S12.E04: Auditions #4: New York

[Tara Ariano]

The judges are in New York for the fourth and final round of auditions before callbacks.

[SopranoKris]

I am loving the smile on the locker from Haiti!  Hope he can do well in the other genres of dance in Vegas.

[JennB]

I could have watched Kenya and Connor for the entire two hours.

[Andie1]

Tonight was actually good. I missed the last two weeks because I just got bored earlier on but tonight I was glad to have watched, the dancing has stepped up a good few notches.  Loved Virgil, (the kid reminds me of Fik-Shun and he's got Broadway training so he is probably a front runner for the street group,) the Locker was joyful to watch, Contemporary Kenya and Conner duo were very strong, the Ballroom dancer  Ryan was mad sexy,  Anime was dope, and I enjoyed the last dancer as well.  So all in all I was entertained.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Andie1

[Thog]

I was so annoyed that they let the tapper through. He was very entertaining and probably technically good, but he had zero musicality and couldn't even tell them the correct time signature of the music he'd chosen. Then he tried to make some excuse about not being able to hear well up on the stage, and asked to redo it without music at all. If that was such an unusual context for him that he couldn't perform, how does he expect to handle a stage and a loud audience week after week? They've cut better dancers for being unprofessional.

 

Otherwise I found it enjoyable. I loved the first dancer and agree that he reminded me of Fik-Shun, the Haitian had such an infectious spirit, and I really enjoyed some of the stage performers (particularly Kenya and Connor). I'm still skeptical of the new format, but it looks like we've potentially got some very watchable contestants.

[LJonEarth]

Thirty-one days sober and making major, stressful, life-changing decisions. Okay. I wish that young man the nothing but the best.

 

While darn good dancers, Kenya and Connor's audition was so tired and unoriginal, more so that most. The audience clapping after was even weak. It reminded me of that what-not-to-do primer that Tyce does.

 

The Locker was pure joy.

Edited June 23, 2015 by LJonEarth

[sluggish neko]

I haven't watched SYTYCD in years, but I caught some of it today. Anime was impressive and Paula's #1 fans were all cuteness.

 

But what was that Breaker-Ballet guy all about? I was convinced that he was a comedian b/c of the exaggerated cringe factor and the way he ran off into the snow in that overly dramatic way. If it was real, then that was just plain sad and unnecessary.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Lil O came back! After a stint on Broadway to boot. Seriously excellent start, show.

If Kenya and the last girl (Alyssa) aren't on team stage or at least in w/ a chance at the very end, then my SYTYCD radar is really broken.

Anime (minus 30 percent of his facial expressions and mouthing the lyrics) was awesome. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with the kid battling his drug addiction or the locker from Haiti. I doubt either stand out in Vegas.

One of the montaged street performers is a returnee, Shafeek Westbrook (he was the one Nigel teased about taking his shirt off). I have a feeling the third time might be a charm for him. He was montaged with another guy who has serious "trickability" and possibly a background in capoeira which is awesome on its own. I hope we see him again in Vegas.

The hoofer absolutely should've tapped a capella. I wasn't outraged he got a ticket...but I can't see Twitch and the show wasting a spot on Team Street, especially if at least one female tapper ends up on Team Stage.

Edited June 23, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Quickbeam]

The very flamboyant ballroom dancer who danced alone was fun to watch. I can't remember his name but his movement was lovely.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Ryan Rafferty (or Raffloer according to Slezak's recap). A cut away to tornado-related Chicago news interrupted his audition in my area unfortunately. He struck me as a young Richard Gere or James Dean-esque visually...

Edited June 23, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Electruck]

But what was that Breaker-Ballet guy all about? I was convinced that he was a comedian b/c of the exaggerated cringe factor and the way he ran off into the snow in that overly dramatic way. If it was real, then that was just plain sad and unnecessary.

This! What was the point of that?

Paula's appreciation of her fans seems so genuine. It's really sweet.

