At the season four finals tonight: Apolo and Julianne were in first place with the judges, Joey and his partner Kym were in second, and Laila and Max in third place. Overall, the judges and I had the same criticism: where is the basic dance? The Joey cha-cha and Apolo paso double were simply not pure enough for any connoisseur of ballroom dancing. I wanted to see a great tango tonight, but no one went for that difficult dance. Round one: the Latin dance — goes to Laila. She was great in red dress and high heels.

The dancers were scolded — too theatrical chimed the judges.

The scolds reminded me of the advice I often give my own students: “Don’t over think or over do!” That seems to be a part of human nature — thus pulling back for perfection becomes key.

Finals night heated up with the freestyle round.

This is where Laila falls flat. She fell flat for two reasons: first the flat shoes, second the glitterati Michael Jackson style, instead of the elegance and sex appeal displayed in the semi-finals. I was looking for dancing on the ceiling, not on the floor. Laila did not deliver her best dance for the freestyle. Her Latin dance was much better.

Apolo’s break-dance freestyle was great and creative. They kept feet up in the air with kicks, lifts, and spins galore. The audience went wild. They took lessons from a break-dance expert and it paid off.

Joey’s disco dance closed the finals, but opened the door to a win.

It was the finals best dance of the night. The Donna Summer disco rendition was tremendous. The lifts were non-stop and deployed to a T. I watched it three times. That is what the judges most highly prize in the freestyle: did you wow me with surprise? Also, Joey showed something else — incorporating everything learned from his professional partner and the weeks spent in practice for Dancing With The Stars. Overall, finals night was full of technique, creativity, and energy — key to the freestyle routine. They reached for the electricity and the eclectic tonight.

Now for the bad news: not enough of the basic, pure roots of the dance in evidence for me, nor the judges.

The words “too theatrical” mean that the real dance roots have been replaced with something fake. The drama that the pairs were after should be intrinsic. And pulled from the passion for the dance itself; understanding it as classic movement, from which one may depart a little, but not trash completely.

My prediction: now that Joey has pumped up the volume of the crowds’ cheer, his votes may knock Laila out of contention completely. That means team Apolo and team Joey will be left standing in the ring for the dance ball trophy.