So You Think You Can Dance: Q&A with Ashley Galvan

Ashley sounds much the way she appeared on the show: perky, sweet, and upbeat. She sounded disappointed about having to leave due to her injury, but not as heartbroken as Alex Wong did during last week’s interview. Then again, his injury could devastate his entire career, not just sideline him from the competition.

One good question that was asked had to do with how Ashley felt about being relatively unknown when she joined the Top 11. She said she knew she hadn’t been shown too much during the Vegas week footage, but it was good for her to enter the spotlight gradually. She’s a shy person and takes time to warm up to other people in real life, so it worked for her on the show.

She was asked whether or not they’d invited her to return to Season 8 as they did Alex, and it sounds like the answer is no. Since Ashley has been asked to go on the So You Think You Can Dance tour and expects to recover from her fractured rib within the month, she will not be extended the invitation to return. She sounds fine with this, stating later in the interview that she’s looking to segue her exposure on the show into more dancing jobs as well as a foray into television and film.

Ashley has taken some acting classes to help her grow out of her natural shyness, and looks forward to continuing that learning process. Sounds like another one who’s interested in more time on the small and eventually silver screen. Then again, who isn’t?

She tells us her injury actually happened the third week into the show, during her rehearsals for that amazing Dee Caspary contemporary piece with Ade. Incidentally, she also pegged this as her favorite dance. During the piece they performed a difficult lift, and though she loved it and said it challenged her, it resulted in a bruised rib that hasn’t healed. This week, x-rays revealed it had fractured. The doctors ordered her on bedrest until it heals, but she hopes to be back in the audience in time for the finale.

When asked about her expectations for the show, she said she didn’t know what to expect but was impressed by how professionally they were handled and how clearly the expectations of the producers were communicated from day one. She didn’t know how rehearsals would go, how she would learn the routine, etc, but she had a great time.

Ashley, like every other eliminated dancer, credits the show with helping her grow as a dancer and as a person. She loved learning the different styles, and even stated that she learned so much in her own style of contemporary and jazz because she’d never worked with partners before. She said more than once how grateful she was to the show for opening up a whole other side of dance for her.

In addition, she also lauded the other cast members and all-stars, citing them as her favorite part of the experience of being a contestant on the show. She stated they were “very connected, a family, and we are there for one another…we feed off each other’s energy.” The worst part of leaving is not being able to spend time with them.

I asked a follow-up question, “You and Robert seem to have a good rapport. He’s been in the bottom three several times even though technically he’s made very few errors. What is it you think the viewers don’t get about him?”

Ashley: “We’re very close, like best friends. He has a great personality and he’s a great dancer. He’s always there for me. I have no idea what is missing between him and the viewers, but he hasn’t been in the bottom for a few weeks. I really, really hope he gets to continue.”

And for the romantics out there…is Ashley still in love?

Yes, she is. With her boyfriend, not any of the contestants on the show.

For more on So You Think You Can Dance, click here.

Photograph courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro