<p>IDK how ‘poor’ Sasha grew up. She managed to get a good dance training and attended two of the most expensive summer intensives there are (Houston, Ailey, and Boston). Even with scholarships the cost of attendance of these intensives is still very prohibitive with travel, room and board, pointe shoes, excursions, and quite often a uniform requirement. Without a scholarship a summer can at one of these intensives can easily run $6000 when you are all said and done. So her financial struggles I am not aware of. Maybe there is something else we are not being told. </p>
<p>I mean, SYTYCD would NEVER, EVER (ahem) try to skew the public into thinking a dancer had a different path than they really did (like “untrained” Joshua who could magically do a beautiful brisee and showed photos of himself in ballet class later in the season).</p>
<p>Since no one else recalled a back story for Sasha’s pain, I googled it and found the SYTYCD community forum on Fox. The posters seem to agree it was marketing and editing hype and that it came from the judges not Sasha.</p>
<p>If I was a dancer in a competition, I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to correct hype that might get me votes. But I wonder what her mom was thinking…“What terrible pain is there that I don’t know about?”</p>
<p>Yeah in fact Sasha seems economically well off. They showed her house on one video package. I think it might be more in the realm of really bad breakup or maybe abuse in a relationship. But I doubt it’s the latter. </p>
<p>Sasha’s sister, not nearly as talented, also had extensive dance training, so apparently there was money available. I’ve never bought the sob stories the show tries to sell, and also discount the ones that go “you’re so amazing for a street dancing B-boy with no training!”. It always comes out eventually that every one of them has had formal dance training in a variety of genres. Whatever. I watch for the dancing, not the back stories.</p>
<p>yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if Tadd has taken classes in other genres. Anyone see how Marko’s mom, when he was eliminated, suddenly became emotionless and stopped caring because she knew she couldn’t milk her son anymore? His mom really ticks me off. So fake.</p>
<p>I am tired of all the back stories in all the genre reality shows, I watch food shows with my mother and we are so tired of hearing all about Joe or Jane’s grandma and that’s why she/he cooks this or that. It feels forced or contrived most of the time. I want to hear about the food and why & how to creatively cook it not about their family.</p>
<p>It would not be any big deal if one person here of there was telling an authentic story but these reality show producers keep looking for the marketing hard sell and none of it feels sincere any more, even the good stories.</p>
<p>This season seemed to keep the background stories to a minimum compared to past seasons. Some of you missed not having more coverage of each dancer’s personal lives. For me, I liked the fact that they concentrated more on the dancing and less on the “fluff” but apparently they still managed to inject too much of the non-dance nonsense for my own personal liking. It can tend to “contaminate” the voting results. </p>
<p>Hopefully next season they’ll go back to some of the elements that made the show work in previous years, specifically “expert” guest judges and switching up dance partners, as many of you have pointed out throughout this season’s thread. I think having different all-stars each week was one of the new changes this season that worked really well.</p>
<p>I think last cycle - where they visited them at their homes to deliver news, both good and bad - was unnecessary and silly. As they are looking for “America’s Favorite Dancer”, the editing of a personal clip could get or lose a person votes.</p>
<p>Consider a young woman I know. Lives in a nice house, nice family, wants for nothing materially, drives a great car that her parents bought her. Okay, so she could come off as a spoiled princess. But same young woman suffers from almost constant, debilitating migraines. Okay, so that portrayal would garner sympathy and inspiration. People have many facets and editing often shows just one.</p>
<p>It’s not too far out of the question that Sasha could have had a full scholarship at any of those summer programs. The same goes for Melanie or Marko. A girl from my D’s ballet school had a full ride at the Jackie Kennedy Onassis ballet school that is part of ABT starting when she was 16. When someone has it, like Melanie, Sasha, Marko and others, professional dance people know it and they want them at their studio associated with them. They offset the scholarships by having the average kids (whose parents adore them and see potential) pay full price.</p>
<p>Sasha’s struggle needn’t have been financial…her home life could have been unstable, she could have lost a sibling or other close relative, she could have battled addiction or mental or physical illness or injuries, she could have encountered discrimination in her dance training or education…there are myriad possibilities. But because her hardships didn’t appear to be articulated on the air, I am left with the impression that the judges assumed, because she was an African American woman, that she went though hardships.</p>
<p>missypie, I agree … they haven’t stated anything specific, so the hardship is perhaps too personal to air on the show (abuse, sexual or physical) or could be related to discrimination. I think one judge said one, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but you’re letting it out in your dance (or something like that). I’m thinking that maybe she just dances very emotionally and there is no real thing that she specifically relates or pulls from to get that emotion. Either way, I love her dancing. She is beautiful and strong and I would have been just as pleased that she won.</p>
<p>DD and I finally watched the finale on the DVR tonight and it was worth the wait. Really enjoyed the picks of the judges, especially Caitlyn and Pascha in the Argentine Tango. I think if Caitlyn had pulled back her hair more often it might have totally changed her persona and been a help, made her look less little girl.</p>
<p>Melanie rightfully won. I think we saw the debut of what will be a legendary dancer of the ages. Mary is right, the audience and even the television audience would just grow hushed whenever she began to dance. Uncanny.</p>
<p>I loved both the boys and thought Sasha was gorgeous. Occasionally, I felt like Sasha’s attitude was a little rough though and I found the whole drama at Vegas with the sister sort of staged.</p>
<p>Am curious about Melanie’s life, especially her art studies in college. What a marvelous background for a dancer! I have a feeling she may develop into a choreographer.</p>
<p>Melanie trained at two of the big competition schools in her home area; the last being a family studio. One of the two owners of Rhythm Dance is Melanie’s mom, Becca. What I can’t figure out is why she didn’t switch to Rhythm Dance until she was 12 or so, unless her mom didn’t want to have the pressure of teacher her when she was young. These two schools are rivals, so it was interesting that she stayed at the other so long.</p>
<p>I don’t believe Becca is Melanie’s mom. Thats not what the local papers said. I think they just happen to have the same last name. I could be wrong, but thats the impression I get from what was written.</p>
<p>*** Edit*** see below- have confirmed that Becca is NOT related to Melanie</p>
<p>I found it interesting that she seemed to come from the one-parent family among the finalists but was not considered to be the contestant who had endured life travails.</p>
<p>Anyway, I really hope she tries her hand at choreography. With her art background and dance it could be amazing.</p>