S11.E02: Auditions #2

[thewhiteowl]

 

The tapper's face reminds me of some actress - can't place it, but I liked her.

 

 She reminded me of Jennifer Grey in the Dirty Dancing days.

 

[NextIteration]

I also didn't like "alien" girl.  I noticed several times that she would plant her foot for a move (non-dancer here) and the foot would move and she would sort of reposition it.  She also seemed really shaky in several moves.  I think they ONLY let her go through because of her alopecia and I hate that.

 

 

She's actually quite accomplished as a "competition studio" dancer and has a history if you care to google her name in quotes with the word results.  She's been demonstrating for the workshop iVibe for at least one season, has done very well at jump amongst other things.  I think her skills are solid and don't think Fabrice was just shining us on - after all, amongst the judges I suspect he would know. I don't think she got through to call-backs just because of her Alopecia. I do agree though, that her particular back-story was one that needed to be covered.

[LadyArcadia]

Maybe I have to watch again and pay better attention, but I didn't like Mary Poppins.

 

I also didn't like "alien" girl.  I noticed several times that she would plant her foot for a move (non-dancer here) and the foot would move and she would sort of reposition it.  She also seemed really shaky in several moves.  I think they ONLY let her go through because of her alopecia and I hate that.

 

I agreed that the puppet guy should've been given the ticket to Not!Vegas for his innovation alone.  He won't make it far but it's a nice way to recognize his contribution.  It wasn't really my style, so I thought it was weird, but I still like to give credit where credit is due.

 

LOVED Jaja.  Is she a new member to the group since ABDC?  What happened to Chachi? 

 

What else? Not enough Cat and way too much Bieber.  I love seeing the ABDC (and other) crews and am looking forward to them being on the show so we can see more.

 

I had this long post planned, but you said it all for me!  Word. To all of it.

 

Mary Poppins did not impress.  For the first time in the show, I looked down and was playing on my iPad waiting for it to be over.

 

Also, I kept picturing "alien" girl with hair. Once I did that I realized she really was not that good at all. Her lack of hair is what makes her different. Her dancing was not impressive.

 

Tapper also did not impress me. Nigel was right, she was too childlike in her moves. Not enough grit and soul in her tapping. I don't think she deserved to even go to choreography.

 

The others: Jaja was amazing and I hope she goes far.  Same with deadpan girl.  "Sexy" girl had talent behind the hairography. And I'm very glad they sent Puppet straight to Veg-- er.. LA.  He won't make it past the first round, but he deserved to go.

[OnceSane]

I loved Marie Poppins & watched her solo-turned-duet-with-Fikshun several times.  I also loved Jaja.

 

Who I don't love?  Beiber.  He was so high I'm surprised the sun didn't melt his wings.

[90PercentGravity]

The tapper's face reminds me of some actress - can't place it, but I liked her.

If the tapper is who I'm thinking of, I thought she looked like Maggie from Walking Dead.

[Mertseger]

 

I thought she was very internal, even though she was smiling and making eye contact.  Maybe some folks who swing that way could weigh in.

 

Contemposexuals? I guess I'm one.

 

 

I know, when she popped up and was sooo pretty (and knew it), I was like, oh man, she's gonna be bad. But, despite the hair flipping and the sexy moves, I actually did like her lightness in her dancing and the way her movements flowed together. So I'm hoping she has more up her sleeve (and a hair-tie to pull back that hair) because I think she'd be enjoyable to watch. Barring any major other-styles fails, I bet she'll go pretty far, as she's just what Nigel salivates over.

 

Jessica was definitely a step beyond some of the female stripper routines we've seen in the past. She had it least one moment that evidenced skills beyond, "look at me: I'm pretty!"

 

 

I was unimpressed with most of her dance because there was too much posing and rolling around but not enough dancing.

 

Floor work is a perfectly legitimate part of dance, and, in fact, Jessica's skill there might transfer a bit to the break-dance side of HH? Maybe? Ish?

 

 

Hell, let Cat style her!