I can't imagine how this season's going to work. Not a slam, just... Gosh, how will this work? I've read Nigel's explanation, but still... So many styles within each team, and as usual, SO much talent to narrow down to 20!

[Rick Kitchen]

I hate when I'm trying to watch the dancers and the camera pans back to the judges. It was the worst when Connor and Kenya were dancing. And again when the B Boy from the Bronx was dancing.

Ugh, I hate tattoos, especially when they're all over a person's body. I think Nigel is concerned as to whether or not he can stay clean.

Justin Ballasy's tap was good, but why bother having music accompaniment? And ... Tap is Street?

Mister Hollywood annoyed me even before he got up on stage. Sometimes I wished this show had a gong.

Hurrikane was great.

I liked Connor and Kenya.

The Latin ballroom soloist had great long legs.

I frankly didn't see anything from Anime. On the other hand, the B boy from the Bronx was outstanding.

The Ballet Breaker was terrible.

That Street Salsa guy had the jerry curls working.

Darius surprised me.  I didn't expect him to be that good.

Who sang that cover of "Take Me to Church" that Alyssa danced to at the end?

 

Nigel has added "OBE" to his name on his Twitter feed.

[chocolatine]

Virgil is a case in point why the "street" vs. "stage" distinction is so contrived. He's a hip-hopper, but he was also on Broadway. It doesn't get more "stage" than Broadway.

 

The second I saw Haitian locker's (Alain?) smile, I loved him. If he doesn't make it to Top 20, someone needs to make a gif of his smile for posterity.

 

The "breaker-ballet" made me want to barf. I didn't expect much based on how flabby his core was, but he still managed to disappoint. Anyone who utters the word "ballet" and then does something like that will earn a permanent place on my shit list.

 

Speaking of ballet, why didn't we see any legit ballet dancers audition in freaking NYC? Has the show's reputation gone so far downhill that it's not worth giving up a company spot for?

[Whimsy]

Justin Ballasy's tap was good, but why bother having music accompaniment? And ... Tap is Street?

I am just as confused as all of you, but I THINK that "street" in this context is defined as not having actual formal training or learned how to do someone else's choreography.  Someone can, I suppose, teach themselves how to tap via YouTube or something...  Maybe that's why he's street??

 

Virgil is a case in point why the "street" vs. "stage" distinction is so contrived. He's a hip-hopper, but he was also on Broadway. It doesn't get more "stage" than Broadway.

This is exactly what I thought when I saw this audition, so my above definition kind of went out the window since he obviously had to learn choreography for a Broadway show.  I'm so confused!!

 

I liked last week's auditions much better.  I FF'd through quite a few this week.  Especially that ballet breaker guy.  I knew he was a joke right off the bat, but I still waited for him to start just in case he surprised us.  .5 seconds into the audition I knew it was a train wreck and I zipped right past him.  I hate joke auditions.  Hate, hate, hate with a serious passion.  There are so many good dancers that get montaged.  I don't CARE about the horrible people that either think they can dance or are just hoping to meet the judges.  I don't want to waste my time on them!!

[Skittl1321]

 

I am just as confused as all of you, but I THINK that "street" in this context is defined as not having actual formal training or learned how to do someone else's choreography.  Someone can, I suppose, teach themselves how to tap via YouTube or something...  Maybe that's why he's street??

He didn't say anything about not having training though- but maybe that's it.  He rambled through a big thing about tap having heritage in street dance, and being a hoofer on the corner. 

 

I think most street dancers have formal training now, and learn other people's choreography; if the form of crews.  It just isn't dance studio training.

[pamplemousse]

I'm hoping that a few NYC ballet dancers through to Vegas but weren't shown. Every season we have some under-the-radar contestants that we saw little to nothing of in the auditions and even in Vegas. I thought I spotted a girl in a tutu during a montage at the end of day 1, though.

