PureDWTS “Seriously Ridiculous Choreography” In Karina Smirnoff’s And Apolo Ohno’s Fusion Dance
Apolo Ohno has penned a new blog at People.com. He says if he can dance every dance as if it’s his very last and do it successfully, he thinks he and Karina can make it to the finals. He also gives us a little hint of what he and Karina’s fusion dance might be like for tonight. More below and at the link!
I told Karina that night that no matter what happens, if we make to the following week, let’s take every single dance for the rest of the competition and treat it like it’s our very last of the whole season. I know that if I’m able to do that and do it successfully, I will make it all the way to finals. And obviously I’ll try to leave a little left in the tank for that.
The judges decided to change it up on us this week and give us a little fusion dance, which is a combination of the cha cha and the paso doble, which are totally different. The cha cha is fun and “let’s party,” while the paso doble is a really aggressive, proud – almost angry – but a powerful and strong dance. It’s one of my favorites. Karina’s been bringing out some seriously ridiculous choreography. The song we have is amazing. It’s Usher’s “Scream.” And our wardrobe halfway through gets pretty interesting.
I think Karina and I are stronger than ever. At the end of the day, I want to give my best to this thing. I know if I can do that, there’s nothing I can be ashamed of and I can hold my head high. I’ve got to give my all on the dance floor, and to my relationship with my dance partner. I’ve got to try to mend things when I don’t always want to. I have to bend and turn and curve a lot more than I’m used to, but it works.
Good luck Apolo. You can do it!!!!
He and Karina must have a nicely volatile relationship, I’m thinking. Apolo, the control freak having a struggle to give up control of everything. It makes for an interesting dynamic. Lollipops and roses aren’t the only things that can create good chemistry. 🙂
It sounds like they’re going to do the rip-off the outer costume and reveal the sexy costume underneath halfway through the dance, though. And that would probably mean a half and half dance as opposed to a totally integrated one. If the transition works, I’ve got no problem with it.
Evaine- if they do the half half I will be disappointed for sure, this is fusion, not two dance back to back. But I don’t think Karina will do that.
Unfortunately, I think the same thing – two separate dances, not a “fused” one.
It is interesting how difficult it is for Karina to get out of her comfort zone, she really struggled with the hip-hop and now cannot even fuse two ballroom dances into one, *sigh*. I love Karina and will vote for them no matter what(choreo is definitely not Apolo’s fault), I just find it sad that such a creative person as Karina went an easy route.
He probably wasn’t crazy about having to undress. As long as they like one another, a little tension can spice things up. I actually love their interaction. I hope Karina was smart about mixing it up too. Sometimes she’s too literal.
Irina – Their song isn’t some universal music that can be used for both paso and cha cha. It clearly has 2 parts: the slow part can be used just for cha cha and the bravado part is definitely paso.
Yeah before I pass judgement on how the pros choreograph the fusion dances, I gotta take into account what the music calls for instead of just expecting a total fusion. That goes for all the pros, although of course I have the highest expectations out of Derek and Karina so I do hope they are able to wow us.
I think having a party dance mixed with an aggressive dance would look chaotic. I think having one dance then going into another would make for a better transition.
Thanks, alicia, for making me feel better, I love Karina, and just hope she did the best job possible.
I think what some of you might be forgetting is that Len just gave a very vague description of the fusion dance – “two dances danced to one song”. He didn’t specify whether the couples were to completely fuse the dances together, so it was a little bit of dance A and a little bit of dance B throughout the entire song, or if it could be :45 of dance A followed by :45 of dance B. So while we may be looking for the former (which is what I hear Derek is aiming for – he wants it “to look like you can’t tell where the paso ends and tango begins – completely mixed”), the latter may be ok as well (which is what I hear Apolo & Karina’s fusion is more like – dance A, then dance B). I’m not even sure the judges know what they’re looking for, so while we may have high expectations…the judges might not. The reality is that the rules and expectations weren’t exactly spelled out clearly, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
And alicia, I’m not sure if you and I are listening to the same song, but I think it’s entirely possible to dance both cha cha and paso throughout Apolo & Karina’s song. I highly disagree that there are “definite” paso and cha-cha parts – I would say that it’s a rookie mistake to assume that slow = cha-cha and the faster part = paso doble. There are a lot more shades of grey there.
