I ended up taking a nap yesterday, which pretty much threw off my entire day. When I finally headed off to Bedfordshire at 2 am, I couldn't sleep. So I decided to watch Honey 2.
I confess, I love dance movies. I watch them all, good or bad, because at one point I was ready to quit college because I made the cuts to callbacks to potentially dance on Janet Jackson's tour. I didn't make second callbacks, but I was pretty proud of myself. I went on contented to teach hip hop aerobics and giving salsa and tango lessons until I started having my heart problems.
So of course I had to watch Honey 2. I've had my eye on Laurieann Gibson's moves long before she appeared in the first Honey starring Jessica Alba, which is based on her life (like Jennifer Lopez, Gibson was a Fly Girl on In Living Color). I loved her choreography. Now she's worked with Lady Gaga, who isn't a great natural dancer (which is another reason why she's no Madonna to me). But Gibson is a natural dancer. She moved her body about 3 times in all of Honey 2 and you just see it. Her body moves like it was dancing all along and you just couldn't see it.
Now don't get me wrong, the dance moves in Honey 2 were sometimes top notch, but a lot of the moves are pretty standard across the genre of "street dancing". If you remember the scene in Flashdance where Jennifer Beale's character picks up some breakdancing moves then consider that during the 80's, this was a popular thing to do. Madonna stole the idea off the New York streets for her video and it's been a common "scene" in dance films ever since.
My main problem with the film is they chose an actress over a true dancer. I tend to classify dancers into two groups: jumpers and spinners. I'm a good spinner. I can pirouette 5 times without trying for example, but I am not the best jumper. A good friend of mine who trained with Alvin Ailey is an amazing jumper.
Now Kat Graham is sassy and she's a beautiful girl, but other than shaking her ass she really can't dance. She can't jump and she most definitely can't spin. I think it's ridiculous to have a movie where other dancers are doing complicated jumps, spins, and precise movement and all you can do is, to quote Missy Elliot from Honey, "look like you dance back up for Heather Hunter".
As far as dance movies go, Honey 2 sucked. It sucked so bad I went to sleep, woke up, and still felt like I needed to blog about how bad it is.
The only redeeming aspect of this film for me was the one crew that beat out the steps on their bodies & with their feet. I am so out of touch I don't even know what it's called, but here's a video. These boys were fresh. The Asian crew wasn't bad either, so fast forward through all the non-dance parts is my advice.
Okay, so there's a few non-Asian boys too.
If you're an aspiring dancer keep on dancing. If you're the person who makes the decisions for films like Honey 2, please hire an actress who can actually dance or get better dance doubles.
I confess, I love dance movies. I watch them all, good or bad, because at one point I was ready to quit college because I made the cuts to callbacks to potentially dance on Janet Jackson's tour. I didn't make second callbacks, but I was pretty proud of myself. I went on contented to teach hip hop aerobics and giving salsa and tango lessons until I started having my heart problems.
So of course I had to watch Honey 2. I've had my eye on Laurieann Gibson's moves long before she appeared in the first Honey starring Jessica Alba, which is based on her life (like Jennifer Lopez, Gibson was a Fly Girl on In Living Color). I loved her choreography. Now she's worked with Lady Gaga, who isn't a great natural dancer (which is another reason why she's no Madonna to me). But Gibson is a natural dancer. She moved her body about 3 times in all of Honey 2 and you just see it. Her body moves like it was dancing all along and you just couldn't see it.
Now don't get me wrong, the dance moves in Honey 2 were sometimes top notch, but a lot of the moves are pretty standard across the genre of "street dancing". If you remember the scene in Flashdance where Jennifer Beale's character picks up some breakdancing moves then consider that during the 80's, this was a popular thing to do. Madonna stole the idea off the New York streets for her video and it's been a common "scene" in dance films ever since.
My main problem with the film is they chose an actress over a true dancer. I tend to classify dancers into two groups: jumpers and spinners. I'm a good spinner. I can pirouette 5 times without trying for example, but I am not the best jumper. A good friend of mine who trained with Alvin Ailey is an amazing jumper.
Now Kat Graham is sassy and she's a beautiful girl, but other than shaking her ass she really can't dance. She can't jump and she most definitely can't spin. I think it's ridiculous to have a movie where other dancers are doing complicated jumps, spins, and precise movement and all you can do is, to quote Missy Elliot from Honey, "look like you dance back up for Heather Hunter".
As far as dance movies go, Honey 2 sucked. It sucked so bad I went to sleep, woke up, and still felt like I needed to blog about how bad it is.
The only redeeming aspect of this film for me was the one crew that beat out the steps on their bodies & with their feet. I am so out of touch I don't even know what it's called, but here's a video. These boys were fresh. The Asian crew wasn't bad either, so fast forward through all the non-dance parts is my advice.
Okay, so there's a few non-Asian boys too.
If you're an aspiring dancer keep on dancing. If you're the person who makes the decisions for films like Honey 2, please hire an actress who can actually dance or get better dance doubles.
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