Senegalese Dance on SYTYCD. First REAL African dance on So You Think You Can Dance.

[Humble18101]

it's nice to see something from a traditional base with an African American Flavor.

You go Jeffrey. Tired of seeing so much fusion that continues confusion. What a pleasure watching a true essence of African Dance on SYTYou can dance.

[thotsins]

@Humble18101 "Tired of seeing so much fusion that continues confusion."

LOL! Yea, so true. LOL! Funny comment. I love it.

[vibrantkitty1]

They are moving but I don't feel it.

[Tongepi22]

Awesome... Just awesome....

[prancy81]

Hermoso y conmovedor!!! Really touching... even more for people related with other kind of dances and know how difficult is to learn any african dance!!! Was Jeffrey Page the choreographer?

[thotsins]

@prancy81 Yes, Jeffrey Page was the choreographer.

[jacobson00]

Ahh they looked exhausted after 1min

[ProfesoraJohnson]

It is great to see traditional African dance well represented on a national television show. Not to mention it is from my father's people, the Balanta. :-)

[SukiSlim25]

This was the most difficult routine EVER done on SYTYCD! Nigel even said so. Ppl thought Wade's routines were hard. African dance actually requires rhythm and alot of energy. You can't count that out! I saw one of those guys start to get tired, lol.

[Asperuaca]

mmmmm soooo hot. the raw masculinity in this dance

[00tuoyo]

Why do they never play african pop music on western tv? Always the traditional and folk stuff.

[thotsins]

@00tuoyo They barely even ever post our REAL traditional and folk stuff, they usually only post all that afro-jazz nonsense or some so called "african dance" that their choreographers made up from their imaginations that isn't even really any african dance. This was the first actual REAL African dance, and Jeffrey did and EXCELLENT job.

So let them start by getting our traditional stuff right first, then they can move on to our more contemporary stuff.

[thotsins]

@thotsins Don't get me wrong, I like afro-jazz, but there IS a difference between real African dances and Afro-jazz. With afro-jazz, the choreographers mix a lot of stuff from their imaginations which, unfortunately, cause them mix in a bunch of moves that aren't really african dances but moves reflecting their stereotype of what they interpret WEST African dance to be. And they should say "Senegalese dance" because the rest of us in Africa do not dance like this.

[thotsins]

That's why Jeffrey is the MAN, he knew what he was doing, and they really need to have him as a regular on the show.

[xknight25]

best part 17 - 18...

freakin funny!!

[SuperDopeking]

I think it's a war dance. Time to take out the jury.

[cinamongirl723]

damn ... white boy killin it lol

love this video -- and the beat!

[jojogirl121]

Anyone else get chills/goosebumps??

[bostonlove]

That was amazing.



[looker768]

what episode was this?

[thotsins]

@looker768 It was season 5, but I don't remember the episode.

[MSILOVEDRAKE1]

does anybody know the name of this song or where i can find it at?

[pianoplayer223]

@MSILOVEDRAKE1 The dance is called Balante. They performed to live drums,not recorded music.

[thotsins]

@MSILOVEDRAKE1 The name of the song and artist is shown in the clip at the beginning, but I don't know where you can get it. I've only danced it with live drumming, but it may be at your local record store if they have an African section.

[thotsins]

This dance is so FUN by the way. I use to do this dance and it was one of my favorites. Also Balanta, Lamba, and Mandiani. High energy and high Funk. I LOVE Senegalese dance when I want to get ALL my energy out and work up a sweat. LOL!

[taylortaytay89]

like if the hole time your mouth was open because of how good they were and you could not belevie it



[thotsins]

@taylortaytay89

Yea, especially since they had never done Senegalese dancing before.

A lot of Senegalese dances are not easy to just get up and do after just one attempt unless you've grown up with it.

[tuna519]

i am nigerian and this is the first REAL african dance i have seen in sytycd... amazing!! :)

[twosheas]

I love the SYTYCD and all the dances, especially this one because it was so funny when Evan put out his gut, it was HILARIOUS!!!

[uniquemix]

Balanta!

[thotsins]

I got excited when I saw this dance cuz I remember when I use to dance it.

This was the first time they actually had a REAL African art form on the show! Not African Jazz or all that other so called "African dance" they've been putting the show calling it African.

I was glad our culture was actually represented right with this choreographer.

[CameroonStar]

Great Video!

[tracyata]

Thanks so much for posting this! Definitely authentic. I've never watched an entire episode of SYTYCD because it wasn't that interesting so I'm glad you posted the one good episode for me.