 

I really liked Allyson from Vegas. She said 'like' too much, but who doesn't these days, and I thought she was so pretty. I couldn't stop looking at her face when she was explaining her job at Medieval Times or whatever. Nigel's eyes lit up in that special pervy way he has when she first said that she worked on the strip, it looked like his mind immediately went to her working in a strip joint or a topless revue. She's not the best contemporary girl I've ever seen, but there's something about her, some unmannered quality and potential she has -- she reminds me a bit of Katee Shean, although not quite as polished or with as clean and strong of technique. I think that potential is what Paula was referring to when she said that Allyson was better than the choreo (although the song was very pretty, anyone know what it was?). She's obviously had some ballet training, the arabesque penchee was pretty close to flawlessly executed, but there is still room to grow and I thought her dancing was actually surprisingly unstylized and unaffected, she would be a great canvas for a choreographer. And I think she's got the audition presentation aspect down -- good outfit, good hairstyle, I even liked the darker lipstick because it worked on her and it wasn't bright red (only misstep was the eyeliner). I also like how her choreo wasn't overtly sexy or 'look at me, I'm a sexy kitten, meow!'. Did I mention I find her extremely attractive LOL? Great, now I'm sounding as creepy as Nigel. My shallow dream is for her to end up partnered with Asaf, it would be like an atom bomb of prettiness.

 

When I first saw Virgil, I thought it was a joke audition because I thought it was Fikshun buffed up and with facial hair. He was a polished entertainer, but I think he belongs more on the Stage side.

 

I liked the hipster tapper guy, I think his musicality will improve should he make it through to Top 20. I mean, why not him? In the last few seasons, there always seems to be at least one token tapper, and he's young, fairly telegenic (I think Paula thought so, anyway), and I suspect he might be cross-trained, not sure why but I just get that feeling.

 

Alain the locker was a delight to watch and he was adorable. I hope to see a lot more of him. Hmmm, I feel as though the routine by Conor and Kenya was really familiar, like something I've seen on youtube done by dancers at a competition. Not reminiscent of, but like that exact routine with that exact choreo to that exact song. Don't like the song choice, I'm sick of it. Anyway, they were good but not outstanding or special, and I saw quite a few technique breaks. The fouettes a la seconde were not high enough, turned out enough, and the toes were not pointed enough. As she was coming down from the lift, one of her legs looked out of alignment and like it was dangling for a moment, there was a moment of awkwardness coming out of that lift that kind of ruined it for me (also the lift had like no height). I'm being nitpicky, but when it comes to contemporary dancers, if your technique is not totally on point, then you should have some other spark that really makes you stand out. I thought they were good (IMO he was slightly better than her) but in a very meh, studio kids competition dancers way. It seemed rather contrived.

 

I really liked Strictly Ballroom Draco Malfoy. I mean, Ryan. Hilarious how his mom took credit for everything. Yes, his facial expressions were over the top, but that's competitive ballroom for ya. I saw some good technique in his audition, some nice lines and hip action, and yeah he is a little bit regal or as much as you can be dancing to that song (but kind of goofy and awkward too when he's not dancing). I thought he was great, and I think he will have a built in fanbase of young women should he make it to Top 20 -- he's got that Eastern European pretty boy model thing going on in his favor. I hope he makes it into the Top 20 (I still think it's unfair that none of three choreographers for Stage are ballroom), because he's good, we need more ballroom people, his mom deserves it for her hard work, and he's Cha-Cha-ing Draco Malfoy damnit!

 

Bronx B-boy Eliazer was awesome. I hope he can get through the choreo in Vegas because I'd really like to see him in the Top 20.

 

Between the Ballet Breaker and the Ballet Martial Artist, ballet was having a rough day.

 

LOVED Darius and his friend doing the dance break in Cold Hearted Snake, that's my favorite Paula Abdul everything (song, dance, music video)! And I thought they did really well, I wish his friend had auditioned for the show too I thought he was pretty good. Darius is a great dancer and I really want to see more of him, he also seems like a total sweetie.

 

Alyssa -- faultless lines and extension, really good dancer, very -- as they say -- 'So You Think You Can Dance'.

