‘So You Think You Can Dance’: You Call Those Choreographers?

Finally. The top twenty dancers have been announced, and tween girls and middle-aged gay men citywide breathe an excited sigh of relief. This season, which contestants end up on the chopping block tonight (and which must dance to survive) will have more to do with who got saddled with bad choreography than who’s got that extra something.

If there was a breakthrough performance last night, it was fashion-challenged Lacey Schwimmer’s shiver-inducing rendition of contempo-diva Mia Michaels’s devastating duet.

Wade Robson’s jazz-for-hobos routine for Jesus and Sara was the only other number that didn’t flatten its performers. Jessi managed to look graceful while waltzing around with what looked like yesterday’s laundry over her arm; Anya and Danny vied for longest legs of the evening while doing a fairly formulaic Jive. Pity suckers Ashlee and Ricky, who had no alchemy for Alex da Silva’s leaden tango, and Shana and Jimmy, who couldn’t vivify lame-duck Tyce Diorio’s soulless Broadway routine. You could practically see the lines at TKTS shrinking in response.
—Drew Pisarra