Where Are They Now?: SYTYCD Alumni's Current Projects

[NextIteration]

Off the top of my head, Ricky was a member of that Ballet before he was on the show and Sabra was after her appearance on the show.  (Cedar Lake.)

[Cuatro1234]

 

- The person identified as Harry Shum Jr. didn't look like him at all

 

I think the article said that Harry Shum Jr took the video

[Joe Hoogah]

Ellenore Scott :   2009, Season 6

 

ELSCO Dance     ELSCO Films     ELSCO Production

http://www.elscodance.org

http://www.youtube.com/user/ELSCODanceFilms

http://www.twitter.com/ELSCODance

http://www.facebook.com/ELSCODance

 

ELSCO Dance @ELSCODance  ·  8m 7/12/2014

"We had an amazing industry Discussion in Union Sq. today with Evan Kasprzak (Newsies, SYTYCD) & Amelia Lowe (SYTYCD)"

Edited July 12, 2014 by Joe Hoogah

[Turkish]

Kupono and Sasha Mallory were dancing for Madonna for quite a while. Kupono now dances for Ricky Martin. Brandon Bryant was dancing in Britney's Vegas show last I checked up on him. Courtney Galliano is currently assisting Adam Shankman and Zack Woodlee with the choreography for Hair at the Hollywood Bowl. I have no idea if she will be in the show herself. Probably. Ade is always doing something. I love that he still super close with Melissa. Ivan of course still dances for Justin Timberlake. There are so many of these kids that it's hard to keep track but most of them stay pretty employed. 

[dusang]

Jaymz from Season 2 has been dancing with Cher, both in Vegas and during her recent tour.

 

Allison and Twitch got married at Nigel's estate.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/allison-holker-and-twitchs-wedding-sytycd

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/12/11/allison-holker-twitch-boss-wedding-married/

 

Dayum -- that's a big bridal party!!  That would be an incredibly intimidating dancefloor for a non-professional but I would have LOVED the show!!

[dcalley]

Sara VonGillern (S3) teaches and performs with a few groups.

 

I think this is kind of mesmerizing, but I suppose watching it might make some people dizzy. She's in red.

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

I think Paul Karmiryan is currently part of the troupe in Derek and Julianne Hough's Move tour.

[Joe Hoogah]

Ellenore Scott :   2009, Season 6

 

ELSCO Productions presents the "Breaking Glass Project"

 

August 5th -Breaking Glass LA, 2014
Electric Lodge, Los Angeles, CA

 

August 9th - Breaking Glass NY, 2014
Ailey Citigroup Theater, NYC

 

http://www.breakingglassproject.org

http://www.youtube.com/BreakingGlassProject

http://www.twitter.com/BreakingGlassNY

www.facebook.com/BreakingGlassProjectELSCO

Edited July 23, 2014 by Joe Hoogah

[susannot]

I loathed Melanie and still do.  I cannot understand her win.  I found her to be a totally unconvincing dancer.

Agree. Loved Sasha. Anyone know what she is doing?

[truthaboutluv]

I know she danced on Madonna's MDNA tour but don't know anything recent. 

[ThirteenthJuror]

Sasha immediately became one of Madonna's tour dancers after the show with Kupono and other notables. She then did a few awards shows. She did some choreography thing with Tiffany for a China dance show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI_hYMukGv8

She also became part of a dance company with several Sytycd alumnus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTXY_CRLwZs

 

ETA: She's also been assisting Sonya Tayeh this season with her routines

Edited July 24, 2014 by ThirteenthJuror

[Anothermi]

She also became part of a dance company with several Sytycd alumnus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTXY_CRLwZs

 

Thanks for the link, Thirteenthjuror.   There seems to be quite a few Season 4 alumni in that group: Rock the House Dance Convention.

 

Season IV members:

Comfort Fedoke

Chelsie Hightower

Will B. Winfield (under "The MΣTA'FIZIKAL" & listed as "Creative and Artistic Designers")

 

Sasha seems to be the only non-Season IV member. 

 

Further there are a lot of SYTYCD connections among almost all of the other Faculty (bio for everyone found here):

 

Jeff Lapes - listed as chief founder - learned from and was mentored by Dan Karaty

Chaz Buzan - assisted Mia Michaels & Brian Friedman at PULSE conventions

Talia Favia - worked as an assistant choreographer on SYTYCD and trained with Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels and Wade Robson

Noel Bajandas - listed as an original faculty member - "choreographed alongside legendary choreographers like Mia Michaels, Jamal Sims, Toni Basil ..."