 

LA and NYC have made me feel a lot better about this season. I'm anticipating Vegas week with all its meltdowns and goofy self-choreo'd group dances!

 

ETA: Holy guacamole, longest post ever yikes sorry

Edited June 23, 2015 by pamplemousse

[Carrots4]

Have they always been randomly subtitling Paula? Just noticed it this week, even though her comments were clearly audible.

 

Was a little surprised that the recovering addict breaker did not do any "traditional" breakdancing moves. I would have expected some floor work or freezes from someone who introduced themselves as being all about breaking.

[Wootini]

Ah, I remember that storm where the Mayor shut down the city. I went outside in it around midnight and it was just eerie to see no one on the streets.

 

But anyway, NYC had some pretty good auditions. In fact, they had one that was actually a first for me. When the Bronx B-Boy was doing his routine, I actually got upset when Nigel stopped the music. Normally I feel like he lets the dancers go on far too long (sometimes you can actually tell when they've reached the end of their prepared audition routine and have to take a second to figure out what to do next), but this time I really, really wanted to see more of him. It was just that impressive.

 

It doesn't hurt that I much prefer breaking to any of the other street styles. I'm really looking forward to the Vegas callbacks where we can finally cull some of the bajillion animators that they put through when it's revealed that they can't do anything other than vibrate around the stage.

 

And I'm not sure what's more annoying: spending so much time on the boring blonde contemporary dancers who roll around on the floor and touch themselves (with the occasional sob story or dancing father to fill time) or wasting so much time on indulging people like Mr. Hollywood. Ugh. At least he wasn't as awful as the breaking ballet guy who clearly has taken some classes and actually thinks he's good enough, so he was completely humiliated and ran out of there. That was just kind of sad. With someone like Mr. Hollywood, he's just there to show off and be on TV. But the Ballet Breaker was obviously deluded enough to think he was going to make it. Those auditions just make me uncomfortable. More uncomfortable when Nigel's eyes pop out of his head like a cartoon wolf whenever the young blonde girls get up on stage in their skimpy dance outfits to wiggle their hips.

[Texasmom1970]

Nigel reminds me of that pervy Uncle or cousin we all have in our family that says inappropriate things and leery too much, it's so creepy!

Does anyone know how many street versus stage they are sending through to Vegas. They seem to be really pushing, I mean highlighting the street auditions.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Texasmom1970

[Wootini]

Actually, at the end, they gave numbers, and I was surprised there were more stage dancers put through than street. I think Street was like, 114, and Stage was more like 120something. I assumed they were stacking the deck with the street dancers because the majority of them are going to end up being cut when they can't do actual choreography, but nope!

[crowceilidh]

 

Nigel has added "OBE" to his name on his Twitter feed.

 

ZOMG - that is TOO funny.

 

Pamplemousse - I too felt that Kenya and Connor had an awful lot of not-quite-hanging-on to each move and were wildly overpraised although I did enjoy some of those lifts.  I was surprised when Paula said Allyson was better than her choreo because she also had this brief tics that made one feel she was going to blow it.  I did like her though.

 

As I keep blithering on about in the judges thread, I am already thoroughly tired of Paula and Jason. The number of times the camera pans on Jason's "reaction" face and he looks so fake that I think they're showing us re-takes... I hope if the show lasts past this season that they start changing it up in auditions again - I always enjoyed that.

[pamplemousse]

I think it was 114 Stage and 109 Street. I remember being surprised because just by watching the auditions, I got the impression that more Street dancers were put through than Stage. The wonders of editing, I guess.

 

Crowceilidh, I have more picky stuff lol. I also thought Kenya and Conor's unison wasn't 100%. I love side-by-side unison stuff A LOT (examples of pretty well-done side-by-side unison that come to mind off the top of my head were Makenzie/Paul in season 10 in their No Day But Today contemp and the first time they performed their Edge of Glory contemp) but it has to be absolutely on point -- clean, crisp, utterly in sync -- otherwise it just isn't good enough for me. It's kind of an all or nothing thing for me. And their emotion seemed overly theatrical and made me lol, it just looked really tryhard on that much smaller stage with that kind of bright lighting and that gloopy over-played song. Nice kids, not bad dancers, but it didn't work for me.

