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So You Think You Can Dance Season 11 Audition Dates

I just found this on the Fox website:
ATLANTA, GA
Fox Theatre
January 13, 2014

NEW ORLEANS, LA
New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
January 31, 2014

LOS ANGELES, CA
Orpheum Theatre
March 23, 2014

*More dates to come. Please keep checking back!

November 26, 2013 I Written By

Just call me Charlie...but where are my angels?

SPOILERS! SYTYCD Top 20!!!

Much like in last week’s post about spoilers for who made it through the end of Vegas Callbacks. Today is probably one of the most anticipated episodes of the season as the Top 20 is revealed.

Like last week, OMGDance has provided some spoilers as to whom could be in the Top 20

Nigel has mentioned a few times this season that Ballroom and Hip Hop is strong this season. Based off of last week’s spoilers there were three ballroom dancers that made it to the end of Vegas Callbacks and only one that we know of to be a hip-hop related dancers (there might be others, but none that we are able to discern based on the episodes seen).

If you look at the Top 20 Dance Style Breakdown page the season with the most hip-hop related dancers (this is including popping, locking, etc):
– Season One: 3 male / 1 female and 1 male breaker
– Season Two: 3 male / 2 female
– Season Three: 2 male / 1 female and 2 male breakers / 1 female breaker
– Season Four: 2 male / 1 female and 1 male breaker
– Season Five: 2 male
– Season Six: 2 male and 1 male breaker and 1 male krumper
– Season Seven: 1 male breaker
– Season Eight: 2 male and 2 male breakers
Just looking at the above list some of the hip-hop related strongest seasons occurred in the first four seasons of the series and then Seasons Six and Eight.

However, whenever Nigel and Co. talk about hip-hop dancers that have come onto the show they always go back to Twitch and Comfort both from Season Four. If they talk about strong breakers they tend to look at either Dominic from Season 3, Jonathan “Legacy” Perez from Season 6, or Jose Ruiz from Season 7.
Read more..

June 27, 2012 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... =)

SYTYCD Season 9 Music and Initial Thoughts: Meet the Top 20!!!

Hello all! I am running a little late, so I might miss a song or two from the beginning of the episode. So I would really appreciate your help in finding the music from tonight’s So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Meet the Top 20 episode. As you know, we’ve been listing all of the SYTYCD music ever since SYTYCD season 2. We hope to do the same this season.

In the comments below please list any and all songs that you happen to pick up, and any songs that you’d like me to specifically find and within twenty-four hours from the show I’ll update this post with the songs that I was able to catch. Please attempt to be as specific as possible as to where the music came from during the episode so I would know not to look for it and move on to the next piece of music.

The more songs that you guys are able to find, the more time I will have in finding the songs that you are unable to find.

Thank you so much for your help!

UPDATE 1: All songs updated with initial thoughts.
UPDATE 2: Updated the Top 20 Dance Style Breakdown and Top 20 Show Trivia pages
UPDATE 3: Added Poll

– Marianya

Wow I love these Meet the Top 20 Dancers routines… I really wished this was brought in for the earlier seasons, but you know what better late than never. First off… here is a poll, choose all the dances that you enjoyed from tonight’s show!

Beyond the break is more information about the dances from today’s show.
Read more..

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... =)

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Salt Lake City

Listen to the podcast

Episode 47 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes


Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:04 – “No” to Vegas (non-ballroom): Lynn Gravatt, Leroy Martinez, Murphy Yang
5:04 – Burlesque and Krump: Rachel Applehans, Mariah Spears
8:55 – Contemporary/Jazz: Deanna “Dee” Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo, Dareian Kujawa, Adrian Lee
15:44 – Ballroom: Whitney Hallam & Johnny Anh, Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson
20:41 – Who we’re excited to see in Vegas
26:23 – Wrap-up

