So You Think You Can Dance: Bringing It In ATL and NOLA

It’s getting hot in herrre, as Nelly used to rap. Hotlanta brought the energy, and The Big Easy brought the flare. While Nigel had to sit out of the latter audition, it was nice to hear Mary wax some dance expertise in lieu of his absence. And it’s very rare that we get Adam and Lil’ C on the same panel, though I’m sure it will happen more this season since Mr. Shankman’s been made an official third judge. Plus Mary got to say “Cue Music!”

Bare with me though. This is my second season of recapping SYTYCD, but I’m still trying to get the right structure and flow. And it’s always nice to keep things fresh right? So, I’m going to try something new and see how it works out. Please continue to see how auditions faired this week.

YOU SHOULD BE SAD YOU MISSED IT
“Great legs, Great technique…tuck your tush under.” – Nigel
Nineteen year-old Bill Bell looks like he could be a High School Musical back up dancers. He’s clearly had some training for his young age and he‘s strong, but for me he dances a little too wildly. And his butt sticking out actually does bother me a little. It’s almost like he’s doesn’t exhale a single time throughout the whole performance, but the judges loved him so that‘s that.

“There’s no good reason on God’s green earth that you should dance that good and we should be so disengaged.” – Lil’ C
Amber Jackson is powerful and controlled but the look on her face when she dances is pure boredom. It’s sad to have technique but not charisma. The judges a verbal slap upside her head and allow her to prove her talent in the choreography round. Though we don’t get to see it, apparently, she does enough to move on.

“I’ve always said we’re really happy to see people that we’ve seen before come back because you just get better as dancers.” – Nigel
Anthony and Antwain Hart are back for another go. How could you forget these cute twins? They’ve practiced and have gotten better though I’m not sure if it’s ENOUGH growth to ever make it to the top 20s. If I had to pick one, it’d definitely be Antwain who can flip and spin and do other cool stuff. Sadly, Anthony shined in choreography while Antwain flailed.

“I know you’ve got great rhythm, I know you’ve got great musicality, but I don’t know if your legs work.” – Nigel
Matthew “Boogie Link” Pollard has a little bit of Phillip Chbeeb and Robert Muraine rolled into one big, black body. He does joint tortionism, isolations and popping like a fiend, but can he do anything else? We had to wait until the choreography round to find out, but it was as Nigel predicted. Even Boogie said, “My salsa was more like guacamole.”

“You definitely are an inspiration to so many people who have it all and are just wasting their talents. You are getting up there and fighting and doing a really good job.” – Mary
Jessica Jensen developed epitheliod sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in her hand. To see this beautiful, smiling and funny lady with only one hand dance was pretty magical for me. I’m the first to be touched by a story of overcoming adversity, but something about the way she attacks life that makes me want to find her and just force her to be my friend. How will she do with a partner in choreography though? It proved too difficult, but she should walk away proud of herself.

“Mia Michael’s has that affect on people.” – Lil’ C
Thomas Hamilton was born a crack baby. He went through Special Ed and was teased, and he overcame all that. He danced his way out of Scottdale, Georgia, and with that talent, he should stay out of there. One dance class with Mia made him love contemporary, and it looks like he’s been dancing that style his entire life. They put him through the choreography run around, and salsa did not hold him back.

Others in the ATL like Jamal Jackson mixes contemporary and African and even throws in an aerial, making it all look effortless. Victor Smalley has a very pretty face and very pretty dance moves. Both deservedly get to go straight to Vegas.

“This is giving so many other dance styles an avenue to showcase and expose the world to it.” – Lil’ C
Shelby “Skip” Skipper killed the New Orleans Bounce. It’s a style I’ve never seen or heard of before and the strength he needs to bounce, for what seems like 10 minutes, on one leg while making it look like a smooth dance move, is tremendous. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have made him do choreography, but I commend the judges for showing him respect.

“It was absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking ::pause:: fabulous. Another little germeroo, huh?” – Mary
Jonathan Litzler is one of the best technical dancers I’ve seen this season. Plus, he’s cute as hell. I see the next Neil Haskell in our future. Okay so enough about how nice he looks because his dancing was actually superb. His boring song choice threw me off there for a moment, but I can forgive him. So it’s off to Vegas.

“You lived in the song. Thank you for portraying that for us.” – Lil’ C
Calvin Turner, Jr. is the perfect example of how to pick a song that evokes as much emotion as the dancing does. He doesn’t get as much time to shine as I would hope, but the moments he does have are amazing. Vegas, here he comes.