 

Those of us who watched S2 shudder at the thought. We'd routinely trash Cat's style at that point (even as we loved her). But, you're right: her styling is great now, and Mary would be better served by trending a bit more in the direction of Cat's style.

 

 

But oh, Nigel. Once again his double standards rear their ugly heads. It's beautiful to see her with her arm behind her head at a weird angle, but when bone breakers do it, he makes it a point to cringe and talk about how freaky it is.

 

I think there's a fair point to be made here, and, perhaps, Nigel and Christina did not make it clearly enough, but Dani's bonebreaking was used in her routine to denote her "brokenness". It's a bit literal, but the point is that the trick served the theme of the work rather than being the entire point of the dance which is the case with most (but not all) of the bonebreakers we have seen to this point on the show which often end up being: look at this trick I can do over and over and over again in a variety of positions and some proximate relation to the music. Dani does have other arrows in her quiver, and at least her choreo was more than "show my entire repertoire in 30 secs" and was trying to (and I'd say, succeeding) in being about something.

 

(And I must say, my favorite moments in the audition episodes is the "Oh, shit, they're letting me go beyond the allotted time that I prepared for this routine, what do I do now?" and the dancers who step up to that to produce something great.)

Edited June 6, 2014 by Mertseger

[seattlemama]

I am intrigued about the editing around Jaja. She was on ABDC with Philip and Emilio and Moon and ChiChi (sp?). She has an awesome video she made with Cyrus. Did they not highlight her storyline with Pacman because of the fact that Emilio didn't end up doing the show after getting picked for the Top 20 last year. Philip and Jaja date, I think?! There is no way that he wasn't at the audition. Weird, weird editing and selective storytelling. I wonder if she came with a Krupp number and an animation piece and the editing wasn't lined up because I agree that her performance felt more robotic. I follow I.am.me. (Can't remember which letters to capitalize) and Jaja has been posting some of her battles. She can definitely hold her own and has som hard hitting stuff.

[observer]

Love Christina Applegate (in general) but especially as a judge.  Might be my imagination, but her reactions, the emotion in her eyes, her expressions, to me we are seeing the real deal.  And as far as the crying, I suspect that the impact of the dancing is more intense and more real in person, just a guess, but I have found that to be true of singers.

 

Still hate Nigel with the fury of ten thousand suns.  He may be a brilliant producer, or whatever it is he does, but I shudder every time his eyes light up at a nubile pretty young (female) thing.  Also find him fatuous and arrogant.  Just cannot enjoy him or his commentary.  

 

As an example, Nigel says "We sort of gave faces to choreographers, and we even let America say, “choreographer,” pronounce it correctly."  Thank you so much, Nigel.

 

source:  http://www.tvgrapevine.com/interviews/6845-so-you-think-you-can-dance-nigel-lythgoe-interviewed

 

 

[kechara]

I wasn't totally impressed with Mary Poppins - a lot because of the name I think - but seeing that video of her battle I was much more impressed with her.

I think they're wise to keep the fact that a lot of these dancers are well known to the judges and the dance community under wraps a bit because it sure backfired on that Ryan girl who was Mia's assistant.  On the other hand, i hate it when they do the "only a street dancer, no formal training" bullshit.

[AncientNewbie]

If she had done the exact same routine with her hair pinned up, a more covered up outfit, and a mask so the judges couldn't see her face, I doubt they would have been as enthusiastic and I really doubt they would have given her a ticket to Not Vegas.

 

It was her top that did it for me--no, not like that, you dirty minded people. It didn't strike me as a normal dance top/sports bra/whatever dancers wear as much as a boob presenter. Perhaps it fit the style of the dance, but mainly I felt like she knew Nigel was the only one she needed to impress and appealing to his lechery never fails. Even if this was all dialog in my head imputing it to her, it made it hard to care much about her dance. 

Edited June 6, 2014 by toddthomas

[realdancemom]

I was also not impressed with Mary Poppins until she started doing a duet with Fik-shun.  Even then, he was better.  I'm also wondering if they knew each other from Vegas.

 

I didn't need to see the ballet couple kissing so much during their package.  I agree with everyone that the girl was great but the guy wasn't.

