Make-Up “Dance”: 2nd same-sex couple receives warm review, show adds gay judge
”Thank you for showing me that same-sex ballroom dancing can be very strong and very good. You know, I got myself into trouble last time saying, ‘I’m going to ask you to dance with girls.’ I would very much like for you to do the choreography, and see if there is any difference in how you handle that.”
Nigel Lythgoe, the primary judge on the Fox reality competition, “So You Think You Can Dance,” complimenting the audition of a gay couple, Jacob Jason and Willem De Vries. Over the summer, Lythgoe got into trouble with the show’s gay-supportive viewers and some of his own friends, when he made several cheeky remarks about a pair of male dancers (one gay, one straight). Ultimately, the couple’s technique was not strong enough when they were individually paired with female dancers. But Lythgoe stated unnecessarily that he was not a fan of “Brokeback ballroom” — a reference to the well-known, award-winning film “Brokeback Mountain” about two closeted gay cowboys. Lythgoe apologized fairly soon afterward saying he’d unintentionally hurt a lot of people’s feelings. Also, news that Adam Shankman, an out gay choreographer and movie director, has been included as a permanent judge for this season. The news was pleasing to the gay media watch organization GLAAD. (Reuters) (SYTYCD @ Fox) (GLAAD)
”There’s a lot of same-sex couples out there that are now afraid to come out and audition for shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ We just want to make sure that America knows that there’s a whole force of same-sex dancers — there’s a world of same-sex dancers!”
Willem De Vries, 29, a Latin ballroom dancer who appeared on audition faze of Fox’s ”SYTYCD” with his gay male dancing partner Jacob Jason, 29. (SYTYCD @ Fox)
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