But my DVR kept skipping- and I missed Caitlynn and Mitchell. So, after the full night of notes- I went back and luckily it had recorded separately. (Lesson learned: never press random buttons during a recording)
Oh thank you DVR gods. Thank you because that was easily my favorite of the night--and so far the season.
I was already a fan of Caitlynn but I didn't expect to like Mitchell (Ten Across the Board!) because of his less than contained personality. Due to his injury last week, I didn't get to see him perform so this was a new dancer and one I honestly didn't expect to like.
But the contemporary piece by Stacey Tookey was set to Adele's Turning Tables about a woman who wants to leave her man but can't find the strength to walk away when he faces her.
And some of my favorite routines have sets. This one was particulary....someone had some design training- that much is for sure.
Downstage right is a white arm chair and white lamp.
Behind it center stage is a dominating black wingback with black lamp.
Let's just say they didn't have to use costumes to show anything other than their fashion preferences.
The lights followed suit- using a soft blue that set the mood but didn't distract during the partnering during the majority of the piece. However, when both fell were in their chairs, they used solo spotlights to highlight the disconnection.
Highlighting the distance between two people.
But let me stop showing off the Bachelor of Arts and discuss the dancing....
Caitlynn is beautiful. I loved her last week and I still love her. She glows. And she embodies the character with which she is asked to step into. Last week, it was a tough woman hitting hard and this week it was a young woman trying to find her strength. And while it's easy for me to say whether someone is in character or not- I couldn't find a fault in her face much less the beauty in which she carried herself as a dancer.
At rise, the two are both sitting in their respective chairs and both feeling their own inner turmoil. Passing a hand over her face, she begins to move...
Caitlynn's twists and contortions as she flails in her chair....you could feel her confusion, her determination, her fragileness. And can I just say her feet were perfect.
And he was in complete control of his body- but there was a softness and grace about im that made me feel perahps he's also fighting the end more than fighting her.
But when he comes over the top and grabs her, twists her and pulls her off the chair and into his arms-...And the desperation in which she grabs for him in the moments where she lets go of what she knows and falls back to what she can't let go. ...
Well, you realize why she can't let go. There's something about the ability to let go and just let yourself be taken over by someone that is an addictive quality. He offers her the ability to be vulnerable in his protection but only if she understands the bruises that come with it.
You can see an anger in her as she struggles to break free but even when she pushes him away, she stands there and lets him sweep her away again. She reaches for freedom and she walks away but when faced with his yearning, she is powerless. She sinks down into herself, unable to hurt the man she loves despite knowing instinctively that its wrong.
And my absolute favorite moment : Her tucked underneath his arm, reaching out to the freedom and havig him spin her slowly, tenderly around and throwing her up with him, pulling her back from the edge and back towards the chairs (!).
Back toward him. Back toward them.
You can see her strugffle and her anger with herself. more than him. She knows she's the one to fault- she cant leave despite everything she feels. And her guilt that perhaps she's keeping him prisoner as well is echoed in her twists away from him, only to come face to face to his determined refusal. And refuse to do any more than stare up at him in frustrated beauty.
I know the choreographer wanted the man to be a more dominating personality, maybe more forceful and cruel but Mitchell quipped "that's not me at all!" and you can see he went against the story in his own way- brought his own take on things.
Maybe this was intentional and maybe he just lacks the power to do what Stacey asked of him but it was so much more powerful to see a man struggle with his own desires- refusing to let go, even though he knows that's what she wants.
They say if you love someone to let them go. Perhaps he is more selfish than he would like to admit- pulling and twisting but always catching her when she falls. The moment when she leaped on to the white armchair and flew into his arms only to be caught in a fetal position was raw power contained, trust and connection radiating from them.
And when he picks her up and puts her back int the chair...she sinks down as he heads back to his. But in a moment of passion, he dips down- agony and frustration evident in his very aura- knowing he is doing wrong. Knowing he should let go as well but refusing to. and avoiding the emotions that she herself has come to accept.
For now.
Mitchell then slowly crosses his leg, and turns the light off.
Caitlynn is left in a white spotlight, clutching her heart. Apart but not alone.
And as the lights flew up and the audience cheered- you blinked away the moment and realized the spot on Caitlynn's face was where Mitchell "accidently punched" her, cutting deep enough to bleed---
Well, maybe all that emotion was more of a girl in pain than a girl in the midst of a character
She was literally crying in shock throughout the entire judge panel. And maybe all that trust she showed in him was unwarranted- I mean, it wasn't a scratch, it was a deep bleed. I sympathize with her trying to explain that she doesn't mean to cry on stage- when someone hits you in the face- you cry. Some kind of weird shock sets in and tries to wash it off- don't ask me I don't know but it happens despite your best intentions NOT to cry in front of people.
Sorry- went on a tangent-
But both dancers brought a poise and emotion to the dance which made it go from a simple and predictable number to a quivering, uncertainty. There were other numbers in the show which reduced the audience to tears but this one- this one was the most honest to me.
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