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SYTYCD Season 15: LA Auditions Part One

Happy and excited to say that So You Think You Can Dance is back for its fifteenth season. Sorry I haven’t made any posts about it until now but my schedule has finally cleared up so that I can. Looks like there are a few changes to the new season…there will be a top 20 again which was revealed at the end of the episode. Also, there will be no choreography round during the initial auditions. So basically either you wow them or you don’t, if you wow them then you are sent to the Academy. I’m not sure how I feel about this however, it leads me to believe there will be so brutal cuts during Academy week.

Here are just a few of my thoughts about tonight’s episode.

~Gaevin “Rated G: Cool to see that he teaches b-boying and that he was inspired by Twitch. Also, like his confidence when it comes to learning dance styles.

~oh hi Maddox…he’s so cute

~Marcus Nyemchek (Kiki’s brother), Allen Genkin (S12 injury took him out) and Magda Fialek (Kiki’s partner): I really liked that they auditioned as a trio and I don’t think that has been done before, so it was refreshing. Magda is amazing. Out of the boys Allen seems to be stronger when it come to showmanship, but I do think they were all worthy of going through to the Academy.

~Taylor Haines: Though she didn’t make to the Academy, it is incredible to see what she can do and that nothing is going to hold her back.

~Jay Jackson: Interesting story on how drag chose him and loved his personality. I did understand the dilemma about putting him through to the Academy. I want to see what he can do as a dancer and not as a drag queen.

~Alexis Gilbert: Loved that she came back and that she has been training various styles in preparation to audition for the show again.

~Eddie Hoyt: A fantastic tapper and no surprise that Nigel gave him a standing ovation. The dance battle with Twitch was my favorite part of the night…thanks Nigel.

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season has to offer.

June 4, 2018 I Written By

Dance is one of my biggest passions. I grew up dancing at Augusta West Dance Studio (the same studio that Kathryn McCormick). I have a BFA in theatre/dance from Valdosta State University. Tap is my favorite style of dance.

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Los Angeles

Listen to the podcast

Episode 45 direct download

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Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:05 – Contemporary girls: Alexa Anderson, Eliana Girard and Sam Lenarz
7:26 – Jazz girls: Megan Branch, Jasmine Mason
11:18 – Choreography round guys: Jontel “Johnny Waacks” Gibson, Caley Carr, David Matz and Jonathan Anzalone
16:21 – Vegas-bound guys: Cole Horibe, Stephen Jacobsen and Marshea Kidd
22:30 – James & Nick Aragon, the “Ninja Twins”
24:34 – Wrap-up: Variety in the Top 20

Episode Length: 27:34

We’re still working to get caught up with our podcasts so that we’re releasing our thoughts close to the airing of the most recent episode. We apologize for the delay and we hope that after this one we’ll start releasing our podcasts on a more reasonable schedule.

If there’s one thing we love about this show, it’s that the audition episodes consistently bring out new and exciting dancers for us to enjoy. The Los Angeles auditions proved to be quite fruitful, with the contemporary girls Alexa Anderson and Eliana Girard impressing us with their skill sets and the character of their dances. We’ve been saying it for a while now, but we love it when contemporary dancers add some aggression into their style. There was also the sheer beauty of David Matz’s metal ring performance, which embodies everything we love about the quality of this show’s audition episodes. Cole Horibe’s audition was a welcome surprise, displaying a mix of martial arts ferocity with fluid, elegant movement that left us excited and wanting more. We also had the feel-good story of Marshea Kidd surviving a terrible car accident which nearly ended his life. That he could walk after what happened, let alone dance in the way he showed us, was a small miracle.

There was more to the episode of course, including the ridiculous first routine by Stephen Jacobsen that led many to speculate that the producers staged this for “controversy.” And who can forget the hilarious variety show that was the “Ninja Twins”! You can hear our thoughts about these and more in this week’s episode of our podcast!

Let us know what you think after listening to the podcast! You can leave us a comment here or on our blog, Reflections on Pop Entertainment. You can also follow us on Twitter and tweet with us. You can also visit our Facebook page, like us, and leave a comment there! We love feedback and will respond either with a comment or in our next published show.

June 7, 2012 I Written By

Over the past few years my fiancée Meghan slowly brought me into the world of television, turning me into a full-fledged fan of both scripted and reality shows. So You Think You Can Dance turned into one of my favorite reality shows as it is a competition that takes itself seriously, providing the audience with artistic choreography and talented dancers. It's certainly not something I ever expected to get emotionally invested in, but here I am! Meghan and I are very analytic when it comes to the things we enjoy. We constantly discussed and analyzed shows with each other and after doing this for a couple years, we decided that we should turn these discussions into a podcast. We created Reflections on Pop Entertainment, a podcast that provides commentary and analysis of popular entertainment as found in visual mediums, particularly television and film. So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 is the first television series we're covering with weekly podcasts and has allowed us to find our voice as well as actively contribute to the fan community. We hope that you'll enjoy our installments as they are posted to Pure So You Think You Can Dance!