Taja Riley - (Denise Wall trained)  many SYTYCD fans hoped she would audition for STYTCD back when.  She was involved as Mia's assistant for the Emmy winning"Addiction" piece and hasn't suffered from lack of work despite never being a contestant. 

Zakk Manzella - his SYTYCD connection is tangential in that he choreographed for/danced with Wayne Brady.

 

So, of the 11 Faculty bios, only Dha'Sean Serrano has no mentioned SYTYCD related connection. 

 

I'm glad to see alums involved in different projects.  I wonder how all this works (I'm not involved in dance related things at all, just an appreciate-er)?  It seems to me dancers have to constantly be on the look-out for new projects or, as Ellenore does, create their own.  It exhausts me thinking about it. 

 

[ThirteenthJuror]

 

I'm glad to see alums involved in different projects.  I wonder how all this works (I'm not involved in dance related things at all, just an appreciate-er)?  It seems to me dancers have to constantly be on the look-out for new projects or, as Ellenore does, create their own.  It exhausts me thinking about it.

The career of a working dancer can be pretty short due to demands on the body, so if you can as much work as possible in your prime it's best. They also mostly move onto a career of choreography and artistic areas eventually. Ellenore and dancers like her making their companies young is smart. She can still work as a dancer on her own when she wants, but still has her company for security and fulfillment of her own creative endeavors. Doing teaching conventions and classes is also a good avenue when jobs are sparse.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Taja Riley - (Denise Wall trained)  many SYTYCD fans hoped she would audition for STYTCD back when.  She was involved as Mia's assistant for the Emmy winning"Addiction" piece and hasn't suffered from lack of work despite never being a contestant.

 

Taja was on Travis's reality show when he was putting Shaping Sound together, and she came across as a real diva who would be hell to try to work with.

[Psychobunny]

What is Kent up to now? 

I also just got a chance to see Benji's podcast on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/350-352-dance-champion-benji-schwimmer/) and I have to say I found it fascinating.  I basically watched the entire 5 hours.  The part where he discusses dealing with being gay and Mormon was riveting.  He also was quite realistic about how he got so far on the program and the fact that he wasn't the best dancer by far.  The behind-the-scenes stuff on the show is also interesting.  The only thing that made me roll my eyes was when he kept saying how he wasn't stereotypically effeminate.  I just wanted to tell him "Honey, you could fry an egg on the flames you put out during that show!  Even I, with my extremely poor gaydar, knew."

[dusang]

The only thing that made me roll my eyes was when he kept saying how he wasn't stereotypically effeminate.  I just wanted to tell him "Honey, you could fry an egg on the flames you put out during that show!  Even I, with my extremely poor gaydar, knew."

 

He was pretty obviously closeted and in heavy denial but I wouldn't call him "stereotypically effeminate" or "flaming."  My gaydar picked him up on a totally different frequency.

[Joe Hoogah]

Ellenore Scott:  2009, Season 6

 

http://www.ellenorescott.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/ellenorescottchoreo

http://www.twitter.com/Ellenore

http://www.facebook.com/EllenorePScott

 

Edited July 26, 2014 by Joe Hoogah

[Rick Kitchen]

What is Kent up to now? 

 

 

He was in several episodes of "Bunheads" and was in the two Disney movies Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach Movie 2.

 

Here's a clip from "Bunheads"

 

[crowceilidh]

Wow.  Kent is a terrible actor served by terrible writers.

[Anothermi]

Although I didn't see them in the audience, it looks like Will Wingfield and his partner, Monique Borromeo, were at this past show. They were interviewed by Dance Plug (of the annoying intro which also exposes their Ricky bias as he shown 3 different times).

 

Will has been continuing his IV Real projects and explains them.  He also reveals that they have gone to film school in order to better portray Dance on film.  So that explains the moniker "The MΣTA'FIZIKAL" &  "Creative and Artistic Designers" title mentioned in my post up thread. 

 

 

He's so gorgeous! 

[RachelKM]

K, so I just stumbled on to Austin & Ally on the Disney Channel.  They were performing a song with backup dancers. The dancers were Cyrus, Phillip Chbeeb, Jyay (aka Yaya), and I think Comfort,

[preex]

Off the top of my head, Ricky was a member of that Ballet before he was on the show and Sabra was after her appearance on the show.  (Cedar Lake.)

Really?  I kind of doubt that since he just graduated high school.  Maybe a summer intensive?

