val has at least one dance that I think is excellent (Ginger’s V. Waltz, Tamar’s Charleston, Laurie’s Foxtrot/Freestyle). There just doesn’t seem to be much reward for someone like him to try harder when he gets to final every season with what he’s producing. On the other hand, there is someone like Gleb who I thought tried way too hard to think outside the box and it was a trainwreck IMO. Sasha still has the most potential to me, and I personally was impressed with him and Tara this last season. He also seems to be one of the few pros attending non-ballroom classes and doing other choreo.
Bottom line- I think the potential female lineup has a lot of excellent choreographers/teachers and the male-lineup is seriously lacking. But until the male pros have more of an incentive to be better, I don’t see much changing. As for opening numbers- drop Mandy and let the pros choreo them like they have in the past.
Back when the show was smaller, the pros did do the choreography. I remember credit being given to Sharna once (while in troupe- I think the one with red outfits where 6 girls had white jackets on) and Kym (Think Olly Murs-Dance with me).
I remember the Artem/MM comment about being able to wrangle the pros to work as a group. However now that the show is what it is, more traveling of the pros with the celebs, less time in the studio, more people in different places – which makes sense for the troupe – they’re always there for bumpers, fill in etc. So the pros may not be around enough to choreograph.
As far as the couples coreography – In ballroom he just has to make her look good, and if she listens/follows the mechanics shouldn’t have an issue. For her to choreograph for him – she has to give him a enough so that he’s actually dancing as opposed to twirling herself around him.
I agree with the tour/show/tour/show thing – yes, they need time to learn and hone their skills (think Karina/Doug Bollywood). Allison did that after her season with Ryker. TwItch did an interview and said she went to study it completely (but it takes time as we know). However,the same goes for MM. Think about it. She was chreographing for LaLa Land which came out a month or so after DWTS fall – so how much was she able to really give to the show?
The ballroom thing is another factor. It’s not easy, there is an attitude in the community about it (I had it at my own studio). I agree that they should bring back more of it. There are so many dances that aren’t jazz or contemporary that could be great.. Night club 2 step, bolero, mambo, merengue, swing (west coast and east coast), lindy, then the newer ones, zouk, kizomba. Really some untapped potential.
It’s strange — I feel like in years past, the pro dances could actually be pretty good, especially when they were very ballroom focused (say, the opening dances from Seasons 5-7ish?). But I think the whole Mark/Derek/Julianne v. Maks/Tony/Val dynamic has been detrimental in that aspect.
I wonder whether the departure of Derek will help to heal the rift a bit — and perhaps open things up to less sexed up choreography. Don’t get me wrong, I know that Mark and likely Julianne will still be around, but without Derek and his half dozen trophies, the Maks/Val/Tony wing of the show should back down a bit. They’ve always gotten along better with Mark, it seems, and Julianne isn’t going to be perceived as being overly partisan towards Mark, I think.
All the same, I could do with less hair shaking and shirt ripping, that’s for sure.
It’s a TV SHOW, M8. One that people will get tired of watching if they don’t have a Derek or Mark turning out mind blowing routines. If it was REALLY just about a celeb learning to dance, then they wouldn’t work so hard to create showmances, and engineer the winner they so desire.
And I don’t think we need a “reminder” from you.
I think you’re right about Val, Chayse – there is no incentive to do better or work harder when the producers go out of their way to make sure he gets to the end. They actually took the opposite route with Derek after win #3 and it produced some of his very best work. Val has never been challenged, so he’s never grown.
I think there is actually a lot LESS dancing beyond the celebs on the show nowadays than there was in the past. They used to have many more full blow (totally excellent) pro dances choreographed by one or two of the pros. There didn’t used to be bumpers, nor a troupe. So we have more dancers, less dancing.
We’ve had seasons without Derek before…and all it was was BORING. Mark, Lindsay and Sharna were the only bright lights.
And Val wasn’t around in seasons 5 -7. He didn’t show up until Season 13.
AR-I, personally, don’t think Derek, Mark or Julianne have anything to do with the change in choreo from ballroom to anything but ballroom on the show lol. Those three dancers, pretty much, started out DWTS almost along with Maks, Tony, Karina and Cheryl. If anything, Derek, Mark and Julianne enhanced the ballroom aspect of the show and made it more contemporary.
In my opinion, what brought in the hip hop, the Jazz, the lyrical/contemporary stuff was when DWTS hired SYTYCD recruits like Witney, Lindsey and then Jenna-they brought in a whole different vibe to the ballroom and added other genres of dance to their choreo in addition to ballroom that I think the producers used it as an opportunity to, basically, change things up. With that change came things like those stupid ideas like the fusion dances and stuff where you have somebody like Tony who may have to choreograph a contemporary piece ACK!!! Not easy for a ballroom trained guy lol.
