SYTYCD: Academy Part One

After a week off, SYTYCD is back with the beginning of Academy week. Only 70 dancers made it past the preliminary city auditions…which surprised my a little. I don’t think I can remember the number of dancers at this stage of the competition being this small. There were three parts to this episode, solos, hip hop, and ballroom.

Solos
It’s hard for me to pick a standout dancer, only because we are only seeing bit and pieces of the solos. Hazard of the show only being an hour-long. Though I will agree with the judges the hip hop guys did seem to have some strong solos. I also liked hear that one of the was taking a risk doing a move he has not performed on a stage yet. Tessa Dalke was the judges favorite of the solos. She stood out to me during her city auditions. I really don’t know how Tessa managed to study for her finals and handle the stress of this competition. 15 dancers were cut after the solo round.

Hip Hop- NappyTabs
I like what Tabitha said at the start of this round. I like seeing the choreographers lift up the dancers with positivity, while reminding them that it won’t be easy. I enjoyed the choreography from the groove parts to hard-hitting parts. You can tell that some of the hip hop dancers were struggling with picking up the choreography. Though I think the judges sent contestants through if they felt if the dancers were putting for the effort and trying. The judges also still enjoy giving the dancers a panic attack on if they are moving on to the next round or not. Also, loved that some of the ballroom dancers had NappyTabs almost not believing that they were ballroom dancers. Only 8 dancers were cut in this round.

Ballroom-Jean Marc
I love the energy that Jean-Marc brings to the room and that he used the phrase fake it to make it. Ballroom this season seemed to be a little more intimidating than hip hop this season. This round we got to see Jay Jackson out of drag, which was nice. I think he did quite well…even when the judges threw him a curve ball to have him dance with a stronger partner. I love that he is trying his best to prove that he is a dancer to Nigel and it’s working. I think he will come close to making the top 20. 6 dancers were cut after Ballroom.

Next week 41 dancers will continue to compete in contemporary with Travis Wall and a big group jazz number with Mandy Moore. The Top 20 might also be revealed.