Well gotta run for a bit......my son just called and he just got out of work and his car won't start so we need to go help him.......talk to everyone later  

(((hugs)))

april6263 wrote:

OMG!! Wait......  Sir Sleeps was in Sway???????......Tango did you see Sir Sleeps in person???????.......Oh WOW!!.....LOL......why am I as excited about this as the dancing??????.....LOL

He came onstage, dressed in a Sway T-shirt.   Val brought him out on a leash and he walked right to the edge of the stage and looked at Mama C.   She took him.   Later some guy brought him downstairs before the M&G.  I think they took some pix with him, too.  He's a gorgeous dog, just like his owners!
 

Okay, before I go on to the show, here are my M&G pix.  They aren't very good, but the look on Maks' face in the first one is priceless.  That's the smile, we love.  Not quite a Meryl smile, but he's looking at me, so that's ok.  

https://www.facebook.com/tango.dancer.75/media_set?set=a.966261803395195.1073741858.100000341531568&type=1

 

My Review of Sway 3.0, Part 1

Alex came out before the show starts to pump up the audience, and he used the opportunity to announce Sway 4.0 in Miami the first week of December.   There was also an ad for it in the program (Dec. 3-6, 5 shows).  

Act 1, Scene 1 featured Tony and Sharna.  It highlighted classic ballroom and the songs were lovely oldies.   Each segment started with a short video montage.  Tony was talking about desire.  

Tony comes onstage, and the setting is an old-fashioned dance club.  Couples are scattered around tables, and the bartender is in the back while various pairs interact through dance.   He’s looking for the “one,” and once he spies Sharna, they connect through dances and end up leaving together.  

They added Emma as a hostess in addition to David Thomas Moore as the maître d’.   In the big opening cast number, “Cool Cat in Town,” they added Meryl and Rumer dancing with Artem and Henry.   They just dance a few short sequences, and spend quite a bit of the number at one of the tables watching.   Meryl dances a bit of quickstep with David Thomas Moore.  
One of my favorite numbers in this act is “Since I Fell For You.”  Virginia, a tall, gorgeous dancer comes out as a singer, lip syncing to the song   She’s featured along with Artem, Henry & Serge in a sensuous dance where she toys with each of them and they vie for her attention.   She has long legs and obviously lots of ballet.   At one point she is holding Artem’s  hand and does an extension to a full split.  Then somehow she hooks her foot under his arm that is holding her hand and throws his hand off, moving on to the next guy.  Just magnificent and so controlled.  When I told her how much I loved that dance and that move, she said “The move or because it’s Artem?”  I answered, “Both.”

“Sexy Silk” is a new number, featuring Emma, who is a firecracker.  

They do a fast-paced group cha cha to “Tea for Two” where one of the girls pursues one of the guys and he rejects her, going off with two others.   This was great, but especially as the set up for a fantastic slow foxtrot  where David Thomas Moore consoles her, leaving her smiling at the end.  

Each Act of the show had at least one beautiful rumba.   Of course, this is my favorite dance, so I was an avid watcher.   Tony’s and Sharna’s was my very favorite (Maks & Meryl’s for difference reasons).   She is just so gorgeous as a person and dancer.  She allowed Tony to shine, and he just seemed to light up dancing with her.  They bring out the best in each other, I think.  I’ll never be able to listen to “Satisfy My Soul” again without picturing the two of them.

Sharna and Tony danced again to “Blues in the Night.”   There is a gasp-inducing moment when she runs across the stage and jumps, and he raises her is a one-armed star lift.  The success of the lift is so dependent on her technique in making the leap.   And like that scene in “Dirty Dancing,” it requires absolute confidence in your partner.  

I wanted to write this down before I forget so much of the detail.   Already, I know there were a hundred other moments that were just as striking to me, and I’ve already lost them.