“The clear joy in all of it has completely lifted my day.” – Adam
Edward Spots has a thousand watt smile and dances with the agility of a circus performer. Jump. Air Split. Jump. Air Split. How is he not making him self sick with all that bobbing around. He’d be perfect for Sin City in Cirque du Soleil. Actually he should give them a call if he doesn’t make it.

“Nobody really starts out with air flares.” – Lil’ C
Justin Kenney survived a bad car crash, and thankfully he did because he’s got that smoldering, Billy Zane look; the guy’s talented. He’s crazy athletic, but he could work on his performance level. I think if he had he should have avoided the choreography round, where he strugled, but they take a chance on him anyway.

“You leg lines, your arms, your passion while you dance,  everything was evident just now.” – Mary
Kimalee Piedad takes ballroom to another level. She’s light as air and beautifully graceful. The, almost vertical, upside lift, was bananas. And when they stopped the music, I might have jumped at the screen and screamed “no!” I think she shouldn’t have to do partnering in the choreography round, but Adam wanted to see more. Luckily Lil’ C and Mary think it’s Vegas for this lady.

“We’ve seen all the stuff that you’ve done, but yet, it felt fresh. You were totally selling it, and I bought it.” – Adam
Micah Mixon turned his life around once he found dance, a great means to express his pent up emotions. Let me just state for the record that I love guys named Micah, so he had a leg up, but really, he’s the kind of dancer you just want to watch and that’s a gift. It’s too bad he’s a hot mess in choreography, but he should take the year to practice and bring it next season.

“You just kind of lit up the stage right now, and thank god, you lit up New Orleans for us.” – Mary (infamous Mary scream included)
You knew Jakob Karr was off to a good start when the judges couldn’t stop whispering praise from their seats. He picked a great song. He didn’t need lots of extra flare because he was simply fantastic.
Alison Nance impresses the judges and gets a Vegas ticket but, to me, she’s the kind of girl who relies more on her looks than her talent. I’m not a fan, but I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on her based on the five seconds I actually saw.

“He left just in time to get a front row seat.” – Diana’s Dad
Diana Drexler has a gift, and her parents were right to push her to go to the auditions even though her grandfather was sick. He passed away while she was following her dreams, but I can only imagine how proud he’d be of her. She danced effortlessly and got the opportunity to prove in choreography that she deserved that Vegas ticket.

YOU SHOULD BE GLAD YOU MISSED IT
“Hip-hop Adam Shankman! That’s awesome.” – Lil’ C
Travis Denison dances like a bad, male cheerleader in Bring It On 25. He’s high energy and fun, which probably serves him well as an University of Georgia Mighty Man, but that doesn’t not really make him a great dancer. I could do what he does! I could do that when I was 10. I think I did do that when I was 10 minus a few booty pops. He does kind of look like Shankman though!

“My solo today is dope. And I don’t care what anybody else says. I don’t care what the judges say. My solo is dope, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t make it straight to Vegas. – Jonathan Bryant
Maybe, Jonathan, you shouldn’t make it because you suck as a choreographer. And you dance like you are angry at someone. And you are so cocky that even when you start to cry, I can’t pretend to care. The sad thing is he can do way more than I could but his attitude and his inability to listen, learn and evolve will keep him at the level of a sub-par dancer.

“You’ve had six Red Bulls?! MEDIC!” – Adam
Eric Le Blanc downs six Red Bulls before he hits the stage, but with the moves in his arsenal, I don’t think he really needed the help. He’s probably one of the pathetically, funny B-Boys I’ve ever seen, but I don’t think he’s trying to be funny. He makes it through to choreography because the judges want to see him make a fool of himself.  The judges did go a little cuckoo without Nigel around.

“This is that moment when I wish that Nigel was here…it just went all wrong.” – Adam to Lloyd Ballard. He ruined “I’m in Love With A Girl”  by Gavin DeGraw for me therefore he should be burned.

“Flexing and crumping is your style, huh? Is that called flexing when you grab your frank and beans and gyrate it?” – Mary to Casey Cristoso

WRAP IT UP
Altogether, 21 dancer left Atlanta for Vegas, and another 29 will join them from New Orleans. I’m extremely impressed by the level of talent this season. And I thought that last season raised the bar. I’m also enjoying the fact that the focus has been on the amazing instead of the horrid. It really is a testament to how SYTYCD is more dance show than reality show. Bring on the dance!

Season 6, Episodes 4-5: Audition Show #4  and Audition Show #5 (originally aired September 29 and September 30, 2009)

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