Episode Length: 28:20

It’s the last stop of the season 9 audition tour and while we were largely underwhelmed by the turnout in Atlanta, Salt Lake City more than made-up for it, providing us with many solid, diverse performers and a whole host of ballroom at last! Of the non-ballroom performers, Mariah Spears, Deanna Tomasetta, Gene Lonardo and Dareian Kujawa all impressed us with their stand-out solos, from Mariah’s surprising and convincing krump routine to Gene’s clever choreography about the life cycle of the male praying mantis. The moving story of Leroy Martinez and his work with disadvantaged youth was an uplifting segment and a fitting way, we think, to close out the first part of the audition process. And of course, we finally had some proper ballroom! In particular, we found Witney Carson’s ability to transform herself the second her routine began to be particularly impressive, and she has great skill to boot!

Obviously, since we’re posting this after the airing of the Vegas week episode, a lot of the people we were excited to see in Vegas wound up cut. We’ll dig into the particulars when we get the podcast for Vegas together, but we are getting frustrated. After two seasons of rosters that were stuffed with contemporary/jazz dancers, we were hoping they would expand beyond that model this season. Although it has some inaccuracies, the Vegas spoilers list (which doesn’t list a Top 20, and is no longer really a spoiler after this past episode) shows that the majority of people that made it through the week are contemporary/jazz. I think what bothers us most about that is if the Top 20 contestants from the first 4 or so seasons were to try out now, it’s doubtful that some of them would even make it to the end of the week (like Ivan, for example).

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 22, 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!

SYTYCD Season 9 Las Vegas Callbacks Thoughts

Now that the Vegas Callbacks have aired it was difficult to know for sure who made it to the end and who is left for the final cut that would air next week. The spoilers show only up to 30 dancers made it to the end of callbacks but according to the show 35 actually made it to the end of the Vegas Callbacks. Although the majority (if not all) of the spoilers seem to be correct it would still be difficult to see who actually made it. Nigel keeps insisting that we have some really strong hip hop and ballroom dancers this year and yet the only ones that we know of in the Ballroom genre are Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold… while the ones in the hip hop genre is Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer… Interesting. Anyway let’s move on with the program.

Las Vegas Callbacks started out with 181 dancers who were invited back. As John mentioned earlier: What we see on television isn’t exactly what happens, sure everyone starts with a solo but in between sessions the dancers actually get a chance to learn more about what to expect in the dance industry. How to survive… this is truly an educational experience for anyone lucky enough to get a chance to be invited to be a part of the Vegas Callbacks experience.

DAY ONE VEGAS CALLBACKS: OPENING SOLOS
Sometimes the first solo is an advancement of what they showed in the city auditions, or it is a chance for the dancers to show more than what they displayed in the city auditions. Take Janelle Issis the belly dancer for example…
Read more..

June 21, 2012 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... =)

SPOILERS!!! SYTYCD Season 9 Las Vegas Callbacks

OMGDance, who are known for their consistent spoilers particularly via Vegas Callbacks have posted a list of dancers that have made it to Vegas Callbacks but have been cut prior to the Green Mile as well as a list of dancers that have possibly made it to the Green Mile. No Top 20 here, as dancers were probably still waiting for the call from producers for that particular piece of info. Keep in mind that this post was originally created back on June 6th.

IdolForums has also been known to be fairly consistent with their spoilers and someone even posted a list of the Top 15 guys and Top 15 girls from the end of Vegas Callbacks.

After the break when you compare the two lists you can see that there are some plausible discrepancies since these are indeed spoilers and rumors of the kind we won’t actually know who is in the Top 30 before the Green Mile / Meet the Top 20 episode coming next week. So please take the following lists with a grain of salt… I’ll post my thoughts about the show tomorrow.

Spoilers after the break:
Read more..

June 20, 2012 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... =)

SYTYCD Season 9 Music: Las Vegas Callbacks

Hello all! Ironically I am heading to an audition of my own, so I won’t be able to see tonight’s SYTYCD show live. So to help me focus on the SYTYCD music that is harder to find I would really appreciate your help in finding the music from tonight’s So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Las Vegas week episode. As you know, we’ve been listing all of the SYTYCD music ever since SYTYCD season 2. We hope to do the same this season.