It’s likely vague on purpose. If they spell it out too much then they can’t score based on how well the like or need a particular couple to advance.
Here’s a radio interview.. They are indeed doing one dance, ripping off costume, and then second dance. http://www.stationcaster.com/stations/kiim/media/mpeg/_DWTS__Apolo_Ohno-1351882115.mp3
Why would pros be doing something different? Do you think they have freedom to do it however they wanted or did someone miss something? Now I’m curious how the others are doing it.
Not thrilled with the third sentence of the last paragraph. At first read through, I thought he meant he didn’t want to apologize to her.
okay…just read Peta’s blog. Seems she’s doing Argentine Tango first and then going into samba.
Is not fair to accuse the professionals as they are taking the easy way, when they have to choreograph a dance and especially the fusion. Fusion for a ballroom dancer means an integration of two o more dances to fit in a piece of music. The integration itself is not difficult,but the fitting in the music is it. You have to listen carefully to the music, the beats to try to make right balance integrating the dances steps to create a great piece of dance and don’t look a mess.
You have to consider also your partner, which are his strengths and his personality, can come across well during the dance.
The fact that the judges didn’t clarify what really they are looking for, the leave the professionals with their own ideas what they have to do.
The background of the professionals ate important, to be very modern or a little conservative. Derek is great in was he does because not only he was trained as a ballroom dancer by Sheila and Corky Ballas, he also trained here in London in one of the best arts academy in London and play a mayor role in some productions theaters here in UK. His experience in theater, helped him to be more creative.
Karina and Max their background are in the ballroom competition. But they have done fusion before.
Couple years ago Julianne and Mark choreographed a paso a Paso chacha in the show. They danced the divided the beats of the music into two dances, first the chacha and after that they dance the Paso.
I just hope the judges will appreciate the couple that actually try to fuse the two dances and not just dance back to back, because in the end of the day they are professional dancer, so it can’t be that hard to do that, I’ve seen plenty of fusions during pro dances, I don’t think half half is cheating but it is IMO taking the easy way out.
Well, laila, that’s the difference – you’ve seen fusions during PRO dances, not pro-celeb dances. You have to remember that a dance that is seemingly easy for two pros to do together is not going to be as easy for a pro and a celeb to do together.
I’m worried about the mid-dance costume rip. That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
Call me a pessimist, but we’ve seen how a few too many stitches or stubborn velcro can screw up a routine. The stakes are high enough already with this fusion theme, why give yourself yet another hurdle to overcome with gimmicky costuming?
Even if the costume “change” goes perfectly, they’re giving The Stooges (Len in particular) something else to nit-pick.
Courtney- do you know if more people are doing the half half or the fusion fusion?
The thing its if they are going for the half half I would rather if they danced the two dance separated, it would be pretty much the same but at least we would have full routines.
Laila, all I know is that Derek & Shawn are going more for a true “fusion”, while Apolo & Karina are going more for a half-and-half routine. I also heard that Cheryl wasn’t particularly enjoying choreographing a fusion. Beyond that, I have no idea.
Can’t wait to them dance! Go Team OhYes! 🙂
That would be “see them dance!” lol
Just something to think about, half/half or completely fused are not the only possibilities – I can see some couples switching back and forth a few times between the two styles. Not sure if they are, but they could.
This week will be tough for everyone. But I think Apolo won’t struggle with paso doble parts of the dance.
Nope…he just struggled with swing marathon. Seems like he didn’t take it seriously in rehearsal. Karina is quick and it looked like she slowed down to not over dance him. And what is with crazy-assed fans blaming Karina for them being at bottom of dial idol whatever.. because she picked bland boring costumes that didn’t wow the judges and stand out. Next, they blame her for not giving him sparkling choreography for the marathon dance? Karina can kick and flick and swing around like no one’s business….ummm, yeah blame Karina….oy vey!