I think MANDY MOORE may have been brought in to change choreo in the pro numbers to boost ratings. I, too, remember when the pros did the numbers themselves and we got some pretty damn good ballroom dancing on the TV screen. But, in my opinion, when the show went from it’s 2 night a week to predominantly 1 night a week format, it lost a lot of viewers and ratings went down-just my opinion. That one night a week format took away a lot of the pro numbers-there just wasn’t time for it. When they started to bring them back, BOOM Mandy Moore comes on the scene!! And we start to get these pro numbers like we’ve never seen before-definitely not ballroom looking lol.
And it’s a shame b/c she really is a fantastic choreographer. If you watch SYTYCD at all, her numbers stand out b/c, obviously, her forte is in anything but ballroom. But on DWTS, she can’t utilize her own talents-not with mostly trained ballroom dancers-or can she? Think about it-she has Witney, Lindsey, Jenna, Allison I’ll even give her Peta, Sasha, Mark, Gleb-that’s 8 dancers that she can TRY to choreograph a NON-ballroom routine to. So what’s stopping her? I think it’s the producers themselves-I think they want to see the sexpot stuff from all the dancers and it doesn’t matter who choreographs it. I think the producers feel that’s what brings ratings in and draws viewers to watch-the raciness, the flirtiness, the sexiness in combo with some semblance of ballroom.
As far as how the actual dancers themselves choreograph, I’m afraid we’re not going to see much different from certain dancers than what we’ve already seen. I, absolutely, agree that with some dancers like Val, Maks, Tony-they are soooo stuck in that ballroom mindset that even when they do try to dance a different genre, it just doesn’t come off as genuine or just doesn’t work. I think a lot of the female dancers may even have a bit of an edge over the male dancers in general-girls have a tendency to dance more jazz, tap, ballet and lyrical from when they’re young as dancers as opposed to boys. Peta, herself, danced ballet for years, to my knowledge-that puts her ahead of even Maks in my opinion. Witney, Lindsey, Jenna all have that dance background as kids which gives them a leg up in the competition. I agree, too, that men, in general, are more complacent than women are when it comes to being ambitious and wanting to learn more for a career-hence, Allison working hard to study for ballroom and Cheryl studying AT. Although, I don’t know-I, honestly, can’t picture Tony at his age brushing up on hip hop dance skills but never say never I guess!!
Fantastic post by the way ladies!! I loved every word of it!! Soooo on point!!!!
Witney, Lindsay and Jenna are no more cross trained than Derek, Mark and Julianne are – they just came on to the show when the producers had already started to move in that direction, POSSIBLY because of some amazing pro dances that Derek did with Allison before she joined the show. Witney didn’t join until Season 18 – Derek did that amazing freestyle with Kellie Pickler in season 16 (what likely started it seriously moving in that direction) and had done several dances with Allison before she joined the show in season 19. The producers had already moved quite far in that direction by the time Witney and Lindsay joined and it was all the way there by the time Jenna arrived.
With Mandy Moore, I wonder if some of her problems on DWTS come from working with a number of dancers that are quite limited in their skill-set outside of their trained style, whereas with La La Land, she can create with the handbrake off, so to speak.
It feels to me with DWTS that she’s simply creating with what she has to work with and isn’t really pushing herself completely as far as what she can create.
I seem to remember back in SYTYCD Season 2 that Mia Michaels remarked at how she was surprised how limited Benji and Heidi were in terms of movement, which explains how little Heidi did the park bench routine.
I’m really tired of Derek’s choreos. And I know it’s dangerous say this here. But it’s the same thing since season 11. I really admire the guy. He’s the best. No doubt about it. But besides some interesting numbers – and all stars season – in terms of choreography, his dances all look the same to me nowadays. I can predict every step of his cha Chas and sambas nowadays… The thing I dislike in Derek’s heritage to dwts – and mark’s in a sorta way too – was the element of the production over the dance. Big stages, big light effects, big gimmicks, etc. A scene of a musical. Mark balances this better, IMHO. But I have no doubt about how these two influenced the show for ever in these things. (you can hate me for ever now)
I’m not going to mention Maks bc he’s just hard to watch. He’s recycling his choreographies since, I don’t know, Mel B. He was the first male pro who got my attention back on season 3. But now, I’m just tired of seeing him on the show.