 

Nigel made a point to mention that Desmond Richardson's one of Ricky's teachers, but in an after show interview Ricky clarified that it was a two week thing related to an award that he received.

[dcalley]

@preex I assumed since @NextIteration was talking about Sabra (S3), the Ricky mentioned was the one from that season.

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

I saw Alan Bersten performing as part of the troupe of Ballroom with a Twist this past weekend. He stood out from the crowd, giving 110% (I got the impression that some of the other troupe members were simply going through the motions).

[Rick Kitchen]

Alison and tWitch recreating famous dance movie posters:

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/twitch-and-allison-movie-dance-scenes#

[1TrackMind]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-U2BaSMvjk  DTrix showed up on Youtubers React.

[Rick Kitchen]

D-Trix has two YouTube channels

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/theDOMINICshow

 

and

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/RANDOMinicSHOW

 

He also appears in a lot of Chester See's videos.  For example,

 

Edited August 8, 2014 by Rick Kitchen

[Whimsy]

My daughter and I went to see Step Up All In last night. The acting is terrible, but we loved seeing the dancers. My daughter is a HUGE I.aM.mE fan (me too, but not as big as her). We loved seeing most of that crew- who are now SYTYCD alum too- Phillip Chbeeb, Emilio and Jaja - and their signature choreography throughout. I was especially excited about Jaja. Still bitter about her cut. Other alum I noticed in the movie are Twitch (obviously), Comfort, Cyrus, Tony, Chris Scott. Ummm... That may be it. These movies have weird effects on me- I forget almost everything about them as soon as I'm done watching them. We're thinking of doing a marathon of all the movies so I can remember who everyone is.

[dusang]

It still cracks me up to think that Step Up started with Channing Tatum. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the current stars move on to Magic Mike...sorry, was that crass?

[pally]

Allison will be doing Dancing With the Stars. Interesting choice.  She's a great dancer but ballroom isn't exactly her wheelhouse.   Artem will move up from the troupe and Witney will also be a star. 

Edited August 13, 2014 by pally

[Giggly]

If memory serves, Allison did an interview at some point stating that being introduced to Ballroom through SYTYCD was a revelation to her and she started taking lessons and working with Dimitry and Heidi (I think).

[chocolatine]

She also did some dances with Derek Hough on DWTS results shows. They were a mashup of ballroom and contemporary. She looked great dancing (as usual) but I don't know that she has enough expertise to choreograph ballroom, especially for someone with limited experience/ability. The other pros have been doing ballroom full time for decades.

Edited August 13, 2014 by chocolatine

[GinevradiBenci]

Evan Kasprzak moving on to another musical: http://playbill.com/news/article/194476-Complete-Cast-and-Creative-Team-Announced-for-Paper-Mills-Broadway-Bound-Can-Can-Starring-Kate-Baldwin-and-Jason-Danieley

[preex]

She looked great dancing (as usual) but I don't know that she has enough expertise to choreograph ballroom, especially for someone with limited experience/ability. The other pros have been doing ballroom full time for decades.

 

Dancing with the Stars has jazz and contemporary as styles now so why not bring in dancers with different backgrounds.  SYTYCD/Nigel has been setting Allison up like some ultimate all star contemporary dancer in the past few years but I always thought, ever since season 2, that she is one of the most versatile dancers on the show.  She doesn't have the best technique or flexibility, but she has great control of her body and the ability to take on the persona/feel of other styles.  

 

I know she did a tango on DWTS and performed with Ballroom with a Twist.  Season 2 was in 2006, it's possible that she picked up another dance style since then.

[comosedice]

Preex, it doesn't matter that DWTS has added a bit of contemporary and jazz, it is a Ballroom show. The fact that Allison has danced Tango before doesn't mean she knows how to choreograph it properly or instruct a complete novice on the rules or how to hold one's body during a particular dance. This is strangest decision I've ever seen made on the show and I find it quite disrespectful to the true Ballroom experts. The producers are essentially saying anyone can do what they do.

[spanana]

 

Preex, it doesn't matter that DWTS has added a bit of contemporary and jazz, it is a Ballroom show. The fact that Allison has danced Tango before doesn't mean she knows how to choreograph it properly or instruct a complete novice on the rules or how to hold one's body during a particular dance. This is strangest decision I've ever seen made on the show and I find it quite disrespectful to the true Ballroom experts. The producers are essentially saying anyone can do what they do.

