S12.E02: Detroit Auditions

[Tara Ariano]

The second round of auditions features hopefuls in Detroit.

[crowceilidh]

I'm really not liking having permanent judges (which goes triple for Nigel).  If you listen to what Paula says without looking at her, she sounds precisely like Mary Murphy when Mary's making sense.

 

I ffed through more of this show than I ever have before (I've been ffing DWTS for seasons now) - I'm just so sick of the producer-led stories and the surprise! kid dancing and the surprise! students dancing and etc.  I also wish they'd do something more interesting than showing people celebrating because they're going to Vegas.  We've seen it a million times.

 

Other than the occasional stand-out audition (yes, Will Wingfield, your audition still resonates in my soul), my favourite part of the audition shows was watching how people did in the choreography rounds.  They need to find something to replace that, stat.

 

Loved the 2nd time auditioning tapper - great routine.

[luvthepros]

.......... my favourite part of the audition shows was watching how people did in the choreography rounds.  They need to find something to replace that, stat........

I really agree with you. I looked forward to the choreography rounds. Now....no choreography round and I'm a bit let down by the show. Nothing to look forward to at the end of the show.

 

I'm so over street dancing. Still no ballroom auditions? Not happy about that.

 

Edited June 9, 2015 by luvthepros

[phoenix780]

I watched a few auditions.  They all seemed very frantic and sloppy, and the "stage" one seemed just slightly off her music (some little girl, she was the youngest to be sent to Vegas on the "stage" side).  It's very odd, if I stick with it I may go into Top 20 not really knowing anyone's story.  That could be fun.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

If you want a winner from team stage may I present Brooke Fong/Phuong. She screams star.

It's always a little jarring to get a backstory and a relatively competent audition and then have someone get cut (minus the grey area of choreo this year). Therefore I feel sad for Chelsea something rather....how was she demonstrably worse than either of the engaged couple?

It certainly feels like team stage is going to have at least one female tapper. I happened to like the tiny girl in the jacket best of three we saw tonight....but w/ no backstory or redemption arc methinks her Vegas odds aren't great.

Still ridiculously animation/popping heavy on team street. Although Jason Kidd (from last year) got through in a montage, I was happy about that. Can't wait for some real breakers to take over the LA auditions next week.

Paging any successful ballroom auditions...Buehler, Buehler?

Edited June 9, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Rick Kitchen]

I'm shocked that nobody has posted as of my coming here.  That's a bad sign for this season.

 

Loved Christine, the ballet/tap/contemporary/jazz Stage dancer.

 

I kept waiting for The Queen of Detroit to actually, you know, start dancing, but, I guess not. And yet they give her a standing ovation?

 

I didn't think engaged girl was very good. What was it about engaged boy that was Street? And don't argue with the judges.

 

That "Mission" guy's floor work was awesome. When Mission got his ticket and he went out arm and arm with his boys, it looked like he clocked the kid on his right in the jaw with his elbow.  :)

 

I'd love to see what Travis can do with Brooke.  Two proponents of the beautiful spin.

 

And here come the back stories.  ho hum.

 

J-South is a Meghan Trainor wannabe. Her arms were all over the place, too.

 

I liked Sam I Am.  A lot better than her friend.

 

The Creep is not going to catch on, I'm afraid.

 

The little girlie voiced tap dancer was great.

 

There are a lot of tappers this year.

[Mertseger]

(Psst...some one should tell Cat and Nigel that Allison and twitCh are married now 'cus apparently they haven't heard.)

 

I'm actually liking the format. We're definitely seeing some performers who would have been turned away in previous seasons because of the choreography and, particularly, the necessity to do some ballroom. If there continues to be no such requirement, then twiTch's team may well dominate the season with some fantastic performances. Certainly, the best performers so far will be on his team.

[shimarella]

This episode had more enjoyable auditions than last week's. Even though it irritated my husband, I forwarded through most intros/sad stories and drawn-out judges discussions and everything was so much better! Haha. I agree that even though I have some doubts about the setup, its allowing more interesting street dancers through for sure. There were a couple of surprising "stage" dancers as well. The tapper who danced to "Bang Bang" and the female half of the engaged duo both overacted a bit for my liking but had some really cool moves and sense of rhythm...they'll do well with an outside eye on their dancing. I actually really enjoyed Queen of Detroit..she had a relaxed swagger about her. 

[Racj82]

Stop trying to make tap happen Nigel. I just give zero fucks every time a tapper comes on stage.

[Prairie Fire]

I really liked the 2nd-time auditioning tapper too. It's so much easier to root for people who listen to the judges and make adjustments, rather than the endless Idol and SYTYCD auditioners who just smile (or fake-smile) through the judges' comments while obviously not listening.

 

I also liked the birthday girl, Samantha Reyes, the Detroit Jit guy, and the original version of the "Creep" (more so than the SYTYCD "version")

[Koffee Kup]

Stop trying to make tap happen Nigel. I just give zero fucks every time a tapper comes on stage.

Nigel, keep trying to make tap happen, I love it every time a tapper comes on stage.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Just think how much more time we would have to watch dancing if we didn't have to hear Nigel say, "And...cue music," before each audition!

 

The engaged girl's routine was a wannabe contemporary competition routine for me - just trick, trick, gymnastics, trick, trick, gymnastics. I know the producers couldn't resist doing a whole segment on her and her fiance, but all I could think was dude, you two got engaged two weeks after you met? But hey, at least, they were smart enough not to get married right away. It's rare that I agree with Nigel, but I think that what he had to say about the fiance was fair.

 

It's nice to see some older dancers. I hope the 29 and 30 year old dancers make it past Vegas. Don't get me wrong - I'm not one of those people yelling at kids to get off my lawn or anything. It's just that we often get such a glut of 18 year old dancers in the top 20 so I appreciate seeing a few people who are a bit older because they definitely bring a different vibe, but it also makes me so happy to see adults over the age of 25 who are still dancing. So many dancers quit before they turn 30 due to the wear and tear on the body as well as the fact that it's difficult to make a living as a dancer.

 

One thing that annoyed me is that they showed some clips of people auditioning along with the judges' comments and getting tickets to Vegas but then they didn't put their names on the screen. Come on, producers!

 

Brooke was the first stage dancer in Detroit who impressed me with her technique. I thought the very first girl (Christina?) and the engaged girl were just okay so I was surprised that they got tickets to Vegas. I'm always surprised when I see dancers from California fly so far to audition since they always have at least one stop in the state and Southwest always has cheap flights. Same thing with the two girls who drove 13 hours from New York. Why didn't they just go to the New York auditions? Heh, maybe I'm just cheap and lazy.

 

I know almost nothing to tap (the extent of my knowledge was learning shuffle ball change as a kid and then learning how to fake a time step for one section of a dance in high school) but I know enough to know that the Bang Bang girl (Kelsey?) was good and the Charleston tap girl was not.

 

The tap girl who was cut in Dallas proved that having the right music and the right choreography makes a huge difference. Obviously this girl did not vastly improve her dancing in the week since her previous audition so it was all about making better choices with the music and choreography. From the little that we saw of her Dallas audition, I agree that her Detroit solo was much better.

 

Cat was adorable with the krumper's little kid.

 

With a few exceptions, this week's auditions did not impress me. I really hope that LA has a higher talent level!

[LadyMustang65]

I agree that Brooke was the first one who really impressed me and my family.  Loved her.  Also really liked the last tapper - the dark-haired girl with the ponytail.  We thought she was very good.  We liked Mission but thought his kids were better than he was.  I liked the Queen of Detroit but didn't think she was that great that they'd put her through.  Also liked Sam I Am.  At least some this week that I can even remember, and a couple that we thought were standouts, so better than last week.  :)

[LizBug]

I'm actually liking Paula's critiques.  Even when someone is awful and obviously not getting a ticket, she finds something positive to say about their performance while offering suggestions on improvement.  And, I love hearing her "go" "yes" and "hit it, girl" while the dancers are auditioning.

