Thank You

I want to give a huge shout-out to Mina for creating the updated blog header. Thank you so much for all that you do and big squishy hugs to you!

Blog Header by Mina Rivera! 

SYTYCD Chapter One Teaser

After the craziness of the holidays, I spent the next week sitting on my ass, watching television and being a bum. On New Year’s Eve, I was watching some inane movie when my phone rang. Picking it up, I greeted my doorman. “You have two visitors, Mr. Cullen. An Alistair Sims and Carmen Santiago?”

“Oh, wow. Send them up,” I said. I got up from my couch and picked up the few things I had laying around. Changing into a button-down, I waited for them to knock on the door. It wasn’t long. Opening the door, I was surprised to see Alistair and Carmen on my doorstep. “Shouldn’t you be celebrating the new year?” I asked, smiling crookedly.

“We could ask the same thing. You’re young and should be out kissing some cute girl,” Carmen laughed, breezing into my condo. “Very nice, Edward.”

“Thank you,” I blushed. “My grandparents on my mom’s side left me a sizable inheritance and I bought this place once I graduated from college.”

“What did you major in, Edward?” Alistair asked, looking at the photos on the mantle.

“Business Administration. Before the show, I danced somewhat professionally and I helped my mom with her studio. When she retires, she told me that I was taking it over. I’d like to know what the hell I’m doing,” I snickered. “I know that I’m not going to be dancing forever. I want to have a plan to fall back on. You know?” Carmen nodded, smiling softly. Alistair just kept staring at my photos. “Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Everything is great,” Alistair finally responded. “We’re here to talk to you about a few things, actually. Auditions are starting up in a week and this is the first stop.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that Chicago was one of the audition cities,” I said. “Where are my manners? I’m sorry. Do either of you want something to drink? I can make coffee or perhaps something stronger?”

“Since it’s New Year’s Eve, do you have any wine or sparkling wine?” Carmen asked, her brown eyes twinkling.

“I think I do,” I said, getting up and opening up a bottle that my mom had placed in my fridge. I poured us three glasses and carried them into my living room. They were sitting on my couch. Handing them the sparkling wine, I clinked my glass with theirs. “Happy New Year.”

“Yes, happy New Year,” Alistair smiled, sipping his wine.

“A very happy New Year,” Carmen breathed. She placed her wine glass on the table. “Have you recovered from the tour?”

“Mostly. My calf muscle is a bit tight at times, but I’ve been working with a physical therapist to loosen it up with massages and some simple exercises,” I said. “I should be back on the dance floor in a couple of weeks.”

Carmen and Alistair shared a look. “Do you think you could be ready by next week?” Alistair asked.

“What? Why?” I replied.

“Edward, we’d like you to join the SYTYCD team,” Carmen said. 

Edward Cullen

Alistair Simms

Carmen Santiago

Edward's Condo

Extended Summary

So, here we are…starting a new story. I’m dreaming it’s summer time and the favorite thing about summer time, besides the longer days and warmer weather is the return of my favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance. I love it … the beauty, artistry and athleticism is amazing. Plus, the music they play? Damn … makes me happy.

It had been Bella's dream to go on the dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance. She was a contemporary dancer, going to college, trying to rebound from the death of her father. Her mother's lack of support and a significant injury forced her to forget her dreams and go to school, getting her masters, to be a teacher.

Edward Cullen had already lived the dream, being the runner up for the previous season of So You Think You Can Dance. He was a steamy, sexy Latin dancer and a fan favorite, but he came in second behind a jazz dancer, Lauren Mallory. But, in Edward's world, it worked out for the best. He now had an opportunity to be a choreographer and an All-Star for the competition.

Rosalie, Bella's best friend and fellow dancer, convinced Bella to try out during the audition tour in Portland. Bella was hesitant. It was her dreams of being a dancer that inadvertently killed her father. He was working overtime to pay for extra classes when he was murdered on the job. Rose wheedled and pleaded with her, begging her to come to the auditions. Begrudgingly, Bella agreed and she became a judge favorite, sailing through to the call-backs in Los Angeles.

