So a hundred and fifty-plus dancers have flown to Vegas with the hope of making the show’s top 20. This week, if they survive the multiple, grueling rounds of competition, they MIGHT be chosen to join the Season 8 cast of So You Think You Can Dance.
The early rounds in Vegas, solos, hip-hop and ballroom, weed out over half of the contestants, including many of the people who were showcased during auditions. I try to never get attached to the people who get the extra segments on tour because they’re almost always the ones who get sent home first. They like to tease us, this show.
A few people are asked to dance for their lives along the way, including Alexis Mason, who seems to have a pretty nonchalant attitude about everything. The rest of the groups get through a group round, contemporary, and a final solo before judgments are made. Some of the contestants, including Natasha Mallory and favorite from last year’s tryouts Ryan Ramirez, are sent to the hospital for various injuries but make it back and push through the remainder of the auditions.
In the end, we have a room full of almost 40 dancers vying for 20 spots and, like every year, they all deserve to be there and the judges don’t let us in on the many factors influencing their decisions.
They did the top 20 reveal different than in years past, introducing them in video segments and then having them perform onstage in small groups, to routines choreographed by the show’s award winning choreographers. I enjoyed the performances and am already hungry for more outstanding routines.
Without further ado, here are the top 20 dancers:
The early rounds in Vegas, solos, hip-hop and ballroom, weed out over half of the contestants, including many of the people who were showcased during auditions. I try to never get attached to the people who get the extra segments on tour because they’re almost always the ones who get sent home first. They like to tease us, this show.
A few people are asked to dance for their lives along the way, including Alexis Mason, who seems to have a pretty nonchalant attitude about everything. The rest of the groups get through a group round, contemporary, and a final solo before judgments are made. Some of the contestants, including Natasha Mallory and favorite from last year’s tryouts Ryan Ramirez, are sent to the hospital for various injuries but make it back and push through the remainder of the auditions.
In the end, we have a room full of almost 40 dancers vying for 20 spots and, like every year, they all deserve to be there and the judges don’t let us in on the many factors influencing their decisions.
They did the top 20 reveal different than in years past, introducing them in video segments and then having them perform onstage in small groups, to routines choreographed by the show’s award winning choreographers. I enjoyed the performances and am already hungry for more outstanding routines.
Without further ado, here are the top 20 dancers:
1. Alexander Frost, a contemporary dancer with a background in classic ballet and a passion for photography. He’s one of the contestants I hardly recall seeing until the judges asked him to be on the show, so we’ll have to look forward to getting to know him better as the weeks wear on.
2. Ashley Rich, another contemporary/jazz dancer who has been training since the age of three. She participated in my favorite routine of the night, a joyful number choreographed by Travis Wall. Ashley didn’t get much screen time until now, either.
3. Caitlynn Lawson is a senior in high school and a contemporary/jazz dancer who is a powerful dancer with a bright smile. The cast as a whole is pretty young this year, with a few notable exceptions.
4. Chris Koehl, a hip-hop dancer from Garland, TX, has also been training in other genres in order to make himself a more attractive contestant for So You Think You Can Dance. His plan worked, as the judges asked him and three other hip-hoppers to be part of this season’s cast.
5. Clarice Ordaz is a jazz dancer and college student with a beautiful face and a personality that makes you want to be her friend. Her passion for dance shines through and she sailed through Vegas, leaving me pretty sure she would make the top 20 before the judges made it official. She danced a funky Sonya Tayeh jazz number on Thursday night.
6. Iveta Lukosiute has a face many of us long time fans of the show will recall, since she’s auditioned twice before and nearly made it both times. She’s trained as a ballroom dancer, and is one of the top in that field in the entire world. She’s been working on her proficiency in other styles as well, and this year her hard work paid off. I tend to agree with the judges that her continuing to come back shows a lot of determination, grit, and humility and combines to make her someone we’ll all probably be rooting for in the weeks to come.
7. Jess LeProtto was featured during the early auditions, one of the few who made it onto the show. I’m not too sure about this slightly cocky Broadway performer, and even though the judges seem to have reservations of their own, his talent (which he showed off in a Broadway Tap routine choreographed byChris Scott) is undeniable.
8. Jordan Casanova is possible one of the cutest people ever born, and her ability wow a crowd with her jazz routines has never been in doubt since she made Nigel’s eyeballs fall out of his face during her auditions. Shy and somewhat reticent offstage, her personality really takes off (in a sexy way) once the music begins.
9. Marko Germar first stepped onstage with a story about how a bullet is lodged in his arm, and though we didn’t hear much about him during Vegas week, apparently he did just fine. Marko is trained in several forms of dance, especially contemporary and jazz, and held his own onstage with three girls for Sonya’s jazz routine last week.
10. Melanie Moore is another college freshman with a short haircut and shining smile that enhances her powerful, glowing contemporary routines. She caught my eye at her audition and I was happy to see her do well and move forward. She’s one of my early favorites, and was a lovely addition to an amazing Stacey Tookey’scontemporary number.
11. Miranda Maleski, another just-out-of-high school kid, has been training forever and moved to Los Angeles when she was just 18 to pursue a dance career full time. Another contemporary dancer who hasn’t been seen much until now, we’ll have to wait to find out what she’s made of.
12. Missy Morelli, a jazz dancer who has been dancing professionally for a couple of years, has a loud sensuality about her dancing that draws in an audience and holds their attention. She earned her spot along side Jordan, Marko, and Clarice in Sonya’s routine.
13. Mitchell Kelly has been dancing for six years professionally, specializing in jazz and contemporary. He didn’t start dancing until he was 15, a good ten years after the majority of his counterparts this season.
