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D.C. and Austin Dancers Given “A Chance to Dance”

Tonight’s episode brought us to Washington D.C. and Austin. After finding 13 talented dancers in Salt Lake, it was interesting to see who was discovered in these two cities, and the differences in dance styles.

As, I think it was Billy, said, in Salt Lake there was a lot of talent and people, but the contestants didn’t have the best technique. Then after the D.C. tryouts, there was great technique, but not a lot of hopefuls showed up. I think that Houston definitely had great talent, technique, and a ton of dancers showed up. Perhaps, they saved the best for last? I do think that they might have been wishing they started in Houston, rather than end there.

At the beginning of the episode, Billy and Michael said they were going to some more unique areas in D.C., and they sure did! The pole dancing was a bit surprising, especially when Billy took the stage. But all I have to say is, dang. That man has seriously got some talent. While pole dancing isn’t usually (or really, ever) my favorite dancing to watch, but I will admit I enjoyed his impromptu dance. If you missed it, here’s a clip:

It was disappointing to see the lack of people that showed up in Washington D.C. I just wonder why that was, and why they chose to go to D.C. in the first place. They did seem to find a few good dancers here though, so it wasn’t a complete failure. It might have been good anyways, so Billy and Michael didn’t have to spend as much time deciding who should stay and who should go.

My favorites from D.C. were Kaitlin, a girl from Vienna, and Chase from Alexandria, Virginia. Chase stood out to me, obviously, because he had to leave early. I’m glad that he was there long enough to impress the judges and inspire them to select him to go on. I was  a bit concerned about his heart condition, and that he recently had surgery, but I guess you just have to trust that the doctors gave him the O.K. Patrick, the hippy-ish guy, stood out to me as well. I enjoyed watching him.

I felt like the second half of the show was more interesting to watch, mainly because I thought there was a lot of great talent there. As soon as they visited the University of Texas dance studio, I knew we were in for a treat. I was instantly impressed with the dancers, and felt like they hit the gold mine.

It was interesting how they called out one dancer to dance at the second studio they visited. His name was Trevor Allen and was from Austin, Texas. However, I’m so glad they did! He had some awesome moves and technique, and I doubt they would have seen that had he just shown up to the auditions. I wasn’t surprised when they asked him to move on before the auditions even started. Hopefully he will make it through to the final 12 dancers who will perform at the gala. I really enjoyed him.

The auditions definitely packed a lot of material into a short amount of time. In some ways, that is good, because the dancers that can perform under pressure were able to shine. But it was unfortunate for those that may not have been showing off their best moves, because it wasn’t the type of dancing they were used to. It was interesting to see the dancers as they showed of their best moves to “Chaine Chaine Chaine”. I thought that was a smart move on the part of Billy and Michael, as it showed who could do a basic task.

I didn’t catch a lot of the names of those that went on tonight, but there’s definitely some to watch for. I loved the group number. It was so creative and fun to watch! Houston was definitely a success, and I feel kind of bad that some of the people didn’t make it through.

Well, the auditions are over and next week we will find out which of the 24 will go home, and which 12 will move on to perform at the Gala for the Dizzy Feet Foundation. I think it’s going to be intense, especially because there are only 22 days left til show time! This preview definitely makes it seem that way:

Who was your favorite dancer from the night?

August 24, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is a journalism student at Brigham Young University in her senior year. She is originally from Littleton, Colorado, and hopes to move back there after graduation. Reality television is her favorite to watch, and has enjoyed writing about America's Got Talent and A Chance to Dance. She is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys writing (especially blogs), cooking and sewing (while spending far too much time on Pinterest finding inspiration) and being outside with her husband and son.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9: Top 8 – What They Should Dance

With only a few weeks left in the competition I thought I should put in my own thoughts as to what I would like to see the Top Eight dance in the coming week. Below I have listed the Top Eight dancers as well as what they have danced in the first five weeks of the competition. After that I have put in my thoughts for each individual dancer and what I would love to see them dance.

Tiffany Maher: Contemporary, Foxtrot, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Disco
For a Jazz dancer she has moved through the spectrum. After a high energy routine like the Disco I want to test her mettle even further with either a high octane Sonya Tayeh Jazz routine or showing off character in a Broadway routine.

Lindsay Arnold: Paso Doble, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary, Jazz
This little Ballroom girl has been stretched in some capacity or another, but that Hip Hop routine left me cold… she needs another chance to redeem herself. So how about a hard hitting Hip Hop routine with Twitch or Bollywood (or some other cultural routine).

Witney Carson: Samba, Bollywood, Contemporary, Contemporary, Jazz
A Ballroom girl with a bit of sass, but I’m not completely sold on her versatility as a dancer quite yet… perhaps after I see her in a Hip Hop routine I would change my mind.

Eliana Girard: Broadway, Jive, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary
She has finally been pushed and challenged in her routine with Alex Wong, so let’s really push the envelop further and toss her Ballroom, preferable a fun and sexy Samba or an Argentine Tango to show off some aggression.

Cyrus Spencer: Broadway, Jive, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary
So… he has been able to push the envelope with a bit of Contemporary, this is another one that I would really love to see him push the envelope further in either a Jazz routine or another Ballroom dance.

Cole Horibe: Paso Doble, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Contemporary, ChaCha
He’s done goofy, creepy, aggressive, beautiful… I really want to see him do another ChaCha since he did the last one on an injured foot. However, since repeating dances is not possible let’s toss him a Jive or a Samba to show off a funloving version of Cole that would force him to engage his partner and the audience more.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp: Samba, Bollywood, Contemporary, Contemporary, Hip Hop
He is FINALLY beginning to let loose and enjoying himself on the stage! Only took him five weeks. I want to see if he could pull off Jazz or evening a fun and flirty Foxtrot.

Will Thomas: Hip Hop, Contemporary, Jazz, Contemporary, Bollywood
Hands down… Will tries to infuse goofy into his character so let’s see if he could emulate a character where he cannot be prone to add goofiness to: like an agressive Paso Doble or a hard hitting Krump.

Since all the dancers have had to do a Contemporary routine at some point during the competition (Mia Michaels day anyone?) I would prefer to see a day where there is no contemporary whatsoever… though it might be too much to hope.

I Written By

My life can be summed up in the following two quotes: 1) "I am married to engineering and am its faithful wife by day, but at night my wanderlust takes hold and the arts becomes my jealous paramour." and... 2) "Engineering is my safety net. Writing is my passion. Acting is my escape when the other two become too much." So where does dancing fit in? Pretty much anywhere at this point... =)