 

I think it's cool that the Kansas guy got a chance to battle with some of his favorites.  He held his own and it was fun to watch.  Don't mind that the puppet guy went through either.  Like Mary said, it's a chance for more people to see his craft.  They know he won't make it for very long but everyone does solos at the beginning so more people can watch him.

 

A lot of the contemporary girls blend together for me.  I did like Emily (little cousing danced) and Justine (didn't study contemporary).  Love JaJa and it's nice to see a really good female hip-hopper dancer again.

Edited June 6, 2014 by realdancemom

[90PercentGravity]

Several of the dancers were wearing those lacy tanks, including the ballet girl who was fangirling over Fabrice. I assume it is some kind of trend.

[chocolatine]

The tapper's face reminds me of some actress - can't place it, but I liked her.

 

 

She reminds me of Ashley Williams, the actress who played Victoria on How I Met Your Mother.

[Aethera]

She reminds me of Ashley Williams, the actress who played Victoria on How I Met Your Mother.

Yes! That's exactly who I was thinking of.  Though she does look at awful lot like Maggie from Walking Dead, I was definitely trying to place Ashley Williams, specifically because of How I Met Your Mother.  Thank you for releasing that part of my brain :)

[m74]

 

I always wonder about people like the tapper. She's from Indianapolis but she came to the LA auditions instead of the ones in Chicago. I mean, I get wanting to take a trip somewhere warm but it's so much more expensive and time consuming to fly halfway across the country than to drive a few hours.

I assumed that like most reality TV shows, where a person is "from" is not necessarily where they are currently living.  Otherwise, we'd probably see 50% of the people on this show in LA or NYC. As for Valerie the tapper, I decided to test my theory by googling, and per facebook, she currently lives in Sherman Oaks, California.  Also saw that at one point, she was a principal dancer with the Indianapolis Youth Ballet Company.  I would think a cross trained tapper/ballet dancer could go pretty far in this competition so definitely someone to keep an eye on.

 

As for who she looks like, at certain angles, I was getting a Melanie vibe off  her.  Maybe the shape of her face?

[stronglikemusic]

Love this epi so much more than the first. The dancers were more diverse (or rather, we were allowed to see that diversity) and the L.A. crowd seems so much more supportive. The N.O. crowd was either barely there or dead! Helps to have all those all-stars on hand, of course. Loved Marie Poppins because she's the first person of her genre that I've seen that puts femininity in popping. Conversely, I loved JaJa for how hard she hit. Thank goodness the contemporary girls were (sorta) kept to a minimum and we saw a few that register on the quirky end of the spectrum, so much better than angsty. Like everyone else, was awed by ballerina in love. Not so much with her partner. But he has to go in Not!Vegas. It's not only the script, it's the right thing to do.  

[Lonesome Rhodes]

 

Also saw that at one point, she was a principal dancer with the Indianapolis Youth Ballet Company.

Wait.

 

The tapper girl was a PRINCIPAL in a legit ballet company and she had to go to choreo?!!!!!!!!

 

Sincerely, what did I miss?  Nigel knew full well her background.  

 

I am at a complete loss.

[Kromm]

Wait.

 

The tapper girl was a PRINCIPAL in a legit ballet company and she had to go to choreo?!!!!!!!!

 

Sincerely, what did I miss?  Nigel knew full well her background.  

 

I am at a complete loss.

 

http://www.tippytoesschoolofdance.com/IYBC.html

 

This says they are not a professional ballet company, but rather an adjunct to a school called "Tippy Toes School of Dance".

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yeah, it sounds like it's just the older ballet students of the dance studio. My sister's studio had a similar program. You had to be invited to audition and take extra "company" classes but it was by no means a professional company.

[NextIteration]

http://www.tippytoesschoolofdance.com/IYBC.html

 

This says they are not a professional ballet company, but rather an adjunct to a school called "Tippy Toes School of Dance".

