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

[Anothermi]

Thanks soooo much for bringing that here, @Rick Kitchen.  It was so great to see even a teensy bit of Jess LeProto and also Ricky and Melanie. Wow, she has lost - can we call that baby fat? - since she was on SYTYCD!  That whole process looked FUN.  And they got to work with Trevor Nunn!! <see what I did there?>

Edited July 22, 2016 by Anothermi
brought link to this page

[Miss Dee]

Oh my, that routine to the X-Ambassadors was just beautiful! I was a Kent Boyd fangirl in his season, and I thought he was sublime in this one.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats just (re)opened on Broadway and both Ricky Ubeda and Jess LeProtto are getting good reviews.

Washington Post

Hollywood Reporter

New York Times

Variety

Dance Magazine

Cats cast on GMA:

Edited August 6, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Babalu]

Mark Kanemura won a Po'okela Award (Hawai'i's version of the Tony, sort of - there are no nominees and several winners in each category) last night for choreographing Mamma Mia! at the Diamond Head Theatre. I was lucky to see the production a couple of days ago, and it's wonderful (and I've never been a fan of Abba). The director, 3 of the actresses, and the product in as a whole also won - very well deserved!

You have to scroll down to see his name - he's listed under the Guest Artist - Non-Resident category.

[crowceilidh]

Is that Comfort in the Old Navy jeans ad?  She'd have to be in the LA Roller Girls, but as I can't find a membership list for them.... 

At the 27 second mark:  

Edited August 19, 2016 by crowceilidh

[NextIteration]

I don't know, but I just watched Comfort in the movie High Strung.

[Mason]

Benji is rockin' it contemporary style in Elle Belle's Knock on the Light: http://tinyurl.com/gv4gwk4 I wouldn't have recognized him.  

[Anothermi]

Thanks for the link, Mason. You're right. I didn't recognize him at first - even though I expected to see him.

He's been weight training!

[Anothermi]

Mark Kanemura seems to be keeping busy giving dance workshops and creating multimedia pieces. As always - a bit left of center, but very Mark!

[pally]

Thayne Jasperson, as understudy, played King George III in last night's ( Nov 4) performance of Hamilton

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Robert and JT (mostly JT) danced during the Jennifer Nettles/Idina Menzel "Little Drummer Boy" duet on CMA's Christmas special:

[Silver Raven]

Did anybody else see Mark Kanemura dancing behind Gaga at the Super Bowl?  I thought he was supposed to be her head dancer, but he didn't do much.

[Babalu]

I'm pretty sure Mark didn't dance with Gaga at the Super Bowl, although there was a dancer who resembled him.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

A couple days late, but I did spot Hok as a dancer in the BeeGee's tribute medley on the Grammys.

[Mumbles]

Melanie Moore has seemingly found success on Broadway - Fiddler on the Roof last year, Hello Dolly this year. This flummoxes me as I loathe her dancing and if memory serves, her main talent was rolling around, squatting,  and waddling around the stage, and the few times the judges made her dance outside her expertise, she was mediocre, including Broadway routines.

It annoys me that far more talented dancers are stuck doing commercials or back-up dancing. The judges coddled her and gave her an excellent partner in Marco, top-notch All Stars, and the best choreographers. And she was so smug about it all. When she was an all-star, she hogged all the praise and  I made it about herself. Ugh.

[StrictTime]

To each his own.  Melanie was one of my favorites and I'm happy when *anyone* has succes as a dancer.  It is one of the toughest artistic fields to have as a career. They don't just GIVE people roles who aren't good at what they do--Broadway/theater doesn't work that way.  She must have a work ethic and talent that keeps her employable.  I'm happy for her and any alum of SYTYCD who earns a job!

[crossover]

14 hours ago, StrictTime said:

To each his own.  Melanie was one of my favorites and I'm happy when *anyone* has succes as a dancer.  It is one of the toughest artistic fields to have as a career. They don't just GIVE people roles who aren't good at what they do--Broadway/theater doesn't work that way.  She must have a work ethic and talent that keeps her employable.  I'm happy for her and any alum of SYTYCD who earns a job!

I know what you mean.  Melanie is my least favorite sytycd winner but I'm happy for her success.  She's not the first person to get roles/success over more talented people.  That's just the way it is.  I always thought she was a talented contemporary dancer.  Other genres; not so much.  The choreographers just masked her performances in the noncontemporary pieces.  And the judges just kept pushing her down our throats.  But, the sytycd winner should be able to succeed (not always excel) in all genres. 

[Mumbles]

I'm glad when dancers succeed too but dance roles are a limited commodity and when you give a role to Melanie, someone more talented and harder working doesn't get it. There are women who have spent their lives doing chorus jobs on Broadway, regional, and on tours and this reality show winner waddles in and gets a role without putting in those dues? Yeah I get that them's the breaks and this happens, but it just makes me especially mad that it's her because I found her so unlikeable as a person and her dancing, such as it was, so physically and unaesthetically unappealing 

Edited March 24, 2017 by Mumbles

[StrictTime]

You sound like you are body shaming her.  That's sad.  

