SYTYCD Fan(s) of the week: Are male dancers sissies?

Some years ago, there was a lot of publicity centered on eating disorders in ballet dancers, and from the number of comments by Nigel about the masculinity of the male dancers (and the comments on his comments), it seems that homophobia is huge issue in the dance community, too.

But is Nigel really a homophobe, or is he just responding to a homophobic audience, anticipating them, and demanding that the guys dancing for him conform to the stereotype of virile, "butch" men, rather than fey, "sissy" men? I was wishing for some gender-bending dances (or "post-gender", as a commenter I quote herein says), but it doesn't look like that's going to happen in the mainstream dance world any time soon.

Consider these comments at AfterElton
Dan McCallum:

I'm not sure either about who's gay, but what is up with Nigel and his homophobia???!!! Is anyone else as annoyed as I am by his constant need to heterosexualize everything? Ugh. In case he doesn't know, the majority of men in the dance world are gay, and the dance world doesn't care and is very accepting of it. Nigel seems to be the anomoly.

Guillermo Serritiello:

One thing that we so agree on is Nigel, but I've beat that dead horse too long. He keeps trying to correlate "gay" with "flamboyant" AND "weak," and says the same tired thing that some of these "types" are not strong enough to do some of the required lifts or play a traditional role. Lots holes in his sweeping generalizations esp. in a field that is opening more and more each day as I see people wanting to see something exotic, organic, and at times even post gender. It also ignored how some gays are so good at play acting.

And then there's Sean Cheesman, a choreographer from Calgary slated to be one of the guest judges for SYTYCD Canada this fall.

In the video, note Sean’s comments to dancers at 3:00

“Crying does not work in this business. Get strong, now”; “Tell your problems to Jesus, because I don’t care”

and at 3:35, when he himself is in tears

[I’m feeling] “emotional now, and it’s because…we all know growing up as a male dancer isn’t easy, and if anybody says male dancers are sissies, they need to watch you dance.”

SYTYCD Fans of the Week: 4 Real

Kelly O:

Hello friends! We don't have any recording cap[a]bilities either so it was great to see the show again. My four children and I are so in love with Joshua and Katee. As I told Ted one time, two of my kiddos looks like Joshua and two look like Katee so they have become such wonderful role models for my children Our one son looks at Joshua and says, "Mom, I can do that too?" Absolutely.. God willing! […] our 7 year old...he sees Will, Josh and Twitch and says "wow"...someone who looks like me doing such cool dance! We live in a very homogeneous town so shows like this give him a window to what can happen when you dream and work hard! :-)

demondoll replies:

My 7 yr old son is in love with this show and the dances! And it's funny- we too live in a pretty homogenous town, so that he can look at Mark and think it's cool to dance... it's all kinds of wonderful.

From last week's Top 6 Performance Open Thread on BSYTYCD.

Pissed-off Fan of the Week: From the Extreme to the Banal

Still in a state of disbelief over the elimination of Will, Stuph from Steph is considering a boycott.

Banal Fan of the Week eats breakfast while catching us up on the shocking events of the Results show. Or what he can remember of them.

UPDATE: I have no idea what TWOP is, but this site deserves special mention for SYTYCD I'm-not-sure-what of the Week.

SYTYCD Pissed off Fan of the Week: Me.

I’m going to miss Jessica. Murghi over on Bored Morons was threatening to start a “Leave Jessica Alone!” campaign, and I read about someone printing up “I love Jessica King” t-shirts. It would have been fun to watch fans escalate their outraged support for Jessica each week as the judges trashed her.

BSYTYCD thinks Mia Michaels needs to get laid. Noting that Mia broke up with her boyfriend this spring, Ted writes:

I'm not gonna say it, but given her ornery disposition lately, you know what we're all thinking.

Mia claims that her brand of brutal honesty is all for the benefit of the dancers:

"What America doesn't know is the relationship. There's a beautiful, beautiful collaboration and very nurturing [atmosphere]. For me especially, I nurture them. I'm Mamma Mia and they look to me for that tough love actually. So, when I say it, American might go, 'Oh my God, that's so harsh.' [The dancers] are cool with it. They know. They know I only want them to be brilliant."

And, okay—I get that Mia doesn’t like wusses:

You can't be a victim to be in the dance business. You have to be a warrior

But since Jessica withdrew from the show, I’ve read variously that she had been dancing with one, two and three broken ribs, an injured knee, a punctured lung, pneumonia, and a broken wrist. So does Mia still think Jessica was “just there for the ride”, or is she a warrior, like Mia?

Wev.

It’s all cool, tho’! Mia was just telling her truth. Like she says:

Your reality is your reality. Your perception is your perception. Whatever your truth is, it is. Trying to understand the difference between your truth and the truth of others that has been embedded in your consciousness and being is a great challenge. How do we honestly know the difference? Go inside of yourself…

HOLD ON! I may be going out on a limb here, but exactly whose truth is Mia speaking when she says

“Will, you look tired of carrying her [Jessica]. That's what I feel like. You've been carrying her for this entire time and you look tired. You're tired. You need a new partner”?

And, like me, bBitz registered disbelief when Mia commented on Twitch’s krumping last week:

"Scary! It was your life!" What?!?! How the buck does she know that?! I hope she knows something and she's not just assuming.

More Reality According to Mia:

Your perception of your truth is what is, at this moment, in this time, and most likely ever changing. Everyone being wired and divinely programmed differently has their own truth. Every truth is valid and perhaps it’s the complete opposite of others’. Does it mean it’s wrong? Nothing is right or wrong…

It just is. Right or wrong is merely just your own judgment and perception. Creating my own right and my own reality, and beauty on a stage or screen is my truth at this time. My own vision and instincts are what makes me…me. My timing, phrasing, and choice of vocabulary is my right […]

I’ve dreamt of the life im living as a fantasy… Now it is my reality…My goal and treasure is to learn to pat myself on my back, smile and exhale… And most of all to open my eyes to the beautiful blessed life i have been given.

Now I get it! It's really all about Mia.

SYTYCD: Best Recap of the Week

bBitz at TVGasm posted his recap just this morning. Funny bits:

Lil' C says this is going to be "BUCK". This is "Krump Talk" for "Super!". Kton is worried she is not "feelin' it" so they dress her up and try to make her look "Buck".

She looks bucking retarded

Up next - Twitchington - and they're doing a tango with Jean-Marc. This routine is supposed to be like "Mr. & Mrs. Smith". So apparently it will destroy a marriage and culminate with twins.

SPECIAL MENTION: Most Cerebral Recap of the Week - Leee at TYBE. I especially loved his LOLCATDEELEY of the Week (and now I'm waiting for: "I can haz new hairstylist?").

SYTYCD: Pissed-off Fan of the Week

Highlights:
0:30 Nigel’s a pervert
1:00 Agrees with me (on Twitch and Will) and FOF (on Kherington)
2:00 Mary Murphy=Paula Abdul?
4:30 Accurately predicts this week’s eliminations, with the added bonus of Thanye as a creepy intruder at the end.

Plus: The girls are all annoying, but the guys are okay. Advice to producers. Will should win. Wait, no—Mark. Mark should win. Yeah.