 

Nods in agreement with ElectricBoogaloo, my daughter auditioned for and was a company member of a Youth Ballet that was an extension of her studio.  For the auditions, very legitimate, nationally recognizable Ballet Mistresses/Masters were brought in to teach master classes and judge the auditions.  They joined (tech classes,and rehearsals) with another ballet academy for repertory performances (Giselle, Swan Lake...) and an annual Nutcracker, though their pieces were separate and choreographed by our AD/Ballet Mistress.

[m74]

Right, but even if it's just older students and not a professional company, that still means she's cross trained to a certain degree of proficiency that would come in handy.  I suspect it was not mentioned because if she makes it, her narrative will be "wow, we had no idea a tapper could do X!!"

[NextIteration]

Right, but even if it's just older students and not a professional company, that still means she's cross trained to a certain degree of proficiency that would come in handy.  I suspect it was not mentioned because if she makes it, her narrative will be "wow, we had no idea a tapper could do X!!"

 

Which is smart.  Deadpan girl can turn for days... but nary a turn in her audition.

[luvthepros]

Right, but even if it's just older students and not a professional company, that still means she's cross trained to a certain degree of proficiency that would come in handy.  I suspect it was not mentioned because if she makes it, her narrative will be "wow, we had no idea a tapper could do X!!"

Does Nigel and Co. live under a rock? How can they not realize (with the internet) that nothing can be kept "under wraps" about these contestants? The viewers are very resourceful and with a bit of research, if the contestant has posted any videos of themselves, it is not difficult to find out some backround. 

[Kromm]

Does Nigel and Co. live under a rock? How can they not realize (with the internet) that nothing can be kept "under wraps" about these contestants? The viewers are very resourceful and with a bit of research, if the contestant has posted any videos of themselves, it is not difficult to find out some backround. 

luvthepros they don't care.  They do stuff like this for the 99.5% of viewers who don't bother to search out additional information, not the 0.5% who do.  They go with the averages, because the talk on sites like this is negligible in how it spills back on the show. 

[Rick Kitchen]

From what I have read, the dance community is pretty intertwined.  Everybody knows everybody.  They tried to pretend that they didn't know Travis when he came to audition, but his mother was clearly a well-known and well-respected teacher whom everybody in the community knew.

[auntlada]

ITA that I do not need to see the judges' (or audience members') facial expressions or reactions during the auditions. I don't care how dumbfounded or moved they looked. I want to see the dancing, damn it!

 

Unless that judge is Fabrice. I'd like to see him again, even if it's just sitting at the judges' table. Admittedly, I'd rather see him come back and dance.

 

All this reaction to sexy dancer Jessica is making me think that sexy young girls (even if I didn't find her terribly sexy) are in a no-win situation.  If they do it well, I wonder if female viewers might react more negatively than not.  If they try, but miss in some way, then they're potentially the objects of ridicule or disdain.  Yet, I do think there is a time and a place for sexy dancing.  In rumba, or in Argentine tango, I love watching it - I could watch it all day.  Maybe it's only a double edged sword in contemporary?  I don't know. 

 

And this has to make me wonder if there would be a double standard if a man tried it.

 

I don't know about from the audience, but I think there's a double standard from Nigel when a male dancer does something that might be considered sexy, although it has usually been ballroom dancers (and, oddly, often Russian ones). When they dance with unbuttoned shirts, he always says something about how nobody needs to see that and the dancers should button their shirts. I usually disagree with him. I think they don't go to the sexy dancing first, though, which I often feel is what some of the female contemporary dancers do. Not saying this one did, just that many seem to.

[90PercentGravity]

Unless that judge is Fabrice. I'd like to see him again, even if it's just sitting at the judges' table. Admittedly, I'd rather see him come back and dance.

I'd be more than happy if they just changed the show to So You Think You Can Fabrice.

[Anothermi]

From what I have read, the dance community is pretty intertwined.  Everybody knows everybody.  They tried to pretend that they didn't know Travis when he came to audition, but his mother was clearly a well-known and well-respected teacher whom everybody in the community knew.

Yeah, this has been true of a lot of contestants.  Someone connected with the show knows them/has worked with them before they auditioned.  

But talking about Travis, and I'm going to need help here because I'm not 100% sure of my memory on this, but didn't he end up auditioning twice?  I have a memory that he auditioned with a big group from his mother's studio and didn't get a ticket in New York, so he showed up in one of the Southern audition cities on his own and got through there.  IIRC that was the genesis of double-auditioning in subsequent years. 

 

It kind of disappeared from my memory banks when I learned that Benji had not made the top 20 initially because that boggled my mind given how popular he was (and I admit to being a Benji fan that year, despite appreciating Travis' dancing).  Boggling is not good for one's memory.  If I am correct, it shows that the audition process for the top 20 has (or had) it's weaknesses because those two were the most popular dancers that year. 

 

Can anyone corroborate this?

[NextIteration]

Anothermi - I believe you are correct on both counts about Travis and Benji.  Wasn't Benji's spot originally a ballet dude that was obligated to take a company offer in Switzerland or something?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

No, it was because Hok couldn't get his work visa cleared in time for the first episode so they had to replace him.

[Anothermi]

Anothermi - I believe you are correct on both counts about Travis and Benji.  Wasn't Benji's spot originally a ballet dude that was obligated to take a company offer in Switzerland or something?

Thanks for that.  

 

The ballet dude (Dallas Blagg was his name and I quite liked him) who couldn't get out of his dance company obligation was from Season 3.  I think Jimmy Arguello was the contestant to replaced him.  Didn't work out quite so well for him as for Benji. >.<

[gik910]

 

All this reaction to sexy dancer Jessica is making me think that sexy young girls (even if I didn't find her terribly sexy) are in a no-win situation.  If they do it well, I wonder if female viewers might react more negatively than not.  If they try, but miss in some way, then they're potentially the objects of ridicule or disdain.  Yet, I do think there is a time and a place for sexy dancing.  In rumba, or in Argentine tango, I love watching it - I could watch it all day.  Maybe it's only a double edged sword in contemporary?  I don't know.

 

Since I am giving her the side eye for now- I'll share.  I didn't have a problem with her dance.  I don't have a problem with younger girls exploring sexuality or being "sexy." I absolutely hate it when anyone (regardless of age) comes in announcing that "Oh- I'm just so sexy and I don't even mean to be.../puke"  This has nothing to do with her age at all.  If you are 40 and do something like that (saw a ton of it as a bartender) you are going to annoy me (and probably wait a while for a drink).  That is what colored my view of the dance.  I was annoyed with her before she started so it was harder for me to objectively watch her dance.  If I would have just launched into the dance without her pre-package I don't think I would have been as annoyed with her.  I generally love the young ballroom girls and they usually audition with the spicier dances (and far less clothing).  She also kind of sort of reminded me of Witney in personality (not great for her)...like I said, she gets side-eye right now. I want to see more of what she can do.

Edited June 9, 2014 by gik910

[ElectricBoogaloo]

i actually don't mind sexy once the girls are past puberty (I do hate seeing the under 10 set doing sexy grinding moves at dance competitions) but I don't like (1) when girls rely on sexy and (2) when anyone announces that they're sexy. Being sexy is like being smart. If you are sexy or smart, people will know. But when you feel the need to announce, "I AM SEXY," or "I AM SMART," you're probably overcompensating and trying too hard. Just dance and let people see what you can do. I also loathe when girls say, "I can't help being sexy - tee hee! But I'm so adorable and unsexy when I'm not dancing!"

[realdancemom]

Jessica's pre-package was more annoying than her dancing. Also when she danced, I purposely told myself to watch her technique and not get lost in the hairography.  The little technique that she did do was done well.  So I'll wait to see what happens since I think she will make the top 20. The judges seem to love her.

[ElleryAnne]

but I don't like (1) when girls rely on sexy and (2) when anyone announces that they're sexy. Being sexy is like being smart. If you are sexy or smart, people will know. But when you feel the need to announce, "I AM SEXY," or "I AM SMART," you're probably overcompensating and trying too hard.