[Mumbles]

I'm not shaming her because she's fat. I'm calling her out as less fast, less graceful, less light on her feet than other dances. Look at any photo of her from the show where she's standing next to another dancer. And her comparative  heaviness made her dancing not as appealing as dancers who were faster and more graceful.

ETA: she has an Instagram and it looks like she's slimmer now. But still smirky.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Mumbles

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Fik-shun is going to be competing on a new dance show called World of Dance (Jennifer Lopez, Derek Hough, and Ne-Yo are the judges). The show has three different divisions: junior, upper (which looks like it's adults), and teams. Fik-shun will be in the upper category, as will Keone and Mari, who choreographed for SYTYCD. Jabbawockeez and Super Cr3w from ABDC will be competing in the team category.

It looks like they didn't put any restrictions on what style of dance people could do so there are the usual suspects (hip hip, breakdancing, tap, ballroom, ballet, contemporary) as well as stuff we don't get to see as often aka the styles we usually see only during the audition rounds of SYTYCD (bellydancing, flamenco, Memphis jookin, clogging, Irish step dancing).

I requested a new forum for the show so we can discuss it when it starts on May 30. The prize is $1 million! In the mean time:

list of competitors

Edited May 15, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

We now have a World of Dance forum - come check it out so we can talk about Fik-shun and whoever else from SYTYCD pops us! The teams and duets do not have everyone's names listed so I have a feeling that we will be seeing some other SYTYCD alumni when the show airs.

[Keekski]

Seems pretty crazy that somebody who won SYTYCD can go onto another dance competition show. I know it happens all the time with talent shows - AI, The Voice, AGT but it just seems odd to me.

[Silver Raven]

Neil Haskell went on as King George III in Hamilton on Broadway tonight.

[allypenguin]

I recently came across videos of Jason from season 5 because of another dancer that I follow. He's become such an accomplished hip hop dancer. If anyone was curious, here's a video of him dancing with Paul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waPX5jSseso

He's also currently a dancer on Ariana Grande's tour. :( Hoping he's okay and my thoughts are with him and everyone affected.

Edited May 23, 2017 by allypenguin

[ElectricBoogaloo]

21 hours ago, Keekski said:

Seems pretty crazy that somebody who won SYTYCD can go onto another dance competition show. I know it happens all the time with talent shows - AI, The Voice, AGT but it just seems odd to me.

Per Jennifer Lopez (one of the producers), the point of World of Dance is not to discover new talent but to give the best dancers the opportunity to win $1 million. Fik-Shun isn't the only well-known dancer/winner competing on the show. Jabbawockeez and Super Cr3w both won their seasons of ABDC (and Jabbawockeez have had a residency in Las Vegas for several years). Les Twins are internationally famous and very successful as well. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

12 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Neil Haskell went on as King George III in Hamilton on Broadway tonight.

He joined the company as a swing right before the show tranferred to Broadway. He left briefly (to do Tuck Everlasting) but returned to Hamilton last summer as an ensemble member/Charles Lee. Exciting that he got to play King George (although I hope that Brian D'Arcy James is okay!).

[Babalu]

I think Thayne Jasperson (SYTYCD S4 and ensemble/Samuel Seabury in Hamilton) is also an understudy for King George III, but I'm not sure he's ever played the role.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, Babalu said:

I think Thayne Jasperson (SYTYCD S4 and ensemble/Samuel Seabury in Hamilton) is also an understudy for King George III, but I'm not sure he's ever played the role.

According to the internet, he performed King George the III on December 11, 2016 (he also played the role at least once before that but I couldn't find the date). He was also the understudy for Laurens/Phillip and he got to perform that role on June 24, 2016. He's been with the show since Lin-Manuel began workshopping it. He is the original Broadway Samuel Seabury so you can hear him on the soundtrack.

[pally]

On 5/27/2017 at 1:58 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

According to the internet, he performed King George the III on December 11, 2016 (he also played the role at least once before that but I couldn't find the date). He was also the understudy for Laurens/Phillip and he got to perform that role on June 24, 2016. He's been with the show since Lin-Manuel began workshopping it. He is the original Broadway Samuel Seabury so you can hear him on the soundtrack.

Nov 4 2016 was the first time

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Interview with Karla Garcia who competed as a contemporary dancer in S5 (and was also a member of Boogie Bots but did not compete with them when they were in ABDC). This is from a year ago when she became the first Filipina-American cast member of Hamilton.

On 5/31/2017 at 8:31 PM, pally said:

Nov 4 2016 was the first time

Haha I would have known that if I had just scrolled up to the top of this page!