 

Jason looks really bored a lot of the time. He just has a very dead(pan) expression, he's probably a good poker player.

 

At some point this season, there'd better be some group routine to Cold Hearted Snake, like a remake of the music video with the contestants dancing and crawling over a big metal cage thing plzthnx.

Edited June 23, 2015 by pamplemousse

[shortpplfedup]

Allyson from Vegas had weak knees and lazy legs. It was all I could see. The arabesque penchee was lovely, but nothing that followed was anywhere near that level.

That hoofer was terrible, honestly. Tapping can be technically proficient but if it's not rhythmically sound it's garbage.

So 114 stage dancers and 105 street dancers to narrow down to 10 and 10 in Vegas. Insane. Looks like they've gotten the best of the choreographers for callbacks though...Joshua Bergasse is a get and no mistake. So stage dancers are going to go through contemporary, classical jazz and modern jazz, and street through smooth hip hop, club and pop/commercial? No crossover?

Unlike others here, I wouldn't mind if IS Latin ballroom in particular went away forever, so I don't mind it not being part of Vegas week, although the D'Umos may pull out something hybrid.

[MrsMoltisanti]

I am back to watch this season after taking a few seasons away from the show.  So far I'm enjoying some changes.  I don't mind Paula so much but I suppose time will tell. 

The over the top Eastern European ballroom solo guy had legs til Tuesday, didn't he??  I have to wonder why he didn't bring a partner though?  If anything, he may bring some real character to the show. 

I felt really bad watching the breaker ballet fellow lose his composure and run quickly out the door and down the snowy street with only his little ballet shoes on. 

[Primetimer]

Our final audition stop in the Stage versus Street blood war is snowy NYC, where the lines between stage and street blur ever further, the children are our dancing future, and Paula Abdul's pop-star past returns to delight her.

Read the story

[Morgan of Hed]

I was just disappointed that the breaker ballet guy only gave us bad ballet.  I was hoping for some bad breaking also.

[ari333]

Well, damn the camera and/or edit monkeys. When Kenya was doing multi turns, they cut away to Jason's face. When Connor and Kenya were doing multi turns, they cut away to Jason's face. It makes me stabby! I want to see them come out of the turns; damn. GAH.

I hate the joke auditions. Can they just stop already? Lookin at Mr. Hollywood there. I kind of felt bad for him since he was clearly there for mockery.

I, too, was waiting for Nigel to ask that one Vegas girl if she dances in a topless revue. . [/perv]

Tapper who chose the worst music ever and didn't know the time siggy got lucky because he almost talked and smirked his way out of the whole thing.

I liked ballroom-Ryan-with-no-partner. He has some hip movements. And was that Tom Jones singing "Sex Bomb?" Agreed Ryan has a James Dean/Richard Gere-esque look.

And for the love of God, NO MORE SOB STORIES> ThxsK

PS I do not get animation. at. all.

Edited June 23, 2015 by ari333

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I swear the breaker ballet guy, Ian is a reality tv troll we've seen before. Maybe on Idol or an earlier season of SYTYCD. He seemed very familiar.

I'm rooting for Eliazer, partly cause I get the sense his back story is authentic (like Vegas may be his first ever trip on a plane authentic). That being said, his audition was one where I'm not sure the music mattered. He could done the same routine sans music or to a heavy metal track and you probably couldn't have told the difference. I hope I'm proved wrong in Vegas but I think having musicality in the other street styles is going to be a huge challenge for him.

[ari333]

I loved everything about Darius.... and his Paula crush too.

[Skyler Durden]

I thought Virgil was wonderful; the Bronx B-Boy was also a highlight for me. My DVR crapped out with 20 minutes left, so I never got to see the one chick I was waiting for:

She was featured in one of the "coming -up" montages, but I don't know if they ever actually showed her. She did a sideways cartwheel thingy and it looked like she landed on one foot while "catching" the other foot in her hand? Did anyone see this? Did I hallucinate that?

[pamplemousse]

I think that might have been Alyssa, the last dancer.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Skyler Durden, that was Alyssa Guerreri (spelling?).

 

She closed out the episode. In the immortal words of Mary she is "so...So You Think You Can Dance." She reminded me a little of Mackenzie Dustman from a few season back. I'd put her right up there w/ Brooke Fong as my two favorite female hopefuls for Team Stage. She also had a cute grandma who Nigel inevitably attempted to hit on after she got a ticket.

Edited June 23, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[ari333]

Run, Grandma. Run like the wind!

[scowl]

I was just disappointed that the breaker ballet guy only gave us bad ballet.  I was hoping for some bad breaking also.

 

After his audition, I thought I heard Leonard Pinth-Garnell saying, "Well, thaaat wasn't so good, was it?"

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The number of times the camera pans on Jason's "reaction" face and he looks so fake that I think they're showing us re-takes.

I am beginning to think that is one of his only facial expressions. Now I kind of want to rewatch just so I can take note of the details in the background to see if the editing monkeys are replaying the same clip over and over.

Well, damn the camera and/or edit monkeys. When Kenya was doing multi turns, they cut away to Jason's face. When Connor and Kenya were doing multi turns, they cut away to Jason's face. It makes me stabby! I want to see them come out of the turns; damn. GAH.

I have always hated the camera work on this show but the editing just makes it worse. ITA that I want to see the dancers come out of their turns. But in general, I just don't need to see the judges making faces. I will get their reactions when they start talking, so let me see more dancing!

At some point this season, there'd better be some group routine to Cold Hearted Snake, like a remake of the music video with the contestants dancing and crawling over a big metal cage thing plzthnx.

From your eyes to Nigel's and/or Paula's ears. Please make this happen, show!! The turn sequence in that video was one of my favorite things as a kid!

[Mertseger]

Nigel reminds me of that pervy Uncle or cousin we all have in our family that says inappropriate things and leery too much, it's so creepy!

 

We used to call Nigel and Mary "Uncle Pervy and Auntie Scream". I wish I could name-check the person who came up with that, but with the TWoP forums no longer available, it's harder to check (and I don't want to delve into the Internet Wayback Machine).

 

Jason is still struggling to find his feet as a judge, but he matched my thought with Cookie and Angel: I'd go to their show.

[dcalley]

"Who calls you Mr. Wonderful?"
"My mom's friend."

Oh dear.

 

I also wanted to see more of the Bronx b-boy.

[ari333]

"Who calls you Mr. Wonderful?"

"My mom's friend."

Oh dear..

 

Oh dear, indeed. :)

 

I also could have done without the montage of train wrecks.

 

And the dreaded ballet breaker looked familiar to me too.

 

Agreed enough already with the Jason reaction shot/s.

[luvthepros]

Virgil is a case in point why the "street" vs. "stage" distinction is so contrived. He's a hip-hopper, but he was also on Broadway. It doesn't get more "stage" than Broadway......

 

The clips that were shown of Virgil in the Broadway show, "After Midnight" gave me the impression Virgil performed street type dancing in the show.....Hip Hop and breaking, his specialty. I honestly don't think Virgil danced any Broadway Jazz during his time in that show but I'm not 100% sure about that. It is just my gut feeling. Wish I had seen the show as it looked great from the clips I've seen.

[innocuouspuff]

Who sang that cover of "Take Me to Church" that Alyssa danced to at the end?

To save anyone else getting sucked down the Soundcloud/YouTube rabbit hole listening to Hozier covers for half an hour, I'm finally delurking lol. Think the answer is gonna be Sofia Karlberg, her version (and many others!) can be found on both those sites.

That tapper, or excuse me hoofer, had obvs never even considered the time signature of his piece. He just guessed the most common one. So horrified, a middle schooler taking piano lessons could probably have answered that one.

Everyone else not included for pointing and laughing was at least enjoyable. Paula's biggest fans made me grin. They were so excited! I may have watched their video reenactment more than once. *shuffles off, singing Cold-Hearted Snake*

[pamplemousse]

From your eyes to Nigel's and/or Paula's ears. Please make this happen, show!! The turn sequence in that video was one of my favorite things as a kid!

Mine too! I was actually pretty obsessed with that whole music video as a kid, it seemed quite racy to me at the time but I absolutely loved the dancing and choreo.

 

Paula was a judge on SYTYCD Australia last year (season 4) and during the grand finale episode, the top 20 did an group dance that was an homage to her greatest hits. They did Cold Hearted Snake complete with metal cage, but it was only like a minute in a group dance that covered several of her songs/music videos. Also, there wasn't enough leather and fetish gear lol. I'd like SYTYCD US to do an edgier NYC leather and chains version of the dance. Kind of what Mia was going for with her fetish ball group dance Move To The Ocean in season 10, which was one of the better Mia pieces imo although the camera work and editing didn't do it justice.

 

Alyssa is very technically proficient, an objectively great dancer, and yes, "so So You Think You Can Dance." She reminds me of Clarice Ordaz except probably with even better technique. However, her and Brooke are both so SYTYCD and I think I'm kind of burnt out on that type of contemporary dancer. They have nearly irreproachable technique, but they don't often connect with me as a viewer. Maybe they're too polished or mannered, too trained, in their presentation? IDK what it is, but they just don't move me other than just sheer appreciation for how there's a crop that gets scarily more technically proficient and younger season by season. Many of these young dancers can do the most amazing things, technique-wise, the studios churn them out and teach them stuff that boggle my mind and my eyes, but I think they lack artistry. They're like these amazing athletes, but many of them aren't artists, at least not yet, which is what I think makes dance so transportive and transformative.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I would love love love if they recreated Cold Hearted Snake as a group number this season!

 

I went back and rewatched the Paula fanboys doing the dance break and I noticed that Darius didn't do any of the double turns (he only did singles) but his friend did both double pirouettes. Because of that I rewatched Darius's audition piece and realized that he didn't do any double turns. They were all single turns (there was one that looked like a one and a half inside pirouette) so it will be very interesting if it turns out that this stage dancer can't do double pirouettes. I don't think it's the be-all, end-all but it does seem like a major lack of training if you can't do a double.

 

One of the contemporary girls in New York (I can't remember if it was Alyssa or the earlier girl) had some pretty leaden leaps. She had the flexibility and strength to get her legs fully split in a short amount of time but she looked like she was barely getting off the ground.

 

What I really hate during auditions is when they show a judge saying that they think a certain dancer will win but we don't get to see the actual audition or even learn the dancer's name. Come on, show.

 

Ugh, the breaker ballet guy. First of all, he should have switched the order in his "new" dance style and said he was a ballet breaker (because no one would ever say, "I'm a ballet"). But secondly, there was no breaking in this audition dance. He named all kinds of breaking styles he would include like tutting and locking but instead it looked like the mom/adult ballet dance at a studio recital (and actually, that's an insult to all the mom/adult ballet dances at studio recitals).

 

I agree that Conor and Kenya were not as good as the judges seemed to think they were. Their technique was not strong enough. As noted, the lack of pointed toes, the low fouettes, etc. were all glaring to me.

 

It annoys me that Nigel lets most of the contemporary dancers finish their routines but he regularly cuts off the hip hop/breakdancing/street dancers before their routines are over. Case in point: the very first guy in New York (Virgil?). I would have gladly watched his entire routine instead of some of the contemporary routines I sat through.

 

Strictly Ballroom Draco Malfoy

HA!

[LadyMustang65]

I am glad the auditions are over.  There were a few I liked in this group, including the ballroom guy, the tapper (yeah, I noticed the lack of musicality, but I thought he was very good at tapping and gave him a pass for nerves), and Paula's fan boy.  But I have found that I reached my limit about 2 weeks ago on contemporary dancers.  I just can't with them any more.  <sigh>  They all look alike to me, and their dances all look alike.  Two weeks ago my 2-year-old great niece had her first dance recital.  She was in the second dance, and then I spent another 3 hours watching other people's kids do exactly the same stuff they do here (I am nothing if not a great GreatAunt!).  Split jump . . . check.  Jump with leg bent up behind head . . . check.  Throw your arms out towards the audience while looking constipated . . . check.  Grab your chest or your stomach and look ill . . . check.  Throw yourself on the floor and roll around . . . check.  Every once in a while there's something a bit different thrown in - like the last girl who did that landing holding her leg, but it's just not enough to make me care.  I am so very bored by contemporary.  To be fair, animation has the same effect on me if they show too many too close together.  I think my favorites are definitely the b-boys and breakers.  They're just exciting and seem to have more variety to their 'sameness.' 

[Kat From Jersey]

On the other hand, the B boy from the Bronx was outstanding.

 

I've always been kind of 'meh' about street dancing, but I was blown away last night, especially by Eliazer.  What a talent!  I don't usually get sucked in by everyone's stories, but what a hard life this kid has had.  Living in shelters for 10 years, and being able to get him and his dad out because of the money he earned dancing on the street (which he started doing to stay out of trouble).  I love this kid, and really hope he goes far.

 

So with that, and the samey-same dancing of the contemporary dancers we've seen, I'm officially on Team Street!

[realdancemom]

I still prefer the LA auditions the most out of the audition shows.  I remember liking most of those auditions except for the non-dancing dad girl.

 

This week, they had to show some joke auditions with Mr. Hollywood and the Ballet Breaker guy.  I didn't see any breaking and his ballet was really bad. 

 

From the stage side, I remember liking the last girl.  From the street side, I like the Bronx B-Boy and I agree that I wished his dance wasn't cut short.  I also liked Paula's fans doing Cold Hearted Snake.  However, I wasn't impressed with his audition.  He was a good mover but didn't have enough technique.

[dcalley]

I am a Gen X-er and was surprised that two 22-year-olds (23?) were such fans of Paula. It's great, just surprising.

[springbarb]

There's the Broadway tap and there's rhythm tap, but I don't think even rhythm tap is a "Street" dance.

[Misslindsey]

So with the new format any tap, ballroom, and ballet dancer that make it onto the stage (or the one tapper or street salsa dancers that auditioned for the street side) will never do any dances in they wheelhouse? The stage side are just going to do contemporary and jazz during the regular shows (I forgot what the street side is doing)? 

 

Have no spoilers come out about the top 20 yet?

[Pallida]

I love breaking. Eliazer demonstrated such strength and control.  I could watch him forever.  I realize not everybody likes the Stage vs. Street model, but I like it since we get to see styles that aren't "mainstream."  I hope PhD-Purgatory15 is correct that someone montaged has capoeira experience and that we get to see that come out!  I would nitpick a bit that hiphop = street through.  There is nothing street about NappyTabs (personal bias and disdain), and people have trained in hiphop in studios for at least 20 years.   

 

I swear the Kenya and Connor routine was pulled from SYTYCD routines.  I don't really watch anything else that showcases contemporary dance, and there were sequences that looked HIGHLY familiar. 

[needschocolate]

I swear the Kenya and Connor routine was pulled from SYTYCD routines.  I don't really watch anything else that showcases contemporary dance, and there were sequences that looked HIGHLY familiar. 

 

I felt like I had seen it on Dancing With the Stars.  My mind immediately went to Derek Hough and Kelli Pickler, but it could have been someone else.  I checked youtube and the only video of that song that came up (Mark Ballas and Candace Cameron) looked nothing like Kenya and Connor's routine - so it might have been a different, but similar song.  Or maybe it wasn't a DWTS dance at all, but it sure seemed familiar to me and DWTS is the only other dance show I have watched (and only did so for about 3 seasons).