The competition is fierce. Dreams are at stake and a budding romance between All-Star, Edward and contestant, Bella are the talk to of the competition. Not to mention jealousy and bitterness from fellow contestants. Will Bella's dream become a reality or will her dreams be dashed before she even gets a chance to compete? Will Edward open his heart to the sweet brunette who captured his attention at the auditions?

"And America's Favorite Dancer is..."

Banner by the talented Mina! Isn't she awesome?!

This story will begin posting on December 17th. Updates will be like Star Crossed, on every other Thursday. Teasers will be posted on off Thursdays. I may post some extra teasers on this blog exclusively on Sundays. Those teasers may be pictures, an extra teasers and video inspiration. I hope you continue with me on this journey.

Much love and hugs,

Josie 'Tufano79'

So You Think You Can Dance Teaser

Story Title: So You Think You Can Dance?

Pen Name: Tufano79

Summary:

It had been Bella's dream to go on the dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance. She was a contemporary dancer, going to college, trying to rebound from the death of her father. Her mother's lack of support and a significant injury forced her to forget her dreams and go to school, getting her masters, to be a teacher.

Edward Cullen had already lived the dream, being the runner up for the previous season of So You Think You Can Dance. He was a steamy, sexy Latin dancer and a fan favorite, but he came in second behind a jazz dancer, Lauren Mallory. But, in Edward's world, it worked out for the best. He now had an opportunity to be a choreographer and an All-Star for the competition.

Rosalie, Bella's best friend and fellow dancer, convinced Bella to try out during the audition tour in Portland. Bella was hesitant. It was her dreams of being a dancer that inadvertently killed her father. He was working overtime to pay for extra classes when he was murdered on the job. Rose wheedled and pleaded with her, begging her to come to the auditions. Begrudgingly, Bella agreed and she became a judge favorite, sailing through to the call-backs in Los Angeles.

The competition is fierce. Dreams are at stake and a budding romance between All-Star, Edward and contestant, Bella are the talk to of the competition. Not to mention jealousy and bitterness from fellow contestants. Will Bella's dream become a reality or will her dreams be dashed before she even gets a chance to compete? Will Edward open his heart to the sweet brunette who captured his attention at the auditions?

"And America's Favorite Dancer is..."

Banner Artist: Mina Rivera

Teaser:

A couple of days later, I walked into a dance studio. I had just come from my physical therapy session and was loose, ready to choreograph the call-back piece for the dancers who didn’t quite make the cut to go straight to Los Angeles. I was dressed in a pair of workout pants and a fleece, bundled up for the harsh Chicago winter. It hadn’t snowed, but was brutally cold. It made me miss the warmth of Los Angeles. Reaching the studio that the producers rented out, I met up with Irina Kincaide, the winner from the season just before mine. I had, during the competition, been paired up with her for a Broadway number and had gotten rave reviews. She was tall, lithe and easy to work with.

“Hey, Edward,” she chirped, giving me a warm grin as she stretched out on the floor. “I see that they got to you.”

“I’m glad. I’ve wanted to choreograph my whole life. I’ve done a few things, but this is the biggest scale thing I’ve done. Ever,” I said, tossing my bag onto a chair. “Do you not like choreographing?”

“Not really. Do you want to take the lead on this?” she asked, standing up and moving to the bar, continuing her stretches. “We could do something that incorporates both contemporary, which is my strength and Latin ballroom, which is yours. Though, you can pretty much do whatever the fuck you want. According to Alistair, you shit gold.”

“Really?” I smirked. “That’s news to me. I’d be soooooo much richer if I did.” Irina laughed. “Do we have music?”

“We have a couple of choices,” Irina said, walking over to the sound system. “’Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson, ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ by Ed Sheeran, ‘Centuries,’ by Fall Out Boy and ‘Lips are Moving’ by Meghan Trainor.”

