the summer I learned to krump

That would be the title of my collected essays on pop culture, if ever I was to gather my summer blogging and hire a ghost writer of immeasurable talent to make some sense of my various rants and stream-of-conscious diary-like entries. For now, this'll have to do. I'm loving the current season of "So You Think You Can Dance." The meat and potatoes portion of the show started last week, with the twenty dancers pairing up and dancing off in styles ranging from contemporary (if I'm not mistaken, this style was described as "lyrical" last season...I don't know enough about the dance industry to understand the change) to ballroom to hip hop. I always enjoy ballroom dancing more than I think I will (so that's how you dance to Enya) but hip hop's still my favorite. I'm endlessly fascinated with dancers' seemingly innate ability to break out in that bootie move so prevalent in krumping. I'm determined to master the move by summer's end. Watching the show ought to help, in addition to Missy Elliot's videos - always a good time - and David LaChapelle's documentary "Rize."

Anyway, getting back to the show...I don't have a favorite couple or individual dancer yet, although I did phone in and vote for four. I'm not sure what the ideal voting procedure is, but at this early stage in the competition it's difficult to single out just one couple to vote for. Off the top of my head I'm looking forward to seeing more of Benji, Heidi, Donyelle, Musa, and Natalie. Musa and Natalie are definitely the hottest couple - they've got the best chemistry so far. But with the partners remaining as is throughout the course of the show - barring rearrangement of couples due to individual dancers being voted off - the chemistry bit's bound to improve with each week.