 

 

It's annoying, true.  But I cut her some slack because she's 18.  At that age, you're just learning how to really own your sexuality, and I can imagine that some dancers are still trying to incorporate it without feeling self-conscious.  She danced well, though.

[GeorgieNY]

I think they're wise to keep the fact that a lot of these dancers are well known to the judges and the dance community under wraps a bit because it sure backfired on that Ryan girl who was Mia's assistant.  On the other hand, i hate it when they do the "only a street dancer, no formal training" bullshit.

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I believe Tanesha (blonde from Utah whom Nigel humiliated saying her father was "servicing" her mom because of her big family) was on Nigel-produced "A Chance to Dance" on Ovation. I tried to find out online, but most pages associated with that show seem to have disappeared. Does anyone remember?

[realdancemom]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I believe Tanesha (blonde from Utah whom Nigel humiliated saying her father was "servicing" her mom because of her big family) was on Nigel-produced "A Chance to Dance" on Ovation. I tried to find out online, but most pages associated with that show seem to have disappeared. Does anyone remember?

Yes, Tanisha was on that show. 

[Turkish]

 

LOVED Jaja.  Is she a new member to the group since ABDC?  What happened to Chachi?

Jaja and Chachi were both on ABDC with IamMe.  They joined at the same time along with Emilio. It's just that Chachi got all the attention back then for a variety of reasons. I'm pretty sure Chachi is still with the group but they honestly don't seem that close to her. IDK. The group's relationship with Chachi has always seemed full of drama.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Turkish

[Mozelle]

So the spousal unit watched before I did and was vigorously yapping about a girl who's dancing so reminded him of our daughter, his hint was that she'd danced with the Christmas Spectacular when she was 11.  I get to said dancer on the DVR and sit there, non-plussed watching hairogrophy trying very hard to see why he'd make such a statement, I guess it was the quality and style of when she actually danced and stopped trying so hard?  (still shaking my head!)

 

Loved the Joffrey girl, Yaya, Tap Girl, Sebastian and...  

 

Finally, Pay Dirt!  An audition by one of the many talented kids that my daughter trained and competed with for years.  That was exciting but I see nobody has commented about her here.  It was really fun to see her get a standing ovation and the "ticket straight to call-backs".  I wonder why they hold on to this lie?  Anyways, since she's not conventionally pretty, I won't be surprised if she doesn't make it into the top 20.  I also had to laugh when she dead-panned "there was no contemporary back then...."

 

Poor guy from Wichita looked so lost in choreography, the battle was fun, but yeah, would have been better with tWitch. Whom I'm assuming is far too busy these days to sit in a theatre all weekend for auditions. 

 

Additionally, laughs, I read "here's Danny's recap" and immediately got over-excited that it was Mr. Tidwell, silly me!

 

I took notice when I read that, too! Oh, how I miss Danny.

 

As for this week's auditions: I agree with those who say that they were less than impressed with Mauricio and more impressed by Deisi. I think the girl who performed "Man's World" was good as well. The same moment when Christina and Mary reacted--when Jessica hit those notes hard toward the end of her performance--had me re-watching several times.  I also re-watched Mary Poppins' and Fik-shun's run at "Smooth Operator," but only the part where Fik-shun came in. I don't know what that says about Marie's ability to keep me captivated, though. There was also a lithe black dancer that was shown for a split second in one of the quick montages of dancers who'd received tickets to go through. I really hope he's spotlighted at some point, I was completely mesmerized by the leap he did in that quick shot.

 

I'm super excited for next week because Misty Copeland will be one of the guest judges.

 

Lastly, thank you to the person who posted the second video of Fabrice. My word, do I now I have a new dance crush! I was also amused going through his YouTube activity. He comments on a number of videos, and he isn't shy about saying, "Yeah, that dance wasn't so good."

Edited June 11, 2014 by Mozelle

[NextIteration]

So I did some reconnoitering and re-watched Vegas Week and the Green Mile from last year after reading on another forum about Justine making it to the Green Mile last year.  She was barely shown in either episode, and I have no idea where she auditioned.  Now I really want her to make it back to the Green Mile this year, and onto the show.