Nothing wrong specifically with the movement itself. But somewhere between the 200th and 250th Batucada in 30 seconds, I find myself wanting to say to my wife, "Honey, wake me when it's over".
The show format puts all ballroom and Latin dancers at a slight disadvantage. Each week, two couples are selected by the judges to be in the "hot seat". To save themselves from being voted off the show, each of the four dancers must perform a short solo routine. Because so much of their training is in partner work, the ballroom and Latin dancers rarely make a strong impact when dancing their solos (or at least, not AS strong as dancers trained in solo styles such as ballet, jazz, modern, etc). This gives the solo dancers a natural advantage.
The exceptions to this rule have been either (1) those that have had previous training in solo styles and have taken advantage of it, such as Benji Schwimmer, or (2) those who have taken a risk and tried something new, such as Dmitri (forgot his last name). The bottom line is, you can't expect to get by on so much bum wiggling. It doesn't impress the audience.
My recommendation to any future contestant from a partner dance background would be to create one or two solo routines well in advance, with the assistance of other choreographers with jazz, ballet or modern backgrounds. You might perhaps incorporate some ballroom and Latin elements, but don't just stick purely to what you know. America will see it as nothing more than a whole bunch of wiggling. And it won't stand up to what the others are doing.
Regards,
Jonathan
