Season 14: Los Angeles, Part One

Season 14 kicks off with auditions in Los Angeles, California. As much as I enjoyed watching the younger dancers last season, I am happy to see the adult dancers back. I didn’t even realized that I missed the opening credits and song till it played. Also, happy to see Mary back and that nothing has changed with the banter between her and Nigel. Vanessa seemed to fit right in and was genuinely excited to be there.

We only had one hour of auditions to watch tonight instead of two. It’s easier to stay interested in the show when there is only a few auditions to watch.

Mark Villaver: He has a great energy and perfect way to start the show. Mark referred to the style he was performing as thera…which basically translated to being your true self. I enjoyed his audition and his seamless fusion of break dancing and contemporary.

Kristina and Vasily: Married ballroom couple. Interesting to see the man blindfolded. I thought they dance beautifully and I felt like they successfully created a routine that showed of their various styles of ballroom they have studied.

Robert Green: A violinist turned dancer with an investing outfit to wear to an audition. Robert was my favorite of the night, so entertaining. I can already see the All Stars loving him and possibly fighting to have him on their team.

Alexis Gilbert: She is a beautiful dancer that you can take your eyes off of while she performs. However, for me the song choice and the style of dance didn’t quite work for me. The only reason I can think of is that I just saw the pro female dancers from DWTS do a number to this exact song and it a more serious tone compared to how Alexis performed it.

Luke Dryjski: This is what I like to call the featured bad dancer audition. Luke’s style of dancing reminds me of how some dancers dance when they are just goofing around and not taking themselves too seriously. Loved that Vanessa thought he was cute and decided to get up there and dance with him.

Darius Hickman: Very rare to see Nigel mention a dancer’s story before the dancer does. Darius has had a tough life and dance became his outlet on how he dealt with his life. He was the other standout of the night for me and I see a few of the All Stars wanting to work with him.

There was a montage of dancers from around the world and the night ended with twins from Russia who came over to the states just for the competition.
Ananstasiia and Viktoriia: It was such an interesting piece and I felt like I wasn’t watching an audition but an actual performance. Looking forward to seeing what else these two can do.

Next Monday auditions continue in Los Angeles.