Whle I agree with you in theory that I wish DWTS would stick to ballroom pros (as much as I love Allison) it isn't the first time.  They tried it a few seasons ago when they brought in Tyne Stecklein, who was basically awful at all things ballroom and couldn't keep up.  Then again they stuck her with Bill Nye who couldn't dance anyway so it didn't much matter.  Fans were livid then.  She hasn't been seen since.  Allison is at last a bit more beloved in general so people aren't as up in arms.  I think Allison will be better than Tyne, but still.  You can't expect people with minimal ballroom training to effectively be able to teach beginner ballroom dancers the same way people who have trained at it their entire lives.  Even if contemporary and jazz are now a part of the show, she still has to be able to teach watlt, foxtrot, quickstep, tango, samba and etc.

[Alison]

I noticed the inimitable dancing of Phillip Chbeeb in Taylor Swift's new music video but haven't been able to discern if there are any other SYTYCD alums among the other dancers.

[Haleth]

I only saw a clip but I could swear I saw Fikshun in the video too.

[Babalu]

Thanks for bringing this up, @Alison and @Haleth. I actually tried to Google this yesterday to see if I could find a list of the dancers but couldn't find anything. I, too, was pretty sure I saw Chbeeb and Fik-Shun. I kept looking for Eliana Girard among the ballerinas (I know she's danced with Taylor on tour) but couldn't find her.

[kechara]

I read somewhere that Allison has ballroom training, although she specialized in contemporary.  But I can't remember where.

[BoogieBurns]

Fik-Shun is definitely in the Taylor Swift video. Some of his family members are friends of mine and they were bragging all day, lol.

 

The other guy is surely Chbeeb. If someone else does his signature move that well, we would have known about it. 

[tvloserlife]

Fik Shun and Chbeeb were definitely in the video - I'd recognize their movements anywhere.  Also spotted season 5 Melissa as one of the ballerinas.  I'm not sure if I spotted Legacy also?  But I might have just willed him to be there.

[Electruck]

Yes, Legacy is in there, too, and I believe S8's Ricky Jaime. Glad to see all of them, especially Melissa.

[Turkish]

Watching Anya dance again this week and hearing that DWTS is bringing on Allison(whom I love) kind of makes me sad because Anya is perfect for that show. She has only gotten better with age and I'm surprised DWTS has never shown an interest in her considering they have poached from this show quite a bit when it comes to hiring SYTYCD alum. 

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

 

I noticed the inimitable dancing of Phillip Chbeeb in Taylor Swift's new music video but haven't been able to discern if there are any other SYTYCD alums among the other dancers.

I saw Phillip (who was always one of my faves) and googled it and it's true!

[Nonlinear]

I am so happy to hear so many of the SYTYCD dancers are doing really well and successful in the industry.

[dcalley]

Watching Anya dance again this week and hearing that DWTS is bringing on Allison(whom I love) kind of makes me sad because Anya is perfect for that show. She has only gotten better with age and I'm surprised DWTS has never shown an interest in her considering they have poached from this show quite a bit when it comes to hiring SYTYCD alum. 

I know, I wish she were on DWTS, too (except I think that show kind of sucks, but it would suck way less with her on it!). She was on Strictly as a pro and has been on DWTS a few times for the non-competition dances, so they know who she is. Maybe she turned down an offer to be in the troupe and that pissed them off?

[Megger]

Phillip cheeb killing it in ed sheeran's new video for "Don't."

[SpectreH]

I don't think I've seen this posted anywhere so I'll put it here.  I guess Twitch has been on the Ellen show for a bit and we all know that she is a huge fan of the show, so he put on a show for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKgjfNEHu4

 

I was able to identify all of the dancers...are you?  I'll spoiler it for fun and you can play along. Edit: Not sure why it's showing up as a link instead of an embedded video.

 

Twitch
Allison
Jasmine
Lauren
Courtney
Marko
Fikshun
Robert

Edited August 24, 2014 by SpectreH

[Anothermi]

I don't think I've seen this posted anywhere so I'll put it here.  I guess Twitch has been on the Ellen show for a bit and we all know that she is a huge fan of the show, so he put on a show for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKgjfNEHu4

 

I was able to identify all of the dancers...are you?  I'll spoiler it for fun and you can play along. Edit: Not sure why it's showing up as a link instead of an embedded video.

 

Twitch

Allison

Jasmine

Lauren

Courtney

Marko

Fikshun

Robert

 

Yup.  I got them all too.  Had to think a bit for a couple of them, but that's 'cuz they weren't that visible (mostly in the back). 

 

TIP: Don't link the URL, just copy and paste.  It will show up embedded. 

Edited August 24, 2014 by Anothermi