“Let’s listen to all of them and immediately nix the one that is the most annoying,” I said. We sat down on the floor, listening to each of the songs. Almost immediately, we eliminated “Lips are Moving” and “Centuries.” Both had been overplayed and were bound to drive both of us nuts by the end of the choreography process. They were both great songs, but didn’t have the diversity for what we needed. We had to separate the strong dancers from the weak. “Thinking Out Loud” could prove to be a beautiful lyrical, contemporary piece while “Uptown Funk” lent itself to more partner work.

“I don’t know,” Irina said. “Both songs are pretty great. What do you think?”

“It depends on what they’re looking for,” I murmured. “What do they want to see? Beautiful lines and something flowy or intricate, challenging choreography?”

“I’m thinking the latter, Edward. You remember the choreography round from last season,” she shuddered.

“I was lucky. I was sent through right after my audition,” I snickered. “I heard rumors of how wicked hard it was. Almost all of the dancers who performed it messed up.”

“How about we split the difference?” Irina suggested. “I like the Mark Ronson song. I think that we could do a ton with it, making it challenging with lifts and fast footwork, but have some spots where dancers can really shine. Have a nice combination of jazz, hip hop, and ballroom.”

“Let’s put it on repeat and brain storm,” I smiled, setting up the sound system.

We spent a couple of hours just getting the ‘language’ of our dance down. It had a lot of attitude immediately. Irina and I just had fun, creating as we went. Every so often, we’d pause, jot down our movements and discussed how to teach it since we only had an hour to present it to the contestants.

I wanted to do more than just have them run through it as many times with us. I actually wanted to teach it to them as opposed to pray they got it. Irina was in agreement, saying that was why so many struggled with the choreography last year. The contestants were left to figure out lifts and twists on their own. Some contestants didn’t know the proper way to lift or to hand a partner and it was their downfall. Plus, there were a number of injuries due to that practice. One girl fell so hard that she actually fractured her spine and could no longer dance because of that injury. The production company paid for all of her medical bills even though she signed a waiver. Her partner was not even remotely trained to do the lift they had choreographed.

Are you interested in more? I know you are! Please consider donating for this worthy cause: Fandom 4 Autism. There are so many aspects of this spectrum disorder that not understood and they need donations to further their research. You will get this story along with many others if you donate here: Fandom 4 Autism Donations. Donations are accepted through April 30th, 2015. You will get this compilation on May 7th. 

Thank you for reading and please consider donating! :-)

Video Teaser

Characters...so far..

Edward Cullen, Latin Dancer

Alistair Simms, Producer and Judge

Carmen Santiago, Judge and the conductor of the Hot Tamale Train

Lauren Mallory

Peter Rubio, Edward's best friend and roommate on the show

Tanya Denali, Hostess

Plot Bunny ~ So You Think You Can Dance?

It had been Bella's dream to go on the dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance. She was a contemporary dancer, going to college, trying to rebound from the death of her father. Her mother's lack of support and a significant injury forced her to forget her dreams and go to school, getting her masters, to be a teacher.

Edward Cullen had already lived the dream, being the runner up for the previous season of So You Think You Can Dance. He was a steamy, sexy Latin dancer and a fan favorite, but he came in second behind a jazz dancer, Lauren Mallory. But, in Edward's world, it worked out for the best. He now had an opportunity to be a choreographer and an All-Star for the competition.

Rosalie, Bella's best friend and fellow dancer, convinced Bella to try out during the audition tour in Portland. Bella was hesitant. It was her dreams of being a dancer that inadvertently killed her father. He was working overtime to pay for extra classes when he was murdered on the job. Rose wheedled and pleaded with her, begging her to come to the auditions. Begrudgingly, Bella agreed and she became a judge favorite, sailing through to the call-backs in Los Angeles.

The competition is fierce. Dreams are at stake and a budding romance between All-Star, Edward and contestant, Bella are the talk to of the competition. Not to mention jealousy and bitterness from fellow contestants. Will Bella's dream become a reality or will her dreams be dashed before she even gets a chance to compete? Will Edward open his heart to the sweet brunette who captured his attention at the auditions?

"And America's Favorite Dancer is..."