Semi Final Week is here, who will miss out on the final?

Week 9 and the Semi Final is here...

All the contestants are dancing for a place in the final and are hoping to impress both the judges and the audience at home. This week there are two dances required to be performed and the second dance will be an alternate style and the couples were allocated their dance by an audience vote.

Before I give my thoughts on the performances of the contestants I am excited to announce that the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Menomonee Falls has managed to secure a visit from Dancing With The Stars Professional Anna Trebunskaya. Anna will be in our studio on Saturday June 29th for our Grand Opening Party and she will be teaching a group lesson which is open to the public. Please call the studio (262) 251-2000 for more information. This can be your opportunity to meet and have your photo taken with this incredible dancer and by taking her group class it can put you on your way to becoming a more confident dancer.

First up is Kellie Pickler who danced the Argentine Tango with Derek. The timing and matching footwork and leg action was very good and belies how little time she has been dancing. I would have liked to see a little more atmosphere between the two which is so important in this dance.

Total Judges Score 30

Her next dance was Flamenco and this was something special. Breathtaking performance and wonderful characterization.

Total Judges Score 28

Next was Ingo Rademacher and Kim dancing the Samba. Unfortunately for me this wasn't recognizable as a Samba as there was no bounce action and no rhythm in his body on basic Samba figures. Ingo's biggest problem so far this show has been his stiffness which was highlighted in this dance.

Total Judges Score 24

Charleston was the alternate dance for Ingo and he did a good job showing the speed and energy of this dance without the stiffness I mentioned earlier that has plagued him.

Total Judges Score 27

Rumba was Aly Raisman's first dance tonight and I can never understand why the lady would not wear dance shoes. This made her feet and legs look heavy and took away from the hip action. Her arms are a little disconnected from her body which makes the dance a little fake to me. This dance had more contemporary elements than a traditional Rumba. However there was great performance and maturity shown by Aly.

Total Judges Score 30

Afro Funk was selected for Aly's second dance. I think this is a difficult dance to do as it requires perfect sync but they did a good job.

Total Judges Score 29

Jacoby Jones was the next contestant tasked with dancing the Argentine Tango and I thought it had a lot of the elements that I felt were missing from Kellie Picklers Argentine Tango. This was full of passion and intensity and was a huge improvement over anything Jacoby has brought so far this season.

Total Judges Score 30

Lindy Hopping up the leaderboard this week Jacoby has raised his game and is peaking at the right time. This was full of energy and very dynamic!

Total Judges Score 29

Zendaya was hoping to Quickstep her way into the final. This was a little too staccato for my liking and had too many Tango elements in it. The movement was a little abrupt and they lost a lot of body contact. The tempo of the music they danced to was very fast which didn't lend itself to a smooth movement. Not their best performance.

Total Judges Score 25

This time looking Hip while doing Hip Hop Zendaya managed to tell a story during the dance and it was a fun number that was well received.

Total Judges Score 30

Next week is the final so get ready to vote for your favorite couple. We have a new instructor here in our studio so be sure to check out our staff page to read all our instructors bio’s.  http://www.fadsmenomoneefalls.com/category/about-us/our-staff/