In the comments below please list any and all songs that you happen to pick up, and any songs that you’d like me to specifically find and within twenty-four hours from the show I’ll update this post with the songs that I was able to catch. Please attempt to be as specific as possible as to where the music came from during the episode so I would know not to look for it and move on to the next piece of music.

The more songs that you guys are able to find, the more time I will have in finding the songs that you are unable to find.

Thank you so much for your help!

– Marianya

UPDATE 1: Songs are posted… most have been verified

UPDATE 2: Added additional songs all but three songs are verified

UPDATE 3: All songs verified and given alternatives whenever possible

LAS VEGAS CALLBACKS

Pendulum – The Island, Pt. I (Dawn) The Island, Pt. I (Dawn) - Immersion (Deluxe Version)

Pendulum – The Island, Pt. II (Dusk) The Island, Pt. II (Dusk) - Immersion (Deluxe Version)

DAY ONE VEGAS CALLBACKS: OPENING SOLO ROUND
Hampton “The Exorcist” Williams First Solo Music: Evanescence – My Immortal My Immortal - Fallen

Janelle Issis First Solo Music: Beats Antique – Egyptic Egyptic - Blind Threshold

Montage of dancers during the solo round: Rihanna – Where Have You Been Where Have You Been - Talk That Talk (Deluxe Edition)

DAY ONE VEGAS CALLBACKS: HIP HOP choreography by Twitch and Comfort
Hip Hop Choreography Music: OutKast – Bombs Over Baghdad B.O.B. - Stankonia

Montage of groups making it past hip hop round: B.o.B – So Good So Good - Strange Clouds

Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer group makes it through past hip hop round: Flux Pavilion – I Cant Stop I Can't Stop - Circus One (Presented By Doctor P and Flux Pavilion)

DAY TWO VEGAS CALLBACKS: BROADWAY choreography by Tyce Diorio
Broadway Choreography Music: Marc Broussard – Must Be the Water Must Be the Water (Single Version) - Must Be the Water - EP

Montage of groups making it through broadway round: Gin Wigmore – Don’t Stop Don't Stop - Holy Smoke

Montage of dancers who get eliminated after broadway round: Lissie – You Can Go Your Own Way You Can Go Your Own Way - Covered Up With Flowers - EP

DAY TWO VEGAS CALLBACKS: JAZZ choreography by Sonya Tayeh
The dancers rehearse for the Jazz round: StereoLif – I Like That since this is not available online a suggested alternative is Richard Vission & Static Revenger Starring Luciana – I Like That I Like That - I Like That - Single

Jazz Choreography Music: My Brightest Diamond – Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix) Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix) - Tear It Down

Dancers get cut during the jazz round: Gemini – Blue Blue - Blue EP

DAY TWO VEGAS CALLBACKS: DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE SOLOS after Jazz Round
Rachel Applehans “Dance For Your Life” Music: Leela James – It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World It's a Man's Man's Man's World - Let's Do It Again

Amelia Lowe “Dance For Your Life” Music: Elmer Bernstein & The Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra – To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird - Elmer Bernstein

DAY THREE VEGAS CALLBACKS: GROUP ROUTINES
Song used for the group round: Gotye (feat. Kimbra) – Somebody That I Used to Know Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Making Mirrors

Montage of dancers cut during group round choreography: Sara Bareilles – Hold My Heart Hold My Heart - Kaleidoscope Heart

“The HighSchoolers” Group Dance Music: The Side Project – I Wanna Dance with Somebody I Wanna Dance With Somebody - 14

Dancers that make it through the group choreography round: Estelle (feat. Janelle Monáe) – Do My Thing Do My Thing (feat. Janelle Monáe) - All of Me (Deluxe Version)

“Wolfpack” Group Dance Music: The Wanted – Glad You Came Glad You Came - Glad You Came - Single

DAY THREE VEGAS CALLBACKS: BALLROOM choreography by Jason Gilkinson
Ballroom (ChaCha) Choreography Music: Jennifer Lopez – Let’s Get Loud Let's Get Loud - On the 6

