So You Think You Can Dance is one of my favorite TV shows today. I don’t get to watch it regularly (I’m usually not at home during Saturday evenings) but I try to watch the performances via YouTube. For season 2, my favorite couple was Ivan Koumaev and Allison Holker. Since they’re my favorites, I guess it comes as no surprise that my two favorite performances of the entire season were theirs – a hip-hop routine and a contemporary dance. It’s interesting because Ivan is a hip-hop dancer, and Allison is a contemporary dancer, so one of them was always in their element during both performances.

SEXY LOVE by Ne-Yo (choreographed by Shane Sparks)

This is a very relaxed, “no aggression” hip-hop routine. I love how Ivan makes dancing look so effortless! I love the choreography also – it’s actually my first taste of lyrical hip-hop. This is so much better than their other hip-hop dance “Turn It Up” though maybe it was because I didn’t like the choreography so much. Unfortunately, Allison wasn’t at par with Ivan, but that’s understandable because she’s not trained in this genre. “Sexy Love” was actually their last dance together, since Allison got cut afterwards.

WHY by Annie Lenox (choreographed by Tyce Diorio)

This is a very beautifully fluid contemporary dance that showed the world how much Ivan has grown as a dancer. Really, given his background in hip-hop, his popping and locking and gliding, you’d be surprised to see him pointing his toes and doing extensions. This performance was so good that they did it again during the finale.

By the way, Allison was one of the cheerleaders in High School Musical 1 and 2. I didn’t see her there though – I’d have to watch the movies again to see.