S12.E02: Detroit Auditions

[Kromm]

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.

I don't know how much stock we could put in the "most" part of that statement.  "Some"? Sure. "Many"? Possibly.  But "most" is a hefty statement.  I'm sure there are plenty of studios that teach street styles, but the notion that it's the default is what doesn't ring true for me.

 

It seems unlikely to me because the core of the difference relates to money. Very few things in this world are free, and "studio dance training" has to be pretty far up that list--regardless of whether what is being taught is jazz, tap, ballet, or yes, an interpreted street style.  At the very least rent has to be paid.  Salaries.  Utility bills.

 

Whereas "trained by observation of other dancers on the street" seems like it would be one of the few things without a dollar sign directly attached. You don't pay rent or utility bills on a public park or a sidewalk or an underpass under a highway. You don't pay salaries if there are no formal classes. And that's also why these styles tend to be so informal, even 20-30 years or so into their existence.  You can teach them in a studio sure, but it just doesn't make sense it's where most of it is happening given the back-stories the show typically gives us for most of these street dancers.

Edited June 10, 2015 by Kromm

[Prairie Fire]

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.

 

Me neither, although I don't think it'll be any worse than in previous seasons. Even though it looks like they're getting rid of the old Vegas-week system where dancers ran through a gauntlet of multiple styles, I don't think that system really weeded out good hip-hop dancers who couldn't do other styles. It seems like it should have done so in theory, but the judges have probably given a few dancers free passes through Vegas over the years.

[Terrafamilia]

Gee, 75 yrs + ago and they would have had plenty of tappers on the "Street" team.

Anyway, I kinda agree with Paula on the engaged guy's choices but also agree with Nigel that he wasn't strong enough.

Why am I getting the feeling that they'd need to assign a chaperone to Jason if he were to mingle with the gal contestants?

Loved the krumper. He's one I'd like to see make top 20. Also liked the first auditioner, Christine

[90PercentGravity]

Why am I getting the feeling that they'd need to assign a chaperone to Jason if he were to mingle with the gal contestants?

 

He seems to have a particular interest in the larger bodied women. which is great actually.

[Irritable]

It pains me to say this, but I might be over SYTYCD.  I've gone from chomping at the bit for more during previous seasons, thinking there was no better show in the whole wide world while on a high after seeing some phenomenal performance, to now not being able to watch either of these audition episodes all the way through.  Not sure if it's that I am oversaturated, or if the level of talent really has dropped as far down as it feels like it has to me.  I see some of these people and think they are okay but kind of sloppy and nowhere near good enough to go to Vegas, and then the judges praise them up and down.  Are they more desperate than other seasons?  Are there less auditions, and therefore less talent to bring on to the competition?  I can't tell at this point.  I guess I'll try to stick it out through at least the first real competition, but I'm almost dreading it.  I never expected to feel this way about a show I used to love like it was my own child.  Makes me sad.

[Evangeline]

I get the sense that whoever came up with the "Stage vs. Street" concept was a big fan of the movie Bring It On.

[pamplemousse]

I wouldn't audition in NYC or LA if I could avoid it. Both are big dance cities and I'm sure a lot of the dancers who try out in those cities have one of the following: 1) some pro experience or work, 2) won several noted competitions; 3) from a well-known studio with ties to previous contestants and/or choreographers; 4) connections to SYTYCD choreographers. To maximize my chances of getting a ticket, I'd try out in the most bumfuck (relatively speaking) of the audition cities as possible. I think that's why even though it's a smart strategy, I always side-eye people who are from places closer to the NYC and LA auditions but choose to drive or fly to other audition cities. It just makes me think, unfairly perhaps, 'Oh, you didn't think you'd cut it in the big ponds of the NYC and LA auditions so you decided to audition in Detroit or Memphis.'

 

Pet peeve: Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the contemporary dancers this season are doing excessive amounts of miming to the lyrics in their routines. It always looks so cheesy. And that one tap girl who did her routine to Bang Bang mouthed the lyrics -- I miss the good old days when Nigel used to put people on blast for miming and mouthing along.

 

I'm kind of where you're at Irritable. This season's auditions so far have seemed pretty weak compared to previous seasons. I'm hoping LA will really deliver.

[Steph01924]

Why am I getting the feeling that they'd need to assign a chaperone to Jason if he were to mingle with the gal contestants?

 

Bwahaha! I had the same thought. Whenever the pretty girls would dance, the camera would, without fail, cut to a close-up of Jason's ogling face, and occasionally he looked like that cartoon wolf with his tongue hanging out. I guess we're trading to his lecherous looks from Nigel's, which...I can't really say is an improvement, overall--none of the dancers should be pieces of meat--but at the same time I'd rather not stare at Nigel any longer than I have to, especially with the creepy denture-smile, so... 

[Kat From Jersey]

 

The Estate Of Mildred And Patty Hill

 

"It took two people to write that song?"

 

(sorry, just having a 'Sports Night' moment)

 

I never, NEVER thought I'd say this, truly, but I kind of miss Mary.  Paula is just so blaaaaaahhhhh. Mary, as loud and annoying as she could be, at least brought some energy to the auditions.  And, she often had good technical advice.  She was a good balance for Nigel, too. Jason Derulo... meh.

 

I'm so confused by the new setup.  I'm hoping that all the dancers will be required to dance all styles, and they don't keep the street vs. stage separated.  Half the fun is seeing dancers who can rise out of their element.

[rereader2]

"It took two people to write that song?"

 

(sorry, just having a 'Sports Night' moment)

 

Heh! (Cole Porter got there first (1949), when asked who wrote "Some Enchanted Evening": "If you can imagine it taking two men to write one song." :) )

[Rick Kitchen]

"It took two people to write that song?"

 

(sorry, just having a 'Sports Night' moment)

 

I never, NEVER thought I'd say this, truly, but I kind of miss Mary.  Paula is just so blaaaaaahhhhh. Mary, as loud and annoying as she could be, at least brought some energy to the auditions.  And, she often had good technical advice.  She was a good balance for Nigel, too. Jason Derulo... meh.

 

I'm so confused by the new setup.  I'm hoping that all the dancers will be required to dance all styles, and they don't keep the street vs. stage separated.  Half the fun is seeing dancers who can rise out of their element.

 

See my posting in the Judges thread for the comments Nigel made about how the new format will work.

[Canada]

I dont enjoy animation dance.

There. I said it.

I don't like animation or krumping.  But the absolute worst style, for me, is "freestyle". 

[Pestilentia]

So I'm late to the party and likely overlooked but can't help myself-

 

 

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.

 

Did no one else think this was a bogus engagement story?
Really?

 

I felt like blondie cooked up a scheme to get herself some extra air time in order to "bond" with the audience in order to garner votes.

I just didn't buy them as a couple at all.

[paramitch]

I'm so disappointed in the judging thus far. It's obvious Jason was asked to try to use just a few more words, but this was still brutal. I don't think he's dumb, I just think he doesn't have a lot of dance vocabulary and it's painful.

 

Paula is okay, although I miss Mary -- she's not nearly as technical as I was hoping she'd be, but she is certainly kind, and fun to watch. But Jason is just awful. I noticed after last week that they added in an intro about him this week that he's "trained in tap, ballet, etc." which -- if they say so -- but he just has nothing to offer when it comes time to critique. And I continue to be really turned off by how blatantly homophobic he is when it comes to judging -- if a male contestant is at all feminine or twee, Jason's stock response is to look profoundly uncomfortable, muttering, "It ain't my thing, man." Note: I don't think HE is homophobic, per se, but he seems unable to like or appreciate a dance that isn't super-masculine (he's like a more intense version of Nigel from back in the early years).

 

It's just really disappointing, especially since I used to love the different judges in each city in previous seasons -- usually terrific guest judges and fellow dancers -- I especially miss Lil' C, who was so sharp and funny as a hip hop judge.

 

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.

It's the size of the pond that gives the dancer the edge -- for instance, someone solid who might get cut or hastily passed over in NYC (which is not only going to have a much bigger crowd to fight, but also a bigger crowd of highly trained standouts) has a much better chance of sailing through in Memphis or Detroit. 

 

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 was a great point -- the timing issue. I'd bet most try to audition as early as possible in the process, wherever they can. L.A. being the last one -- and also being chock-full of wannabees -- will be especially tough.

 

I get the sense that whoever came up with the "Stage vs. Street" concept was a big fan of the movie Bring It On.

I totally bet it was Nigel. He's loved the whole fairytale of the "untrained dancer" in each and every hip-hopper who goes far on this show, regardless of whether they were actually cross-trained. (In Season 4, I'll never forget him screeching about Joshua being this TOTALLY UNTRAINED DANCER constantly, when we'd already heard Joshua talk at length about his cross-training in ballet, ballroom, and contemporary.) There's just something kind of insulting about it to me -- Nigel loves this Cinderella concept of taking a street kid and turning them into a swan onstage, so he will overlook any real training they had to fit the story better. There are definitely several contestants who had far less training than others who have really shown themselves to be quick learners (Russell, Legacy, tWitch, Cyrus), but Nigel's compliments always felt like there was an insult in them to me on this front.

 

I wouldn't audition in NYC or LA if I could avoid it. Both are big dance cities and I'm sure a lot of the dancers who try out in those cities have one of the following: 1) some pro experience or work, 2) won several noted competitions; 3) from a well-known studio with ties to previous contestants and/or choreographers; 4) connections to SYTYCD choreographers. To maximize my chances of getting a ticket, I'd try out in the most bumfuck (relatively speaking) of the audition cities as possible. I think that's why even though it's a smart strategy, I always side-eye people who are from places closer to the NYC and LA auditions but choose to drive or fly to other audition cities. It just makes me think, unfairly perhaps, 'Oh, you didn't think you'd cut it in the big ponds of the NYC and LA auditions so you decided to audition in Detroit or Memphis.'

 

This! Thank you for putting this far better than I could. Although, to be fair, I get why people travel simply because there's less of a risk that you'll be hastily overlooked in NYC or L.A.

 

Meanwhile, I miss the choreography rounds, and agree with those who definitely felt Engaged Blondie was just not nearly good enough to be put through. I was flabbergasted when she just sort of kept stopping and starting, not bothering to string together her movements at all. Then, oddly, her fiancee had the same issues! I kind of suspected the two of them were out of practice and that it was a stamina issue or something...

 

And I still miss Mary & Adam's quick tutorial to all the contestants on what NOT to do (the endless reach, the self-caressing, booty shakes, etc.): 

 

[Rick Kitchen]

 

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.

 

Travis said in one of his recent blogs that he went to Charleston (I think it was), the last city of the auditions, because he had been cut at an earlier audition (hadn't even made it to see the judges).

[Pjxf99]

 

The Estate Of Mildred And Patty Hill

 

"It took two people to write that song?"

 

(sorry, just having a 'Sports Night' moment)

Glad  I wasn't the only one who thought that might be a Sports Night reference!   I think its time to dig out the dvds and watch that again. 

[Nonlinear]

Does anyone know the song that Roydell Shannon, the Krumper, danced to? Thank you.

[landstander]

Does anyone know the song that Roydell Shannon, the Krumper, danced to? Thank you.

That was "They Don't Want Nothing (Feat. Excel Beats & T.C.)" by District 78.

 

Shazam has improved the audition episodes for me immensely. I don't know why they only show the music onscreen once they reach the top 20.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

 

Shazam has improved the audition episodes for me immensely. I don't know why they only show the music onscreen once they reach the top 20.

 

Yeah, I watch the show with my phone in hand so that I can Shazam every song they play.  :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I still remember trying to track down a song that was used during callbacks during S1. I was so glad when they finally started putting the names and artists of each song during the show but I hate that they don't do it before the top 20.

[Nonlinear]

That was "They Don't Want Nothing (Feat. Excel Beats & T.C.)" by District 78.

 

Shazam has improved the audition episodes for me immensely. I don't know why they only show the music onscreen once they reach the top 20.

Thank you so much!!

[ToxicUnicorn]

I never, NEVER thought I'd say this, truly, but I kind of miss Mary.  Paula is just so blaaaaaahhhhh. Mary, as loud and annoying as she could be, at least brought some energy to the auditions.  And, she often had good technical advice.  She was a good balance for Nigel, too. Jason Derulo... meh.

I'm catching up on the season, and so far I don't miss Mary at all.  I think Paula has given the judges' panel a nicer vibe and some badly needed credibility.  For several years now, Mary and Nigel have reminded me of best friends in the third grade (giggle, giggle, giggle) or two parts of a vaudeville act.  It's nice to see a woman who does not appear to be a fully owned subsidiary of Nigel.  And I did not like the rotating panel of celebrity guest judges.  I thought they were pretty useless.

 

Jason seems fine to me.  Maybe I'm missing a lot of his comments, but his judgments haven't offended me at all.

 

I thought I would hate the stage versus street distinction, but I have been pleasantly surprised.  I think the names for the categories are unfortunate, (although, really, what would be better?), but it seems like a step forward for the hip hop people to be given their own niche.  Lumping them, as well as all the contemporary-jazz-ballet people together, at least spares us all the early season (repetitive) conversations about how hip hop is an umbrella of different styles and how the rest are all ballet based.

 

I do miss the ballroom/belly dancing/ other stuff, though.