[Anothermi]

Nick Young (S08) has formed an all male tap group. Loving his creativity...

 

OK, scratch "all male"...

Edited June 6, 2017 by Anothermi
correction and addition

[Mason]

Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina (as DNA) are competing on World of Dance. Since the Qualifiers end this coming Tuesday, I'm guessing  that's when we'll see them.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Travis Wall will be on next week's episode of Face Off on SyFy (S12.E5: String Theory) on Tuesday, July 18:
 

Quote

The artists bring the four seasons to life for a dance choreographed by Travis Wall.

[Sharpie66]

I didn't watch the kids season last year, but one of the contestants at the Academy level , Sage Rosen, is a co-star in the latest Superfruit video, "Worth It (Perfect)". (His dance partner is Kaycee Rice who was on Dance Moms and in the Sper Bowl halftime with Katy Perry and Missy Elliott.)

Edited July 15, 2017 by Sharpie66

[Electruck]

Stepper Blessin was one of three young women featured in 'Step', a movie that was picked up for Sundance Film Festival.

[Silver Raven]

Ryan Kasprzak is on Broadway in the show Bandstand.

[Sharpie66]

Mark Kanemura choreographed the recent appearance of Superfruit on the James Corden show last week. (The choreo was for the official video--this is an edited version of the complete dance in that.)

 

Edited September 22, 2017 by Sharpie66

[pally]

Season 5 winner Jeanine Mason is joining the cast of Grey's Anatomy.  She will be playing a recurring role as Sam one of the new interns.  Debuts on Oct 12 episode.  

[Mason]

31 minutes ago, pally said:

Season 5 winner Jeanine Mason is joining the cast of Grey's Anatomy.  She will be playing a recurring role as Sam one of the new interns.  Debuts on Oct 12 episode.  

Last week, she played the main victim on Criminal Minds!

[netlyon2]

Went to see "Mean Girls: The Musical" last week and a friend of mine pointed out that Curtis Holland (Season 10) was a member of the chorus.

Admittedly, I had to look him up to refresh my memory:  

[Anothermi]

42 minutes ago, netlyon2 said:

Went to see "Mean Girls: The Musical" last week and a friend of mine pointed out that Curtis Holland (Season 10) was a member of the chorus.

Admittedly, I had to look him up to refresh my memory:  

Thanks NETLYON2 for that info.  I sort of remember Curtis. In that clip you provided he seems to be the weakest of the 3 tappers.  However, I was so enamoured of Aaron & Jasmine's partnership that I even forgot this was the year Jenna competed in!!

Glad that he's getting work.  There really is value to getting onto this show. I recall a number of early bootees going on to a Broadway role (possibly before the season ended?). It was sad that both Curtis and Alexa were booted the same episode. :-(

Edited November 7, 2017 by Anothermi

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 hours ago, netlyon2 said:

Went to see "Mean Girls: The Musical" last week and a friend of mine pointed out that Curtis Holland (Season 10) was a member of the chorus.

So jealous! How was it? Someone I know moved to DC right before the show was announced so I was like OMG you have to go see this show just on principle!

[netlyon2]

@ElectricBoogaloo It was really cute.  We went on Halloween night (my friend's birthday), so it was rather like a viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show:  audience members in costume, riotous applause at each major character's introduction, collective recital of iconic lines.  Some of the choreography, songs, and acting choices were questionable, but that's why they're running it down here before going north.

Edited November 7, 2017 by netlyon2

[ElectricBoogaloo]

@netlyon2 sounds like fun! I hope they get the non-movie material (songs, choreography, acting) ironed out before it transfers to Broadway so that it will do well. I saw the musical version of Amélie at out of town tryouts and it had similar problems. They didn’t make any major changes before moving the show to New York so not surprisingly, it closed after two months on Broadway. I wish producers would realize that nostalgia for an older movie isn’t enough to fill seats. A musical adaptation still needs good, you know, music. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Keekski]

I have tickets to see Shaping Sound in January! I can't wait to see Travis but was hoping for some SYTYCD alumni with the touring company this time around. Maybe I'll see a future contestant, though!

[Andiethewestie]

Robert is going on tour https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/maksim-and-val-chmerkovskiy-announce-upcoming-tour-with-peta-murgatroyd  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Blake McGrath's new music video (choreographed by Tessandra Chavez). Love that he has 18 other dancers in this video.

Respect by Aretha Franklin - choreographed by Brian Friedman:

And just for funsies - this is a routine that Brian Friedman choreographed for one of his dance classes. He's only seen for a few seconds in the intro, but you can see different groups of his students performing his choreography:

Edited December 8, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Terrafamilia]

On 12/8/2017 at 3:48 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Blake McGrath's new music video (choreographed by Tessandra Chavez). Love that he has 18 other dancers in this video.

Hey, I recognized Zack from season 11 in there.