Montage of dancers eliminated after the ballroom round: Kris Allen – Out Alive Out Alive - Thank You Camellia (Deluxe Version)

Montage of ballroom dancers & dancers who excelled during the ballroom round: Nicki Minaj & Rihanna – Fly Fly - Pink Friday (Deluxe Version)

DAY THREE VEGAS CALLBACKS: DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE SOLOS after Ballroom Round
Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer “Dance For Your Life Music”: Messinian – Holy Ghost (Helicopter Showdown and Sluggo Remix) Holy Ghost (Helicopter Showdown and Sluggo Remix) - Holy Pimp Hand - EP

DAY THREE VEGAS CALLBACKS: CONTEMPORARY choreography by Travis Wall
The dancers rehearse for the contemporary round: Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed Starry Eyed - Lights

Contemporary Choreography Music: Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up I Won't Give Up - Love Is a Four Letter Word (Deluxe Version)

DAY FOUR VEGAS CALLBACKS: FINAL SOLOS and WHY THEY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
Alexa Anderson Final solo music: The Naked and Famous – Young Blood (White Sea Remix) this is not available on iTunes, here is a link to listen to the piece and from iTunes here’s the Renholdër Remix Version Young Blood (Renholdër Remix) - Underworld: Awakening (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Montage of dancers explaining why they should move on: Matchbox Twenty – Put Your Hands Up or Timeflies – Until the Sunrise Until the Sunrise - The Scotch Tape
Note: I could see how “Until the Sunrise” could fit by lyrics alone, but there are some lyrics that are featured that is not in “Until the Sunrise”

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp Final solo music: Noah Lifschey – Suite of the Winter Songbirds

End of the episode: Outasight – Tonight Is the Night Tonight Is the Night - Tonight Is the Night - Single

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... =)

SYTYCD Season 9 Salt Lake City Auditions Thoughts

SALT LAKE CITY AUDITIONS
Witney Carson
Facebook
Twitter
She has this sweet little girl quality to her, and when she dances it’s like she transforms into a grown woman. We haven’t seen all that many ballroom dancers thus far in the city auditions so it was a breath of fresh air to finally see that the dancers haven’t entirely disappeared.

Deanna “Dee” Tomasetta
Apprentice of Motiv8
– Student of Elite Academy of Dance
She made it to the end of Vegas Callbacks in Season 8 before being cut just prior to the Top 20 that was on the show.

Gene Lonardo
Facebook
Twitter
Glad it isn’t just me that felt that this guy just screams “Sonya Tayeh” all over him. He does have very strong technique and he comes across to me as more of an artist than dancer. Much like Ryan Kasprzak was a season or two ago… someone that dances you can toss them choreography and they will work with it, but an artist embodies dance in such a way that they use it to create a story, a painting, etc. This is Gene, however odd his intent was.

Lindsay Arnold
There was nothing that really drew me to her, not like with Witney and I shouldn’t be comparing dancers. Lindsay is a pretty face and has good talent, but for some reason I can’t see myself wanting to see more of her. Perhaps in another year or two, sure… but not at the moment.

Mariah Spears
Facebook
This is probably one of the major surprises of the season, a sweet little girl from the mean streets of Arizona… dancing KRUMP! The only other dancer that was notated as Krumper was Russell Ferguson of Season 6 and he couldn’t have been more different from Mariah. She danced Krump and did it really really well. I was very happy to see her get through the choreography round because I really would love to see how she fares in Vegas

Dareian Kujawa
For the longest time I didn’t think that a really good dancer could exist that would have bad feet. I mean I’ve come across mediocre dancers and choreographers that have lousy feet, but that’s probably why they aren’t in major dance companies and are just barely making ends meet. So it’s not a good thing to have come across a dancer that is incredible, great lines, passionate, etc but then you look at their feet and it’s just “ugh”. I really like Dareian, he’s really good, but dammit he needs to figure out a way to clean up his feet otherwise they are going to prevent him from reaching his full potential. Finishing off the feet helps to clean up the lines and the overall image of the dancer as they dance.