I’m getting older and crankier, I know… And we didn’t mention wit’s help while she was with Alfonso, Peta who clearly didn’t choreographed her dances with Nyle… And the list goes. I don’t like alisson’s choreographies, but have to take a bow, cause she at least try…
It’s hard to be a Dwts fan for so long and not became critical…
Carlos-Hmmm I don’t quite know what to say except, just my opinion, but I think you completely missed the mark regarding Derek and Mark’s choreo-particularly Derek. If anything, I think, throughout his history on the show, he’s been, oftentimes, the most ‘anti-gimmicky’ guy when it comes to choreography. Heidi mentioned his finale with Kellie Pickler and it was pure dance albeit with lighting effects-no other stage presence, extra dancers, scenery, etc. Derek has, always, been about the purity of the dance, especially maybe to please Len if it’s a ballroom dance, and as I said before he’s brought his own special way to enhance it but no way does he, nor Mark for that matter, rely on any gimmicks. Mark, in particular, I think will find a way to make a dance his own for him and his partner even if it means dressing up a fool like he’s done lol or really thinking out of the box for a concept in his choreo but again I never see Mark relying on gimmicks, extra dancers, extra scenery as other dancers do. Just my opinion:))
Huh, Carlos – Derek’s the “gimicky” one? I think, for one thing, you have Derek and Mark backwards in that regard – but the two of them are the least gimicky on the entire show. Lest we forget the widely touted shower dance from last season, just to name one. I will say that I think the ONE time that Derek sticks to more traditional choreo is in his cha chas and sambas – and I don’t think he particularly likes choreographing them either. I’m almost never a fan of those dances by him, actually, either. But Mark is the one who is all about the big productions, Derek has been really stripping it back in recent seasons. But besides that, the producers are to blame for a lot of the production in all the pros dances these days. I think Derek is one of the few who stands up and doesn’t do what the producers want – or should I say what Mandy wants.
In any case, I think you need to rewatch the last couple seasons and really get a sense of where the issues truly are – just don’t watch Derek’s Cha Chas and Sambas. 🙂 Now, his foxtrots and V. Waltzs are to die for.
Responding to Michelle (#5). Yes to Zouk and Kizomba. That would be hot! 🙂
I don’t watch the show anymore. The reason is my daughter is now 12 and watches tv with me and I don’t think the “dancing” is appropriate for impressionable pre-teens to watch and, as pre-teens are prone to do, emulate. She is now enrolled in a dance school where she is learning different types of dance and wears rehearsal outfits and costumes that are comfortable and fit her body during the lessons and recitals. Both of us are happy with her new activity and don’t miss DWTS at all. We would however welcome a show where the dancers are doing more than bumping and grinding through half the number and wearing more attractive costumes than strips of metallic fabric. Just wishing and hoping.
Chrissy-I, honestly, can’t say I blame you-mine, thankfully, haven’t reached that age yet so my nighttime TV is still mine lol but I think if they were I might feel the same way-especially if your own kids are into dancing as well. DWTS is a dance show but it’s, also, an entertainment show so it can be a bit too much for young kids to watch-the costumes, some of the choreo, some of the songs-I totally get it.
Carlos — I think there’s a difference between concept and gimmick.
I think there was a dance last season (I can’t remember who) that used a table as a prop and it just sort of sat there. I remember thinking back to Paige/Mark’s Argentine Tango and how many props were involved but used with a purpose in the choreo.
It’s also interesting because in dance a lot of evolution has come about and some of the traditional has gone.
A good example is how in the realm of hip-hop, there are many choreographers that choreograph their steps to the lyrical beat rather than the musical beat. It’s a huge point of debate, but it shows that things are changing.
@Justin – GREAT point on the distinction between a “concept” and a “gimmick”. A concept is a fully fleshed-out idea; a “gimmick” is a frivolity that gets thrown in as an afterthought meant to cheaply grab attention.
The table in Amy’s jazz routine was a concept. The bench in Ginger’s samba was a gimmick. The attached rooms in Nastia’s jive was a concept. Val removing his shirt in every dance is a gimmick. See the distinction?
The concept/gimmick discussion is real helpful to me to explain my impressions about Gleb’s choreo. I went back to watch some of his YouTube videos from Strictly & DWTS Russia. Len repeatedly commented on lack of content and the Russian videos were a series of “highlights” from other DWTS routines without a connecting story. A bit like taking the “oh wow” moments from 3 or 4 other dances but leaving out the story that built up that moment to an “Oh, wow!”. So his choreo seems reductionist to me as he reduces beautifully done concepts to gimmicks and packs as many of those as possible in each number.