Blake is Back

Blake McGrath was born on November 21, 1983 in Mississauga, Ontario. He is a Canadian professional dancer, pop singer and choreographer, best known for his appearance on So You Think You Can Dance? Season 1 as a contestant.  From competitor to judge, Blake has definately made his mark on So You Think You Can Dance? every season.

Blake's famous trademark on the television series is his "bootcamp". After auditions are complete, every dancer must survive "Blake Bootcamp" in order to move on to the next stage.  His choreography is the hardest in Toronto to master. Once you can do Blake, you can do anything! Aside from his choreography, Blake is the hardest judge to impress. Since his word has so much power, many dancers find him intimidating, as do I. I think this is because of his success. Blake has accomplished everything he has ever wanted to do in life, therefore he knows he has the upper hand.

Some of McGrath's major success came from dance, as well as music. In 2001, he danced on Michael Jackson's 30th anniversary special. In 2004, he performed at the Latin Grammy Awards and appearead in the documentary "Freestyle" with Brian Freedman. Blake has also had the opprotunity to dance with starts such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Jewel, Ashanti, Destiny's Child, and Pink. Other experiences include television and movie apearances.

Now, the majority of his fame and income come from owning Coastal Dance Rage with his sister Shannon Mather and appearing as a judge and choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance Canada?. Blake also just released his first album called Time to Move. He's had two major hits titled "The Night" and "Relax".

Blake is a great inspiration to many male dancers and demonstrates what it takes to be a successful dancer in the industry. Now living in Los Angeles, he is in the spotlight every day. Keep your eye on him since he won't be leaving us any time soon!

XO Dancer Girl

Season 3 Winner is Announced

Denys Drozdyuk, age 25, Canada's favorite dancer.

On Sunday October 24th, the winner of So You Think You Can Dance? Season 3 was announced on Live television during a special 2 hour episode. After more than one and a half million votes, Denys Drozdyuk was crowned the winner!

Although Amanada was oviously my favorite contestant, since Denys' win, I have found out that he is just as inspirational. Denys was born in the Ukraine and started dancing ballroom at the age of four. At age twelve he moved to Toronto but by the time he was fourteen, he was studying in Europe and training in Berlin, Germany. When Denys was nineteen, he became a student at Julliard in New York City, one of the most prestigious art schools. May I add that this is my dream school. Knowing that Denys had the opprotunity of studying there makes me feel even more envious towards him! Furthermore, Denys earned a Masters Degree in Dance Education at New York University. Throughout his dance career, Denys has worked with many notable choreographers and has danced around the world.  Although he is trained in other styles such as ballet, jazz, latin, contemporary and tap, Denys is a three-time winner of world championships in ballroom. Now, at the age of 25, Denys is Canada's favorite dancer!

As the host Leah Miller announced Denys as the winner, he became speechless and emotional, as did I. To be honest, I was expecting Amanda to take it all the way. I was somewhat dissappointed at first but this does not mean Denys is not amazing. As the Season 3 winner, he claimed the prize of $100,000 and a brand new 2010 Mazda2. The crowd went wild as well as the Top 21 who were proud supporters of his win. I am able to say that I think Denys is a great dancer as well as a great person. I just hope he makes Canada proud!

If you missed the show, here's some quick recaps of Denys' dances! The show started off with a theatre routine consisting of the Top 21 dancers. It was a Flashdance inspired routine choreographed by Sergio Trujillo. The first duet Denys performed was with Amanda. It was the Salsa, choreographed by Gustavo Vargas, that included the famous lift. Denys lifted Amanda above his head whiel he complete some crazy Salsa footwork. It was amazing! Later on in the show, Denys performed once again with Amanda. A coincidence that they both ended up in the Top 2 don't you think? This time it was the Tango, taught by Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin, which they danced on the first episode! There was definately an amazing improvement. My favorite part of the night was a new dance choreographed by Mia Michaels. It was a contemporary routine consisting of the Top 12 dancers that focused on rejection. This dance was one to bring tears to my eyes because it is great to witness so much talent on one stage. Denys was also in the Top 10 jazz number by Melissa Williams and the Top 4 number by Blake McGrath. With Janick, Denys then danced the Paso Doble which was choreographed by Season 1 contestants Natalli Reznik and Francis Lafreniere. As a result of this performance, both dancers recieved a standing ovation from the judges!


Denys' Paso Doble with Janick.