14. Nick Young is sure to be one of the ladies’ favorites this season, with his engaging smile, handsome face, and the joy he gets from dancing. He’s a tapper by trade but managed to impress the judges enough during Vegas week to earn his shot as part of the cast. Let’s hope his whole package will help him fare better than tappers in previous seasons.
15. Ricky Jaime graduated from high school a year ago and began to get serious about a career in dance. He’s a contemporary dancer but is trained in many other styles as well, and proved his salt Thursday night as part of the Stacey Tookey routine.
16. Robert Taylor, Jr (the WoOoOo guy), is so warm and funny and I just want to give him a hug. He’s thirty years old, so this was his last shot and the judges gave it to him. I’m interested to see how his personality assists (or detracts) from styles less interactive than hip-hop.
17. Ryan Ramirez, who we all remember feeling badly for last year when she was cut at the very last point, makes a comeback this year and I, for one, think she will go far. She’s pretty, she’s sweet, and she’s an amazingly passionate contemporary dancer with a lot of heart.
18. Sasha Mallory, the second half of our sister act, made it into the top 20 with her contemporary skills. She and her sister won us over at their joint audition and kept us entertained during Vegas week. We kind of knew all along only one of them would make it through, and as much as the judges would deny the choice had anything to do with SISTER’s size, we all know it probably did.
19. Tadd Gadduang is the only contestant who claims to have no formal dance training, and he’s worked his way onto the show with his raw “urban dancing” talent. He held his own in Dave Scott’s hip-hop routine the other night, and I’m always on the lookout for the next Legacy, so let’s wait and see.
20. Wadi Jones, the fourth and final hip-hop specialist, is sort of adorable in so many ways. He’s into several different forms of art and, though he taught himself how to break and hip-hop, he made an effort to learn different styles in preparation for the show.
I’m interested to see how things will go down with a cast full of so many experienced dancers. Most of them are trained in multiple styles, so look for the choreographers and judges to throw bigger challenges their way. I still expect many of them to struggle with ballroom, something almost none of them have trained in, but we’ll have to wait and see. We have several who have tap dance training, and more hip-hoppers than ever before.
What do you all think of the cast? Anyone you think doesn’t deserve to be there? Anyone who got sent home unfairly? Let’s discuss!
Season 8, Episode 5 “Las Vegas Callbacks” and “Meet the Top 20” (original airdate June 8 and June9, 2011)
So You Think You Can Dance airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8/7c on Fox.
Photos Courtesy of Adam Rose and Fox
11. Miranda Maleski, another just-out-of-high school kid, has been training forever and moved to Los Angeles when she was just 18 to pursue a dance career full time. Another contemporary dancer who hasn’t been seen much until now, we’ll have to wait to find out what she’s made of.
12. Missy Morelli, a jazz dancer who has been dancing professionally for a couple of years, has a loud sensuality about her dancing that draws in an audience and holds their attention. She earned her spot along side Jordan, Marko, and Clarice in Sonya’s routine.
13. Mitchell Kelly has been dancing for six years professionally, specializing in jazz and contemporary. He didn’t start dancing until he was 15, a good ten years after the majority of his counterparts this season.
14. Nick Young is sure to be one of the ladies’ favorites this season, with his engaging smile, handsome face, and the joy he gets from dancing. He’s a tapper by trade but managed to impress the judges enough during Vegas week to earn his shot as part of the cast. Let’s hope his whole package will help him fare better than tappers in previous seasons.
15. Ricky Jaime graduated from high school a year ago and began to get serious about a career in dance. He’s a contemporary dancer but is trained in many other styles as well, and proved his salt Thursday night as part of the Stacey Tookey routine.
16. Robert Taylor, Jr (the WoOoOo guy), is so warm and funny and I just want to give him a hug. He’s thirty years old, so this was his last shot and the judges gave it to him. I’m interested to see how his personality assists (or detracts) from styles less interactive than hip-hop.
17. Ryan Ramirez, who we all remember feeling badly for last year when she was cut at the very last point, makes a comeback this year and I, for one, think she will go far. She’s pretty, she’s sweet, and she’s an amazingly passionate contemporary dancer with a lot of heart.
18. Sasha Mallory, the second half of our sister act, made it into the top 20 with her contemporary skills. She and her sister won us over at their joint audition and kept us entertained during Vegas week. We kind of knew all along only one of them would make it through, and as much as the judges would deny the choice had anything to do with SISTER’s size, we all know it probably did.
19. Tadd Gadduang is the only contestant who claims to have no formal dance training, and he’s worked his way onto the show with his raw “urban dancing” talent. He held his own in Dave Scott’s hip-hop routine the other night, and I’m always on the lookout for the next Legacy, so let’s wait and see.
20. Wadi Jones, the fourth and final hip-hop specialist, is sort of adorable in so many ways. He’s into several different forms of art and, though he taught himself how to break and hip-hop, he made an effort to learn different styles in preparation for the show.
I’m interested to see how things will go down with a cast full of so many experienced dancers. Most of them are trained in multiple styles, so look for the choreographers and judges to throw bigger challenges their way. I still expect many of them to struggle with ballroom, something almost none of them have trained in, but we’ll have to wait and see. We have several who have tap dance training, and more hip-hoppers than ever before.
What do you all think of the cast? Anyone you think doesn’t deserve to be there? Anyone who got sent home unfairly? Let’s discuss!
Season 8, Episode 5 “Las Vegas Callbacks” and “Meet the Top 20” (original airdate June 8 and June9, 2011)
So You Think You Can Dance airs Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8/7c on Fox.
Photos Courtesy of Adam Rose and Fox
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