Let me start off by saying that I am not a trained dancer so if I say something wrong please feel free to correct me. 😊
Jhalak is a show whose main premise is entertainment. Dancing will always take a back seat to performance. That is the reason that celebrities participate in this show. It's like they're saying,"Look you already love us, now let us entertain you some more by showing you awesome dance performances." If they wanted the audience and the judges to nitpick at their dancing techniques, they would have instead gone on shows like Dance India Dance. That is why sometimes the judges are willing to forego mistakes in the dancing if the performances are truly spectacular.
In these past two episodes, I thought that Rashmi and Karan both had amazing performances. However, Isha really stole the show like she does every week. Salman is so adept at finding the best concepts to go with the best songs and he choreographs in such a way that their performances are breathtaking and mesmerizing. I won't say that all of their performances were amazing but the majority of them definitely were. Therefore, I feel that the judges were completely justified in giving them the 30's that they have gotten. You can't possibly claim that just because you believe that their acts are redundant, that they are not stellar.
I do think that Isha has shown versatility. They have done Rope Mallakhamb, Contemporary, Bachata, Paso Doble, Bollywood, Pole Dancing, Freestyle and Wire work, and Ring Aerial.As you said, just because they do lifts and splits doesn't make it contemporary but those are the only real additions they made to the other styles. I would like to ask you what elements of contemporary you saw in their performances.
Isha Sharvani is the lead dancer for a contemporary dance company so I'm sure she knows and shares the same woes as you, but incorporating lifts and showcasing her flexibility is just to make the performances more exciting and beautiful.
As for the Bachata and the Paso Doble, they definitely did incorporate the basic concepts.
For the Bachata, they made the 1, 2, 3, accent(hip pop) very obvious during their performance. I don't know if you've seen the movie Take the Lead starring Antonio Banderas, but in it there was a tango scene at the end with three dancers and the format of the performance was quite similar to the one with Isha, Salman and Karanvir. Since the Bachata is meant to be danced with two people, with the addition of the third person also comes opportunity to do more lifts. I thought that was a smart move on Salman's part in terms of choreography.
As for the Paso Doble, if you watch the So You Think You Can Dance Paso Doble performance, you'll see that Salman and Isha do some of the same steps as in the video. Of course, Salman's Paso Doble is a lot more theatrical and aptly illustrates the intimate dance that actually takes place between the matador and the bull in the ring. Bull fighting is all about showmanship and Salman has definitely shown that in his choreography.
The Rope Mallakhamb and the Ring Aerial were both shown in their pure form, I don't think you can count those as contemporary. As Isha has trained in these for 15 years, I feel as if I don't even have the right to comment on either. I do wish that Salman decides to have Isha perform Kathak for the next performance though because I know she is trained in it, but I want to see for myself how good she is at it.
If you haven't noticed already, Isha is definitely my bias. However, I'm not the kind of person who can't appreciate other people who are not my biases nor am I the kind of person who thinks my bias can do no wrong. I would appreciate it if you could elaborate upon where exactly her fault lies. Since you are training in contemporary, I would love to learn more from you. 😊
Celebrity Fan Clubs
Anupamaa