Edited June 9, 2015 by DallasGypsy

[Wootini]

On the plus side, I thought Jason Derulo offered some better comments this time. Maybe someone had a talk with him after the first couple of cities...

 

But I couldn't believe that we got to the 40 minute mark and had only seen like, four or five dancers. That was ridiculous. And right after that was a montage where we saw them let in another four dancers, but barely getting to see much of them. I really don't understand why they front-load the episodes with filler. Wouldn't it make more sense to try and grab the audience with as much actual dancing as possible? If I wasn't such a big fan of the show, I would've gotten bored and tuned out by the half-hour mark because they'd only shown us a few dancers. The back end of the show rights itself and focuses more on actual dancing than filler/taped background pieces, but man… rough start.

 

I also think this episode could've used more Cat. But then I think EVERY episode could use more Cat. Every SHOW could use more Cat. ;)

 

That tapper with the squeaky voice was actually really impressive once she stopped speaking and started dancing. And I'm glad that the other tapper got her act together and took it on the road to the next audition city to give it another shot. Both because she does have actual talent and deserves a spot in Vegas, but also because I'm not entirely confident you can tell anyone to come back next year. There might not actually BE a next year to audition for...

 

In the coming up as I was fast-forwarding, I thought I saw a kid on stage, and I got annoyed because I can't stand when they do that (Thank GOD they didn't waste time having that girl's dad come up on stage as I'd feared they might). But holy crap, Bam Bam was the cutest thing EVER. So I couldn't fault them for wasting time with that one. Also, I really enjoyed watching his dad dance. I was just glad to finally see something other than animation. I AM SO SICK OF ANIMATION. Where are my B-boys? I've only seen a couple and their tricks weren't great. I'm going to go back to YouTube and watch old routines from Hok or something...

 

But they could have completely cut the Creep bit and I would've been so much happier. I don't care how politely they told him no afterwards, when the judges got up and mocked his dancing and then urged the entire crowd to do the same, I thought it was pretty shitty. And he looked so happy that he'd gotten everyone on their feet. He had no idea he was being turned into a joke and being laughed at. That was just wrong. I hate when they do that.

 

Anyone know why last week we got one hour in each city, but this time it was two hours in one place? Is LA going to be the whole two hours next week? I'd rather they do two cities in each two-hour audition episode and get to Vegas and the actual competition that much faster.

[Carrots4]

The engaged girl's choreography really turned me off. There were moments in her audition where everything ground to a halt and then she just walked to another part of the stage for her next move. Was surprised she got a ticket to Vegas.

[Primetimer]

At some point Nigel is just going to turn to the audience and say, 'You get a ticket! And YOU get a ticket! Everyone here gets a ticket!'

Read the story

[Wootini]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the "engaged" couple. When she wasn't absolutely awful, I knew they were going to put them both through just so they can milk the "stage vs street" competition between the "engaged" couple for as long as they can. Problem is, neither of them are making it through even probably one round of Vegas so it's kind of a waste of time. :P

 

(I also noticed that she seemed to stop her routine a couple times. I felt like she hadn't choreographed enough and thought they'd stop her but when they didn't, she had to take a moment to go "Oh crap, I have to keep going. What should I do next?" Then she'd just make up some more moves and keep going.)

Edited June 9, 2015 by Wootini

[crowceilidh]

Thanks for linking "the creep" - even though I ffed through that segment, I got enough of it to be grateful for a context.  The guy really did look like John Waters.  And, hey, I'm always up for seeing Andy Samberg.  Always.

 

I really liked the krumper, but I never ever want to see people's little kids dancing no matter how cute.

[JennB]

Sam and Chelsea's drive home must have been really awkward.

I loved Christine. Put her in the finals right now. I'll vote for her.

[realdancemom]

This week's auditions were better.  I liked Brooke, Christine, Queen of Detroit, the krumper, and two of the tappers (squeaky voice and the two-timer auditioner).  The engaged girl had pretty feet and I can see that she has technique.  But it looked like she forgot her choreography so she was just making stuff up.  Her fiance wasn't that great but I think they want a story. Both of them will get cut in Vegas.

 

Jason was definitely better with his cirtiques this week.  I like Paula and two weeks in a row, she was coherent and gave good critiques.  She's also never mean even when she is not going to let somebody through. 

[scowl]

The engaged girl's choreography really turned me off. There were moments in her audition where everything ground to a halt and then she just walked to another part of the stage for her next move. Was surprised she got a ticket to Vegas.

 

That had to have been a mistake, right? It looked like she ran out of room on the stage, stopped her routine, and casually walked to the center of the stage to get some more room for what she was about to do. What other dance style can you take a "time out" in the middle of a routine without anyone saying anything?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I thought Roydell the krumper was suffenciently hard in his krumping and definitely reminded me a little bit of Russell, but it was his outside of dance personality coupled with some of the smoothness he added into his audition which gives me hope that he won't be a total fish out of water when they get challenged by alternate "street" styles. Still not totally sure how all of this is going to play out in Vegas though.

 

I forgot out about Mission and the very first dancer for team stage (Christine) in my other post. Mission's 10 seconds of floor work got him a ticket. the non-breaking parts of his routine were pretty rudimentary. I liked Christine, but I felt like her personality straddled the line between cute/precocious and cocky. Plus she's also going to get a season full of Jasmine Harper comparisons if she ends up making Team Stage. I could have done w/out the 18 year old on her b-day too. She's a powerful and explosive dancer for sure but w/ that music choice it was way too much like a jazz piece that desperately wanted to be hip hop. That and her "hard" expression throughout felt pretty forced.

 

Glad I wasn't the only person who thought Kelli (the girl in the fiance couple) stopped her routine. About half way through it she simply walked a long way from left to right on the stage as if she was coming back to hear her feedback, but then the routine just picked up again and went on for another 30 seconds. Very strange.

 

The Princess of Detroit was definitely entertaining, and definitely benefited from being able to avoid choreo.......of the 15-20 animator/poppers we've seen in two weeks (really), she'd be in my top 6 at least. I'll be interested to see how she takes to other street styles for sure.

 

Kathryn might now have company as one of the all-time baby voices on SYTYCD (or reality tv in general....I'm looking at you Hayley from this season of TAR) with Kelsey Rose. Things worked out alright w/ Kathryn so maybe lightning can strike twice. She definitely had tap skills and IMO she wouldn't look out of place in Broadway or jazz pieces either.

Edited June 9, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[burntheflaws]

Christine is probably my favorite contestant right now, which no doubt means she'll be cut before the Top 10/20 stage dancers (whatever the format is this year, haven't looked into it). I've gotten bored with most contemporary routines but hers was interesting and combined a bunch of different styles that just worked together. Plus she lights up the stage and is adorable.

 

I also liked Brooke, the krumper, and most of the tap dancers who made it through, especially the one who auditioned a second time.

 

Agreed that the girl part of the engaged couple should not have made it through. Those pauses in her routine were so awkward. I didn't really like the guy's audition either, and as much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Nigel's assessment of it. They're just trying to milk the whole engaged-thanks-to-SYTYCD thing. Eyeroll. And Mertseger, yes, Twitch/Allison! I was thinking the same thing when the judges mentioned a SYTYCD marriage. How quickly they forget.

[Kat]

 

I ffed through more of this show than I ever have before (I've been ffing DWTS for seasons now) - I'm just so sick of the producer-led stories and the surprise! kid dancing and the surprise! students dancing and etc.  I also wish they'd do something more interesting than showing people celebrating because they're going to Vegas.  We've seen it a million times.

For the past 3 or 4 seasons I have routinely fast-forwarded through every intro, producer packaged tear jerker, child, dad-dancer, and bullshit "triumph over adversity" story that they fill these auditions episodes with. I only watch from when Nigel says "Cue Music", until they give the person their ticket or send them on their way. This show really doesn't start for me until we get to the Vegas/LA semi finals.

And speaking of Nigel...

 

Just think how much more time we would have to watch dancing if we didn't have to hear Nigel say, "And...cue music," before each audition!

I actually like this tradition and find it almost comforting? I would miss it if Nigel stopped.

[ari333]

I did not like queen of detroit.... at. All.

[Prairie Fire]

I was just glad to finally see something other than animation. I AM SO SICK OF ANIMATION.

 

I swear, when the first animation routine started up, I thought to myself, "This is like a full-body spasm set to music. I'M OVER THIS." Like an overplayed song on the radio that sounds good the first time, this is something they need to be careful not to ruin by overexposure. It's no longer surprising when an auditioner breaks out those crazy space-age moves, it's repetitive.

 

Reducing the three outcomes (Vegas, choreography, or "bye") to two actually doesn't bug me, because there were a lot of disappointing choices under the old method. You'd see really good contestants get sent to choreography, made worse by marginal ones going past them straight to Vegas. At least now, that's been taken out of the picture.

 

The birthday girl (Miranda) surprised me with her routine - I was expecting the typical "angsty nymphet" contemporary routine, not something dominant and powerful.

 

I could have done without the Charleston tap-dancing girl's long explanation of her "ghetto" nickname, though.

[90PercentGravity]

Did they raise the age limit? I thought it was 28.

[Skyler Durden]

I felt like she hadn't choreographed enough and thought they'd stop her but when they didn't, she had to take a moment to go "Oh crap, I have to keep going.

OMFG, I know, right?!? There were several instances where she basically broke character. She reminded me of a gymnast doing a floor routine, casually dropping character as she set up her next up for the next round of tricks.

Brooke was my favorite so far, mostly because I love a good spin. No one is standing out for me yet as The One, and no one has made me cry yet.

[realdancemom]

I liked one of Mission's students more than him.  He was the one that started with a black jacket.  He did clock the other one when they left the building.  I'm guessing both students were too young to try out.  They looked young. 

[scowl]

.......... my favourite part of the audition shows was watching how people did in the choreography rounds.  They need to find something to replace that, stat........

 

I loved the choreography rounds too. I've taken dozens of dance classes so I get a schadenfreude when I see top-notch street dancers struggling to learn routines and partner dancing in an hour or two.

[Kromm]

The Queen of Detroit needs not only humility, but a reality check. And the show didn't really give it to her.

To be fair, I can see she was doing animation and pop and locking moves. But they weren't defined enough to see through well... lets call it what it is... her size. Nothing wrong with her size, but it means the moves have to be exaggerated more for us to see them.

[ari333]

The Queen of Detroit needs not only humility, but a reality check. And the show didn't really give it to her.To be fair, I can see she was doing animation and pop and locking moves. But they weren't defined enough to see through well... lets call it what it is... her size. Nothing wrong with her size, but it means the moves have to be exaggerated more for us to see them.

Im fine with her size.

I didnt like her attitude.... or her dance.

[chocolatine]

Have any non-hip-hop "street" dancers auditioned so far this season? A couple of weeks ago Nigel teased that the "street" specialties would also include salsa and Argentine tango, but I've seen none of that so far. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good hip-hop dancer, but if all "team street" dancers are going to be hip-hoppers, I'm going to get bored fast. Yes, I know there are many styles of hip-hop, but still.

 

For that matter, there were also barely any "stage" auditions other than contemporary/jazz and tap. I saw a split second of a ballroom audition in a montage last episode and no ballroom whatsoever this episode. I want the dance style diversity from the early seasons back!

Edited June 9, 2015 by chocolatine

[crowceilidh]

 

I didn't really like the guy's audition either, and as much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Nigel's assessment of it.

Yes - I agreed with Nigel too and I hate doing that.

[Kromm]

Im fine with her size.

I didnt like her attitude.... or her dance.

The problem isn't her size. The problem (in part since her attitude is a problem too) is how she chooses to express her movement AT that size. The micromovements she was doing were invisible --although maybe another part of that was that she felt compelled to dress baggy and that hid it even more.

