In which Amie admits she's not just a geek-girl; occassionally she's actually a girly girl.
Some girls are embarrassed to admit they love sci-fi. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I love dance shows. Always have. American Bandstand. Dance Fever. Dance Party USA. And who from my peer group doesn't remember The Solid Gold Dancers with some affection? Hell, I even loved me some Fly Girls back in the day. So, knowing this about me, it should come as no surprise that I have been watching Dancing with the Stars from day one, Season One. With the notable exception of Drew Lachey, the best dancer has never won in any season. Although all of the best dancers (with the exception of Stacy Keebler) have always blessedly made it to the finals. Until now.
If you heard a wailing, "Noooooooooooo!" and a hell of a lot of sobbing coming from Western PA on Tuesday night, that would have been me, shocked, disgusted, and incredibly sad to see Sabrina Bryan and her professional partner, Mark Ballas Jr, be sent home halfway through the competition, even though she was clearly the best dancer there, and quite possibly the best dancer to grace their ballroom since the debut of the American version of the competion. She received one of the highest first round scores of any competitor ever. She received a perfect score in her 4th week for their Paso Doble, which was historic (and weeks before we've seen other good dancers get perfect scores in the past).
As a product of Disney, she should have had a built-in fan base. And as someone who obviously fell in love with her partner and us getting to see that young romance blossom in front of our eyes, she should have won over the romantics (and anyone who knows me well knows this factor appealled to me almost as much as the dancing!)
Instead I hear the fact that she was too good, and people are glad she lost. That her ability to dance hip-hop gave her an unfair advantage, and again, glad she lost. That she was fat and noone wanted to see a piggy in a tutu. That her story was boring (WHAT?? Hello, isn't it obvious by the way they couldn't let go of each other, particularly after she was sent home that SHE AND MARK ARE A COUPLE??? How is that boring?) Or that her dancing was too agressive.
Now, I spent some time last night rewatching all of her dances from the past 6 weeks (and stupidly rewatched her being sent home, which had me in tears again). I looked at the stylistic similarities in all the dances. Looked at the criticisms. I didn't see criticisms of her dance technique. If one listens closely to the crits, they're all a critique of Mark's choreography, not Sabrina's dancing. Their Week 5 Rumba, perfect example.
The criticisms of this dance, particularly from Len, was that there were "too many tricks." Well gee, who was doing the tricks? Mark, doing his usual spins and jumps. Not that I didn't enjoy them, but they also aren't typically seen in the rumba.
Another example of this? Mark throwing in his bizarre breakdancing move into their jive in week 3.
Seeing all of these dances together, and given that Mark Ballas' personal history: parents are dance champions and sought-after instructors, grew up with other dancers in the house, including fellow professional competitors Derek and Julianne Hough, being new to Dancing with the Stars, and having a really good partner (with whom he formed a romantic attachment, no less), I think Mark had something to prove. And I don't blame him for that. That being said, I thought his choreography for their week 6 foxtrot was entirely appropriate. The dance suited Sabrina, had Len's "light and shade" despite claims by Len and Bruno otherwise, and was a perfect match for their music (which the dancers don't get to pick, which makes no sense to me, but whatever.)
This dance had power AND elegance. I thought she was simply fantastic. Mark reigned himself in as well. They moved beautifully as a couple. And who could miss that wonderfully gratuitous nose-rub in the middle?
So when this happened--
Yeah, she was robbed. And I am still personally feeling devastated. Yeah, it's a dance show. So what. I feel the show will be less without her.
/gratuitous girliness
