So You Think You Can Dance?

So there's this show that I love. It's called So You Think You Can Dance. And is you might recall, I"m incredibly obsessed. Seriously, I wish it aired throughout the entire year, because I could never get sick of watching these incredibly talented people push the limits of their bodies and their dance abilities. True, it often happens that there are lots of so-so dances, but every once in a while you get these amazing dances, and that makes watching the mediocre ones completely worth it. These amazing dances are the perfect combination of musical genius, skilled dancing, and brilliant choreography. There have been moments when I have been brought to tears with how good a dance is or with the story that the choreography is portraying. Clearly, I am passionate about this show. I have never loved a bit of television so much in my life. You know what's even better than television? Seeing these dancers LIVE! Which I got to do on my birthday this past October. In case you forgot, I gushed over the experience here.

Now that I've explained my love for SYTYCD, I must now reveal to you when this new season premieres. None other than TONIGHT! I plan on having So You Think You Can Dance celebrations on a weekly basis. Oh how I love that show.

Here's some of my favorite dances from past seasons:

Twitch and Alex. Outta Your Mind. Choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon. Season 7.
Twitch is just amazing. No need to explain that. But Alex (the Asian one) is a BALLET DANCER. And then he just threw down this absolutely amazing bit of hip hop masterpiece. Probably the best dance I've seen on this show.

Chelsie and Mark. Bleeding Love. Also choreographed by Tabitha and Napleon. Season 4.
So emotional and excellent. Story line: the husband is a workaholic who's emotionally attached to his work and the wife is trying to convince him to stay with her instead of leave for work.

Kayla and Kupono. Gravity (Addiction). Choreographed by Mia Micheals. Season 5.
This dance is about people who are struggling with addiction. Kupono is the addiction who just keeps the addict (Kayla) always in his grasp and no matter how hard she tries, she can't get away. It's so tragically sad and emotional and I can't watch it enough.

Robert and Allison. Fix You. Choreographed by Travis Wall. Season 7.
This dance. Oh this dance. It is so good. And meaningful. Travis Wall was the runner-up on SYTYCD season 1, and now he has become one of my favorite contemporary choreographers. This dance was very personal to him and is about having loved ones with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and trying to help them. It's that feeling of helplessness while still trying to help them yourself.

We like to party.

Wednesday was the celebration of my birth. It was pretty normal day: work, class, funny friends, eat, try to nap. But then the night came and life got exciting.

Kendra and I bought tickets to the So You Think You Can Dance live tour back in July. This was my birthday gift to myself. It was a brilliant move on my part. The day had finally come and this is our excitement as we were leaving the apartment that night:

We have a tradition of eating Chinese food while watching SYTYCD, so naturally we ended up eating Vietnamese food while driving to the SYTYCD tour. We were in a hurry, so I had to eat on the road. Don't worry, we didn't die.

**Edit: in response to the many people that were freaked out by this picture, I must offer a word of reassurance. 1- I was only eating at red lights. 2- I put the food away once we got on the freeway. 3- hahahahaha! I promise I'm not a terrifyingly dangerous driver. End edit.

Then we finally arrived. This is our ecstatic faces right as we got to our seats. Note the SYTYCD sign directly behind us. Yeah, we had ballin seats.

Then they danced and I went crazy. It was AMAZING! This is when I splurged (again) and bought myself a sweet t-shirt:

These human beings are so incredibly talented. It just amazes me what they've trained themselves to do and I love the fact that they are sharing their talent with me. The show was amazing! I love my Kui, and I'm so happy that she went with me! This is when we met Mitchell (one of the amazing dancers) and he gave me a hug because I said he was adorable. It was great.

So basically. I lost my voice. I watched some dancing. My mind was blown. I laughed a lot. I danced a lot myself. And my birthday was FABULOUS!

And then that night when I got home, Kaylee and I decided to have our annual all-nighter. Here's a sneak peak picture just to spark your excitement and curiosity:

Purchased.

So You Think You Can Dance?
This is a question I ask myself often, with varying answers. This is also the title of my favorite television show. Dancers tryout around the country and once a top 20 is chosen, America votes weekly until they finally chose America's Favorite Dancer. It's really quite exciting.
This season is probably the most talented season I have seen on this show. Really. They're that good. I am in love with people who know how to dance and who do it incredibly well. I appreciate talent.
Every year, these top 10 talented dancers go on tour around the country. And every year they come to Utah. And every year I wish I could go witness this spectacle for myself. However money is always an issue. The issue being that I have none.
It seemed that the same cycle was destined to occur this year. That was until the tour dates were revealed.

October 26, 2011
Does this date seem important to anyone?
It is the day that 10 amazing dancers will be performing in The Maverik Center in West Valley, Utah. It also happens to be my 21st birthday.
Coincidence? Most likely. But the best dang coincidence that has ever happened.
I absolutely could not let this opportunity pass me by. I immediately set my mind upon buying myself an incredible birthday present. And I recruited my fellow SYTYCD addict, Kendra to come with me.

So Friday, July 29th at 10:00 AM, tickets went on sale and I purchased 2. I have never been elated in my entire life. We have floor seats. Row 15. If I could express my unrequited happiness in words, I would. But there are no words for how excited I am. I leap with jubilation whenever I think about it.
October 26th, here I come.

My life is a musical.

Once upon a time I watched High School Musical(this was not one of my finer moments), and as terribly cheesy and ridiculous that piece of cinematic entertainment was, it made me come to a conclusion. I would just straight up LOVE to have my life be a musical. If people burst into song and dance everywhere I went and whenever something important happened, I would absolutely adore this. I would also probably feel more comfortable, because I'm pretty sure that I tend to do this in normal situations. Sometimes I just can't help but sing. And if the song is good, then it absolutely must be accompanied by dancing. So, since I already bust out in musical exhibitions at mildly inappropriate times, then I figure everyone else around me might as well join in.
Seriously though, wouldn't it be so cool if you were just walking around the grocery store and people started singing ballads about what they were buying and beboppin' around with their shopping carts? Or if you went to a soccer game and the people in the stands started singing about how much they love the sport? Or if I was walking around campus and backpack-clad students just started spontaneous dancing in Brigham Square.... ok, let's get real, I go to BYU, so that already happens on a weekly basis, maybe even daily. :) Anyway, yes, this would be so incredibly cheesy and logistically impossible for there to be choreographed songs and dances everywhere I went, but it is still worth the dream. If my life was a musical, even the terribly sad or disheartening things that happen couldn't be that bad. And so, despite the ridiculousness of the idea, I will continue to sing and dance in pretty much every situation I am placed in. It just can't be stopped, trust me, I've tried.

Side note: If my life WERE a musical, this is what my roommates and I would look like: