S14.E04: New York Auditions #2

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

New York auditions continue, with dancers competing to move on to "The Academy" callback rounds.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Drogo
Locking until air date.

[crowceilidh]

Zachary Downer does not have the right face for television.  Nigel is just blithering on about how self-controlled he looked, but I kept seeing him fall out of things.  He's a stunning dancer, but I can't see an AllStar picking him.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Lex Ishimoto was awesome with a capital A. So much power and fluidity.

Arielle something rather should've had to do choreo. If there was ever a paint-by-numbers, not one thing wow worthy or remotely interesting contempo routine....this was it.

Really wished we could've seen the three returning hip hop guys do their entire routines. Especially Jason Kidd who I saw in the online academy youtube video and was excited to see again. Same with the guy who really emphasizes the tutting aspects of hip hop in his audition.

The ballroom dancers ( Magda & Kiki) were fire. I'm really curious if an entire couple will be advanced to the live shows (them, or Kristina/Vasily or Tristan/Jensen)...or if they will cherry pick.

Really glad that they advanced the fusion Indian/Contemporary dancer to the Academy but if she has any chance to stick around I think she needs to show of the classical, Indian dance side of herself even more than she did tonight. Was really surprised they advanced the sob story last chance guy....he seemed to be struggling (even with the group of people he did the choreo with) too much to get a pass.

[crowceilidh]

The last guy (Alex Ishimoto?) was lovely.  He reminded me strangely of Dakota House (Canadian tv star) from way back).

ETA:  Also surprised by the advancement of 29 year old.  I can't imagine him making it through.

I liked the Allstars upcoming scenes.

Edited July 11, 2017 by crowceilidh

[crowceilidh]

Remember Denys going at them for not supporting ballroom?

[PhD-Purgatory15]

That was definitely one of the fatal flaws of the Street v. Stage gimmic two seasons ago...

[crowceilidh]

It's just interesting in light of how many ballroom dancers just went through to Academy (I HATE that coinage and yet I always hated the big fuss about Vegas too - they can't please me.)

[mojoween]

Magda is SUPER annoying and I can't see that I would ever be able to root for her.  When Nigel asked where Kiki was from why did she think that SHE would need to answer?

[hula-la]

1 hour ago, crowceilidh said:

Zachary Downer does not have the right face for television.  Nigel is just blithering on about how self-controlled he looked, but I kept seeing him fall out of things.  He's a stunning dancer, but I can't see an AllStar picking him.

My issue with Zachary's audition is that it didn't seem to go with the music. I don't know if the music that we heard on the show is the same one that he used in his audition ( I remember a discussion about that years ago on TWoP), but something seemed off. He's a gorgeous technician, though.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Forgive me if this is out in the open and I've just missed it, but I'm also trying not to get completely spoiled either.

But what is the ultimate end game of the Academy? Will we end up with 10 All Star Dancers each choosing one finalist (so no Top 20, but just a Top 10) to go through the rest of the competition with? I thought I counted on the Fox website that there were 16 All Stars listed....so I don't quite know how that plays into it...

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Some of this week's auditions under the cut:

Arielle Disciascio

 

Magda & Kiki

Romainson Romain

Ramita Ravi

 

Peter Mangione

 

Lex Ishimoto

 

Claire Rathbun

 

Zachary Downer

 

[SnarkyTart]

It's hard to remember the last time I enjoyed an audition as much as I did Lex Ishimoto's, but it's been many seasons ago.  I'm very excited to see what he brings to the show.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I really enjoyed his audition too. He is so light and effortless whenever he leaves the floor and he has great control. I'm looking forward to seeing him the rest of the season!

Arielle had clean technique but she is the kind of contemporary dancer who's a dime a dozen. She didn't show me anything that indicated she deserves to be here any more than the many other studio trained competition contemporary dancers. Nothing made her stand out.

I wasn't crazy about Magda or Kiki. They weren't bad though.

Ramita seems like she was cross trained so she was smart to do a fusion dance to stand out. I'll be interested to see if her technique is strong enough to get her through the academy. I feel like Nigel only wants her for the Exotic/I'm Not Racist/See? We Have Diversity slot though.

As much as I love seeing ballet girls on this show, Claire didn't seem really outstanding. She was solid but forgettable. Her wrists/arms were driving me crazy, especially during her piqué turns. Maybe it's because she was in Cats (with Jakob Karr and Ricky Ubeda!)?

According to this article, Claire and Zachary Downer both danced in The Nutcracker at Syracuse City Ballet (founded by her mother) last December.

[crowceilidh]

9 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

But what is the ultimate end game of the Academy? Will we end up with 10 All Star Dancers each choosing one finalist (so no Top 20, but just a Top 10) to go through the rest of the competition with? I thought I counted on the Fox website that there were 16 All Stars listed....so I don't quite know how that plays into it...

That is my understanding.  Top ten picked by Allstar/Mentor just like the kids' version.

[realdancemom]

I really enjoyed this episode.  Love Lex and I liked the ballroom couple.    The ballet pointe girl was good too.  I really didn't like the contemporary girl's routine but she had really pretty feet.  So she's probably good.  If she didn't have to go to choreography, then I didn't think Ramita should either.  I could tell the latter was cross-trained just like I could tell the contemporary girl could probably do more if somebody else choreographed for her.  Maybe, they let Romainson go to the academy because it's his last year and he needs some joy in his life.  I don't think he'll make it but it would be a good experience for him.   He didn't do much in his audition.  It seemed like he was combining hip-hop with a sad lyrical.  But since he isn't really trained, he was just mostly moving around in a sad manner.  He actually did better in the choreography round than I thought he would.

[slaterain]

Arielle Disciascio - was not excited by her and was a bit annoyed that she went straight through to the academy. (I actually agreed with Nigel!!! was surprised as I thought he would send her through just based on her look.) She really should have done the choreo. I don't think she will make it far. 

Magda & Kiki - WOW was that obnoxious how much Magda over talked him! Although I did wonder if she answered the 'where are you from' to be funny but it fell flat and just made her look worse. I thought they were beautiful dancing. I have not always been a huge fan of ballroom on the show but mainly because it is so hard to fake it if that is not your specialty. Watching two trained dancers is way different which has made the auditions so good! I will say I watched her way more than him and had to force myself to watch him at times. Compared to the other recent auditions where I have actually watched the men more - so I think the academy will have a strong ballroom group to choose from.

Romainson Romain - his grief was so palpable that it almost hurt to watch. I was glad to see him make it through because I think he is one who will throw himself into it and try anything. His choreo wasn't perfect but he kept up and paid attention. I think Nigel sees him as the one who will learn and grow the most on the show so he would probably have a better shot of making it if it was the old setup with a top 20. 

Ramita Ravi - I was a bit surprised that they sent her to choreo just because they usually reward the unique auditions - and I kept thinking how much I want the Indian choreographer to work with her. I am glad that she made it through!

Peter Mangione - ugh - seriously why?! I don't care about these auditions - at least he was good-natured about it and didn't pull one of those "these judges don't know what is good" bit. seemed it was more of a dare.

Claire Rathbun - thought she was a beautiful technical dancer but she may fall into the rut of not being able to fully emote/connect with the other styles. 

Zachary Downer - My first thought is that Alvin Ailey will want him. (again I agreed with Nigel - wow!) I thought it was a strong audition and am interested to see how it goes with him.

Lex Ishimoto - I had to rewatch his. So intriguing and if he is able to improv that well with the music.... my thought mid way through as he showed so many hints of styles/training was that he is going to win this whole thing. Damn!!! He seems nice and and entertaining and mesmerizing. I think he will connect well with the audience. I will be shocked if he doesn't make top 10 - and I think some all stars might fight over him.

Edited July 11, 2017 by slaterain

[Terrafamilia]

Zachary Downer - My enjoyment was disturbed by continually thinking his back appeared hyperextended even when he was standing still. Likely wasn't but that's what my mind kept telling me.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

At the very end of the episode, Cat said that exactly 100 dancers earned tickets to the Academy. This is the final, total breakdown of who were shown giving mostly full auditions (or full auditions with an accompanying package). Those in Italics came from this last audition episode.

Ballet (1)

-Claire Rathbun

Ballroom (7)

-Ana Sanchez; Jensen Arnold & Tristan Sosa; Kristina Androsenko & Vasily Anokhin; Magda Fialek & Kiki Nyemchek

Contemporary (7)

-Arielle Disciascio; Darius Hickman; Kaylee Millis; Koine Iwasaki; Mathew Deloch; Ryan Bailey; & Zachary Downer

Hip Hop (11)

-Anastasiia & Viktoriia Petrik; Dustin Payne; Huwer "Havoc" Marche; Inyoung "Dassy" Lee; Joseph "Klassic" Carella; Lex Ishimoto; Matthew Villaver; Robert Green; Romainson Romain & Sade Austin 

Indian Fusion (1)

-Ramita Ravi

Jazz (1)

-Alexis Gilbert

Tap (1)

-Chaz Wolcott

 

So we saw mostly full to full auditions from 29 out of the 100 ticket winners. We also probably saw glimpses of another 15-20 dancers get tickets in montage form.  Until last night I would've said those skewed heavily contemporary/lyrical. But last night we saw bits and pieces of four to five more ballroom dancers and three more hip hop dancers get tickets too.

Edited July 12, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[WhineandCheez]

Zacharey Downer said that this time when he came back he would be dancing very male and aggressively (paraphrase).  When he was on the show before, was he one of those that Nigel likes to dig about dancing "too gay"?  Cause he loves those digs.  This wasn't the Ribbon Guy was it??

Lex Ishimoto is sooooo winning this.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

For those staying unspoiled (like me!), trying to game out who the 10 All Stars will choose at the end of the Academy is always a fun exercise. SYTYCD history makes me think we've seen at least 7 of the Top 10 (possibly 8) give their full auditions already.

I'm also curious whether every All Star will pick someone from the opposite gender. Perhaps they will be forced to. I feel like Fikshun or Cyrus might be tempted to pick another male hip hop dancer to absolute crush some partnered hip hop routines moving forward. I'm also curious about what kind of bidding war Lex Ishimoto might start. He's so incredibly versatile and cross-trained that I could see just about every female All Star (not just Comfort) wanting to pair up with him.

Here are my unspoiled guesses based purely on who we've seen so far:

Allison Holker & ? (Will she go DWTS on us and pick a ballroom guy like Tristan Sosa? She's hard to figure. I could also see her and Lex Ishimoto as a pair for some reason)

Comfort & Dustin Payne  (he feels like the best fit for her)

Gaby & Chaz Wolcott (Tappers unite!)

Jasmine & Mathew DeLoch (They'd be a stunning looking and dancing pair)

Jenna & Vasily Anokhin (Maybe this is a spot for a male ballroom dancer we haven't seen yet. but of the one's we've seen I think Vasily is the best)

 

Cyrus & ? (We've only seen one female hip hopper other than Sade Austin who I can't believe they'd advance to the top ten)

Fikshun & Inyoung "Dassy" Lee (They'd be team fun and sassy)

Marko & Claire Rathbun or Ramita Ravi (yeah, probably wishful thinking here)

Paul & Jensen Arnold (I feel like SYTYCD nepotism will come into play here lol)

Robert & Kaylee Millis (I feel like they are going to cast at least one weird/quirky/Sonya Tayeh's muse type dancer. I hope it's someone we haven't seen yet though)

**Feel free to play along ;-)

[Morgan of Hed]

After seeing Ishimoto talk about his sister, I wanted to see her dance too. What a gorgeous pair of humans.  Ganbare, Ishimoto!

[Canada]

It never ceases to amaze me, the racism on this show.  You're a cute white blonde-haired contemporary dancer who winks at Nigel?  You're through.  Ballroom girl who shakes her ass for Nigel?  Yep, you're through too.  Oh, cross-trained talented East Indian girl who doesn't flirt with anyone.  Sorry, you have to go to choreography.

[SnarkyTart]

4 hours ago, Canada said:

It never ceases to amaze me, the racism on this show. 

I'm not sure it's actually racism as much as it is Nigel being a major perv.  If East Indian girl came out in a scanty costume, winked at and flirted with Nigel, and did at least one HMV move, she would have been sent straight to the academy.  That's my guess. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I agree with SnarkyTart pretty much. In defense of the show (not necessarily Nigel though) this wasn't a typical SYTYCD year in terms of what we got to see of dancers getting sent to the choreography rounds after their auditions were shown. We only saw five. Blessing (the Step Dancer), and two bone-breaker guys in LA (all who failed to get through the choreo), and Romainson Romain and Ramita Ravi in NY who did get through. I thought Romainson was an extremely soft yes (possibly last chance related) as he seemed to be really struggling in the choreo practice.

In a more typical season, I think Ramita's limitations as a contemporary dancer would've justified a trip to choreo. But because of how rare choreo trips were for the auditioners that we saw this season it does kind of stick out like a sore thumb.

Also, over the course of all the seasons, most of your Cultural dancers (I'm thinking of a big guy who did something similar to a Haka dance, the Irish Step Dancer, the Chinese dancer who danced with bowls on her head, etc.) have all pretty much had to get through choreography to get a ticket to Vegas or the Academy...