[dcalley]

Same thing with the two girls who drove 13 hours from New York. Why didn't they just go to the New York auditions? Heh, maybe I'm just cheap and lazy.

Good question.

 

Did they raise the age limit? I thought it was 28.

30 is the oldest you can be per the link below.

 

Audition cities announced for 2015 Season ...

New York, NY Saturday, Jan. 24

Dallas, TX Saturday, Feb. 14

Detroit, MI Sunday, Feb. 22

Memphis, TN Sunday, March 8

Los Angeles, CA Sunday, March 15

Details at http://www.fox.com/dance/article/“so-you-think-you-can-dance”-season-12-hits-the-road

(This was from the media thread.) Reading the details at the link was interesting. "Auditioners traveling to cities for the open calls should make arrangements to stay for at least two days following their initial audition (three days for Memphis) in the event of a callback." So the impression I had that all-new people show up on day 2 isn't quite accurate. 

 

The theater in Detroit looked like a nice place, and I liked seeing the jit dancers at old auto shows.

Edited June 9, 2015 by dcalley

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved that they interviewed the jit originators and showed old footage of them. It was a nice little bit of dance history. I liked that they also talked about how it's evolved and how it's different now.

I know they don't always show the auditions in the same order they were filmed (hence Cat's arm in a sling at the beginning of last week but not during the second hour or this week). Now that I know New York was the first city they visited, maybe the two BFFs from the Bronx missed it?

Edited June 9, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ari333]

Have any non-hip-hop "street" dancers auditioned so far this season? A couple of weeks ago Nigel teased that the "street" specialties would also include salsa and Argentine tango, but I've seen none of that so far. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good hip-hop dancer, but if all "team street" dancers are going to be hip-hoppers, I'm going to get bored fast. Yes, I know there are many styles of hip-hop, but still.

 

For that matter, there were also barely any "stage" auditions other than contemporary/jazz and tap. I saw a split second of a ballroom audition in a montage last episode and no ballroom whatsoever this episode. I want the dance style diversity from the early seasons back!

Have any non-hip-hop "street" dancers auditioned so far this season? A couple of weeks ago Nigel teased that the "street" specialties would also include salsa and Argentine tango, but I've seen none of that so far. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good hip-hop dancer, but if all "team street" dancers are going to be hip-hoppers, I'm going to get bored fast. Yes, I know there are many styles of hip-hop, but still.

 

For that matter, there were also barely any "stage" auditions other than contemporary/jazz and tap. I saw a split second of a ballroom audition in a montage last episode and no ballroom whatsoever this episode. I want the dance style diversity from the early seasons back!

THIS!!!!

Just this. Give me some partner salsa... tango... gees ....something.

bah!!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Seriously. At this point I feel like they should have dropped the alliterative euphemism of street vs. stage and just called this season contemporary vs. animation since that's really all we've seen in four hours of auditions.

[realdancemom]

Los Angeles is the last audition city.  So I understand why Brooke didn't audition over there.  By the time they get there, there are few Vegas tickets left.  If the show meets its quota of blonde contemporary dancers, then they stop giving Vegas tickets to other blonde contemporary dancers.  This info was given at several AferBuzz shows and from dancers that my daughters know.  New York was the first city so I don't know why the two friends didn't audition over there.

 

I do know that there are ballroom dancers that make it to Green Mile.  I also know if they make it or not but I won't spoil it.

[vibeology]

I love Christine! She's the only dancer that really excites me so far. Her personality was great and she had a presence on stage that, for me, was very striking. I want to see more.

[ari333]

Jit!

That is all.

[rereader2]

Seriously. At this point I feel like they should have dropped the alliterative euphemism of street vs. stage and just called this season contemporary vs. animation since that's really all we've seen in four hours of auditions.

 

I wish they had dropped the whole idiotic idea of dividing all of dance into two "categories". Especially since so-called "street" is taught in dance schools just the same as so-called "stage".