For all of you fans of Denys, here is a clip of his Salsa with Amanda: http://watch.ctv.ca/so-you-think-you-can-dance-canada/season-3/so-you-think-you-can-dance-canada--finale---highlights---results/#clip365273  I hope you enjoyed the finale as much as I did. Congratulations Denys, make us proud!

XO Dancer Girl

Top 4: Amanda is my Winner!

Amanda Cleghorn, Top 22 Photoshoot

On last Wednesday's show, the Top 8 dancers were cut into the Top 4 dancers. This followed Jean-Marc Genereux's unexpected announcement that the final dancers would be announced that night after performing solos. Leaving the competition would be Nathalie, Danielle, Sebastian and Mackenzie, meaning the Top 4 dancers of So You Think You Can Dance? Season 3 include Amanda Cleghorn, Denys Drozdyuk, Janick Arseneau and Jeff Mortensen. As it stands right now, my favorite dancer is Miss Amanda Cleghorn.

Amanda and Denys dancing ballroom.



Amanda Cleghorn lives in Port Credit, Mississauga. She is partly my favorite dancer just because she is from my hometown and because it is always great to see locals win! Amanda's young age is what inspires me most. At the age of 19, she is already famous in the dance world. She has performed in movies such as "Honey" with Jessica Alba and just finished the Family Channel's movie "Camp Rock 2" with the Jonas Brothers.  Only 2 years older than I, Amanda has accomplished what would take me a lifetime. Because of this, I feel a sense of envy towards her. Dancers have somewhat of a bond when they dance the same style. Amanda and I are both contemporary dancers so I feel as if it helps me grow as a dancer by watching her perform. I have also learned that Amanda has worked her whole life for this career in dance. At the age of four, she began taking class and has been ever since. She is trained in other styles besides contemporary, such as jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, hip-hop and musical theatre. Since she is open-minded toward other styles, it makes her a better dancer and influences us dancers to take more classes. Amanda and I also share the goal of working with famous choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Wade Robson and Sonya Tayeh. The most important thing I've learned from Amanda is that "anything is possible". She lives by this motto which has helped me realize that determination is key. If at first you don't  succeed, try, try again!

A Personal Experience:

This summer, I was at a dance workshop called Coastal Dance Rage. It was a 3 day intensive program that consisted of 8 hours of dancing. Here, I danced with choreogrphers such as Blake McGrath, Shannon Mather, and NappyTabs. When I was at the worshop, I noticed a really tall girl, with long curly hair in a bright pink t-shirt. She went up to Blake McGrath and I over-heard him say "I recognize you from somewhere." My friend and I looked at eachother at that moment and said, "She's going to be on 'So You Think You Can Dance?'". Today, I wrote my blog on her. The girl I saw was Amanda Cleghorn. What a small world, eh?

 After reading my blog, I assume you all know who I'm voting for in the results show on Sunday October 24th. It's a two hour special so I hope you'll all tune in. Follow my vote ladies and gents!

Here's a quick link to the official So You Think You Can Dance? website: http://www.ctv.ca/mini/dance2010/.

XO Dancer Girl

BIG news and a BIG mistake!

On Thursday's episode (September 23rd), the host of  'So You Think You Can Dance', Leah Miller, announced the launch of Season 4! CTV has once again signed the program to another season, with another top twenty dancers and another potential winner. Auditions are schedueled to start in November and will be held on Saturdays. The most important date includes Toronto on November 20th at the John Bassett Theatre. I hope to see all of my dancers there! More audition information will be available shortly.

On another note, how do you feel about Shavar and Kloe going home? I think Canada made a BIG mistake when it comes to Shavar. Although he only has four years of dance experience, I personally feel as if he has grown the most throughout this competition. Do you remember his African Jazz on the first episode? Compare that to his recent hip-hop routines and his theatre number on Thursday. He reached his potential and has grown into an unbelievable competitor. Congrats to Shavar, for never giving up and demonstrating what it takes to be an amazing dancer. See you at the studio!

Kloe on the other hand was also a talented dancer but I did agree with Canada and the judges on this one. She has amazing potential but didn't seem to demonstrate it much on the program. It seems that Shavar out shined her in their performance of the theatre piece this week. But, one point made, they did not let each other down. I think it was fair that they were both in the bottom. Best of luck Kloe!

Don't forget to stay tuned for next weeks updates. Watch 'So You Think You Can Dance Canada' at 8 P.M. Wednesday night for bigger and better routines!

XO Dancer Girl