Act 1, Scene 2

This part featured Val and Jenna.   There was a lot of hip hop.  Val’s video montage featured Brooklyn and hanging out with his guys.  He did a rap, starting in Russian and then morphing into English to coincide with their arrival in NYC.   The first night, there were mike problems.  

There was a wonderful contemporary/rumba piece to “Concrete Wall.”  That is such a haunting song.   Part of the set was a scaffold that was used very effectively during this seductive, slinky dance.   Serge, Artem and Henry were really featured in this part of the show.    Emma also danced here as well.

Again there was a beautiful rumba set to “Clarity”  by two of the troup dancers.

The Act ends with a jive to “Move a Little Faster.”  This was high powered and energetic and just took your breath away to end the first half of the show.   Everyone was on fire for this number In all three shows.

Act II, Scene 2

Another of my favorite moments, and one of the funniest, parts begins  Act II.   Alex saunters on stage with his earphones in, suddenly realizing he’s in front of an audience.   His homies come out and then dance a little hip hop.   Then Henry comes out in gold lame short shorts with his disco group.   They have a dance war, where they get each half of the audience up doing movements to compete with each other.  Eugene comes around at the end of intermission telling people to stand and participate.   Finally, Tony comes out and breaks up the group before it goes too far.   After they all leave the stage, he exits doing disco moves.   It was hilarious!  But what made it even better was during the Saturday shows when Merv, in full bodyguard mode, comes out with Tony.   After Tony leaves the stage, Merv starts moving to the music, then goes back into serious mode and exists.   My sides hurt I laughed so hard.  Merv is a rock star!

Val and Jenna do a paso doble toward the end of this part.   The dancing was great, as usual.   Val was dynamic and intense, and Jenna was just amazing.  They are extremely well matched in terms of energy and style of dancing.

They still had Amy and Henry’s dance in the program because she bowed out too late.   At the very end of this part, Val & Rumer dance their freestyle.   There is a scafford stage left that is used for the dances.  She comes out on the top of it, singing the beginning of “Toxic,” then she comes down and they do the dance.   It was amazing to see in person.

Act II, Scene 3

Once again, Maks enters through the house.   Because of the configuration, he entered through a side door on the orchestra level and walked down the side and across the front, right in front of me all three times.   His comments as he walked were again about passion, but it was a little less formalized than last time.   Rather than the mantra, “What is passion?”  he talks about living with passion.   At one point he says, “You may be misinterpreted,” and he points to himself.  “You may be misunderstood,” and he points to himself again.   He still stays an audience member’s name, but the set up wasn’t as clear.     He still pulls up an audience member and pulls her into hold, but the speech was different than last time.

Then he walked in  front and to the stage left stairs.   He stopped and said “Are you ready to live with passion?”  And kept saying it until he got the desired enthusiasm from the crowd.   Then he came onstage and started dancing.   He dances initially with Virginia until the set up for Peta’s entrance.  

They added a new number with Henry and Jenna,  I assume as a replacement for Henry and Amy’s planned number, although not in the same spot.   Jenna and Henry are almost as amazing as Jenna and Val.   Great dancing!  However, in the matinee, instead of Jenna, Henry, Artem, and Serge came out.   All of a sudden, they jumped into the audience.   Artem landed right in front of me.  We made eye contact, and he pulled me up to salsa!  We did a few steps and he twirled me so he was behind me.   He said “You know what you’re doing, I’m going to ask someone else.”   So he then went to my friend Carmina!   Each of the guys danced with 2 of 3 audience members.   Then they jumped on stage and finished the number.   I later learned from Alex that Jenna was injured and couldn’t do the number, so the guys improvised.   She was back later, so it was obviously something temporary.

There is a contemporary number with a lot of smoke.  It is my least favorite number in the show, not the least of which because of the smoke.  That’s the only drawback to sitting in the front row.   I just prefer the ballroom numbers.

The MnM do their rumba.  This was my first time seeing the two of them dance live, and it was awe-inspiring.  The chemistry and connection is undeniable.   The dance with such intensity and passion.   It reassures me that that will always be there when they dance.   Now if they could just recover it in RL.   It is sad that they end it with her walking off the stage instead of the ending they used on the show.

Another new number which I really like is “Bar Rumba.”  It’s a high-powered dance with Artem, Emma, and Peta.   It goes back and forth between the 3 of them with each girl dancing for Artem’s appreciation.   Then at the end, he’s alone and the two girls are together as the lights go down.  The three are very well matched, and I really liked it.

One of my favorite, non Maks, parts of this segment was an Argentine tango.   One couple began, then another couple entered (one from each side) and they switched partners, then 3 more couples came out.  Teddy was in this one.   What was fascinating to me was that I suddenly realized that the front two couples were doing Argentine tango and the 3 in the back were doing rumba.   

Maks & Peta reprised their high-powered cha cha to “Summertime.”    Maks was amazing, and I assume Peta was, too, but I couldn’t focus on her.  I thought she was not putting forth as much effort on Friday as she did on Saturday.   Maks was really on fire during this dance, and it’s one where he loves to play to the audience.
The last number before the finale is “Heroes.”  The stage was quite small, so thay did the in-line tango steps pretty much in a circle around the stage.   It was every bit as beautiful as we saw on the DWTS anniversary show.  I was a bit disappointed he didn’t do the kick, but he was at the back of the stage, and there wasn’t really room.   The final move is amazing seen up close.   They were smiling at each other and really enjoying this dance.

Then the cast performs to the theme song.   It’s kind of a curtain call dance before the real curtain call.   Meryl and Rumer were not in it.   All the dancers are on staging doing cha cha, then Tony & Sharna come out, then Val & Jenna, then Maks & Peta.   At one point, you have all 40 or so dancers on stage, doing the cha cha together.   Just awesome!   Then they exit, and the curtain call begins.   This time, the female dancers come out together (Emma, Sharna, Peta, Jenna, Leanne), then Maks, Val & Tony, then Meryl and Rumer together.  

After the final show, Maks came out with a mike.  He announced that they were going to do the Sway number again to film it.   He invited everyone to come up to the stage.   Of course, I made a beeline for the stage.  Unfortunately, I then realized that I had left my purse under my seat.   I thought better of staying there and decided to go back.   I ended up watching it standing on my seat.  Didn’t even think to get my phone out and video it, stupidly.   I was just awestruck by the whole thing.  

At the very end, Val came out with Sir Sleep dressed in a Sway t-shirt.   Mama C then came up to the stage and took him.   Val and Maks threw their shirts into the audience.  

The lessons were again terrific.  More and more intense than last time, but I wanted and had prepared for that.   I think my dancing has gained me a level of acceptance that the typical out-of-town fan who comes and takes a lesson doesn’t get.   And I’ll definitely be back for lessons again.   The show was even more amazing than in December.   The performers were amazing from Maks down to the last troup member.   They were all on fire, especially on Saturday night.   The chemistry between Sharna & Tony, Val & Jenna, Maks & Meryl was palpable but so different.   There’s a photo on Tumblr of Val & Jenna doing the cha cha and their feet are barely touching the floor.  That’s what it felt like to see them on the stage.  

If my Sway experience in December was magical, this one was pure and simply wonderful.   In December, I was totally blown away because I wasn’t expecting what I got.   This time, I had different expectations, and most of them were met.  Maks and Tony recognized me.   So many others now know me by name, including Eugene, Alex, Merv, and David but also just other instructors and students from the studios, and on-line friends.  So I’m very happy, and it was worth every minute and every penny.   It just made me want more.  So on to Miami.

The rest of my recap is on page 188. 

I'll repost my pix on instagram later today.

Last edited by tangodancer208 (6/09/2015 6:50 am)

Since CEK, is off doing PT, I'll bring over a bit of news

Last edited by LuvSeason18 (6/09/2015 10:14 am)