[Canada]

Based on what the 'queen' of Detroit said, I'm confused about how this season is going to work, once the auditions are over.  Are people not dancing outside of their genres?  The Street team members are only going to dance street style?  I don't think I can handle an entire season where half the contestants are krumping/animation/whatever the latest dance is that looks the same as all of the other ones to me.  And Stage dancers will only be dancing stage style genres?  So no contemporary dancers attempting hip hop?  That's going to be pretty boring!

[Prairie Fire]

Based on what the 'queen' of Detroit said, I'm confused about how this season is going to work, once the auditions are over.  Are people not dancing outside of their genres?  The Street team members are only going to dance street style?  I don't think I can handle an entire season where half the contestants are krumping/animation/whatever the latest dance is that looks the same as all of the other ones to me.  And Stage dancers will only be dancing stage style genres?  So no contemporary dancers attempting hip hop?  That's going to be pretty boring!

 

It sounds like they'll have the contestants do all the styles once they hit Top 20: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/01/30/new-look-rules-so-you-think-you-can-dance

 

Although it sounds like they'll limit each team to their own "style" in Vegas. Unless they somehow screen out people who can't handle other styles, a lot of these dancers are going to be in really deep jit when they hit the top 20.

[Canada]

Thanks Prairie Fire.  That was my thought too, if the dancers had to do other genres, then a lot of these Street dancers are screwed.  I had a hard enough time watching Cyrus mutilating other dance styles for an entire season; I can't do it again.

[ari333]

I dont enjoy animation dance.

There. I said it.

[TVSallyS]

Several things - if they are following the same format of having them dance all different styles during the top 20, it makes zero sense to eliminate those styles from Vegas. If the criteria for winning is similar, what is the purpose to changing the criteria in the auditions? Other than making for a horrible show with a bunch of dancers who can't do what you asked them to? That's so nonsensical there has to be more to it than this.

Second - can a dancer help me out with whether this street and stage dichotomy makes any sense? I know people who are really studio "trained" tend to have taken things like ballet, contemporary, jazz, etc. but I seem to recall some studio "trained" jazz dancers on the show who also "trained" in hip hop. In addition, what team would a hip hop dancer be on who'd had some studio training?? I am just totally confused, because for years on this show they've been having hip hop dancers who have they encouraged to seek "training" so they could do other styles. The hip hop dancers who heeded this advice simply had an advantage on the show and were applauded. Now, they have this weird "street vs stage" dichotomy which seems to focus not necessarily on the genre, but the source of training. If they were just sorting people into their primary speciality (hip hop vs contemporary, jazz, etc), then that would be one thing. But with this setup, a hip hop dancer who got himself into some classes to cross train would have no place on the show. It would be totally confusing to put him into the stage group when the other hip hoppers were in the street group, and putting him in the street group would just result in a bunch of rumors and speculation and accusations flying on the internet that he was a "faker" who hadn't actually gotten all his training on the "street". This just seems bizarre, because under the old format, people could train however they wanted and then just dance what they could dance and get applauded for it. Now they have a system where it seems people could get accused of faking their training because they took a class. Why spend years encouraging people to take some classes and then make half of the show a category where you'd be disqualified by taking classes?? Are we as viewers supposed to think the stage vs street distinction lies mostly in the genre or source of training? This is where some insight from dance people would help. Is there really such 99.9 percent overlap in genre and source of training that this isn't confusing for most contestants? It just seems totally bizarre to me.

Also, I know we have always had people from different backgrounds and that's been part of the fun, but since studio classes are expensive, explicitly splitting them into "people trained in the studio vs people trained on the street" feels too much like we are watching some epic battle of "rich vs poor". I'm not saying everyone taking a studio class is rich per se or that the only reason someone wouldn't take studio classes is because they were poor.... But doesn't it kind of squick anyone else out a bit?

Edited June 10, 2015 by TVSallyS

[rereader2]

It is my understanding (and this is from reading and conversations, I'm not a dancer) that nowadays most "street" dancers have actually had considerable studio training, just in street styles. So it seems that the show waited until the "dichotomy" became a distinction without a difference, and then decided they were different things.

Edited June 10, 2015 by rereader2