Amber Williams & Chase Thomas
Both of these dancers went straight to the Vegas Callbacks in Season 8 and were sent straight to Vegas Callbacks once again for Season 9. If you have forgotten, Amber was a rather quirky personality and dancer that wore all green that was at the San Francisco auditions. Chase Thomas was at the Salt Lake City auditions wearing almost nothing with the back story of his girlfriend cheating on him and eventually married an art history major. Both were phenomenal dancers and no doubt are even stronger this go around.

Adrian Lee
Twitter
YouTube Channel
YES! He’s BACK! Well kind of, I’m not fond of his routine, but I do love his technique. I remember him from Season 7 when he was in Vegas Callbacks and he was paired with Lauren Froderman for the Broadway number and I remembered just how much fun it was to watch. If you have forgotten, the Broadway number had several measures that gave the couples a chance to show what they can do on their own before heading into the choreographed section… Adrian and Lauren totally shined. I really hope he makes it past Vegas and onto the show this go around.

Rachel Applehan
Facebook
Twitter
– Part of Damsels Dance Company in Denver
Jazz/Burlesque… I wanted to see more dance in it, and what little there was I was ok with. It is possible to have a lot more dance into the audition and still have it be sexy/sassy and burlesque-related. Not seeing the choreography as the judges had I am going to have to trust their comments and believe that she was really good in some spots and sloppy in others.

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... =)

SYTYCD Season 9 Music: Salt Lake City Auditions

SALT LAKE CITY AUDITIONS DAY ONE
Intro to auditions music: M83 – Outro Outro - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.

Opening of the Utah auditions: Outasight – Now or Never Now or Never - Now or Never - Single

Witney Carson Interview Music: Goldfrapp – Strict Machine Strict Machine - Black Cherry

Witney Carson Audition Music: Bond – Libertango Libertango - Shine

Lynn Gravvatt Interview / End of Audition Music: Carpenters – Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day) [1989 Remix] Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day) [1989 Remix] - Carpenters Gold (35th Anniversary Edition)

Dancer’s dad auditions & she judges him: The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow Boom Boom Pow - The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)

Deanna “Dee” Tomasseta Interview Music: LMFAO – Get Crazy Get Crazy - Party Rock

Deanna “Dee” Tomasetta Audition Music: Blaire Reinhard – I Can’t Make You Love Me I Can't Make You Love Me - I Can't Make You Love Me - Single

Montage of “unique” dancers: Madness – One Step Beyond One Step Beyond - One Step Beyond...

Gene Lonardo Audition Music: Jahcoozi – Fish Fish - Pure Breed Mongrel

Lindsay Arnold Audition Music: Deadmau5 – Ghosts N Stuff Ghosts N Stuff - Ghosts N Stuff - Single

Montage of Ballroom Auditions: Sweet – Ballroom Blitz The Ballroom Blitz - The Best of Sweet

Mariah Spears Audition Music: Kardinal Offishall feat. The Clipse – Set It Off Set It Off (feat. The Clipse) - Not 4 Sale

Murphy Yang Audition Music: District 78 – I Won’t Dance (Official Step Up 3D Mix) can be downloaded via District 78’s America’s Best Mixtape

Choregraphy Round: Jennifer Lopez – Papi Papi - LOVE? (Deluxe Edition)

Montage of people going to Vegas after Choreography Round: Martin Solveig & Dragonette – Hello Hello - Hello - Single

SALT LAKE CITY AUDITIONS DAY TWO
Lead In Music to Day Two Salt Lake City Auditions: Jack White – Sixteen Saltiness Sixteen Saltines - Blunderbuss

Dareian Kujawa Interview Music: Cindy Alexander – Turning Into You Turning Into You - Every Rise & Fall

Dareian Kujawa Audition Music: Michael Grimm feat Jack Mack and the Heart Attack – I’ve Been Loving You Too Long I've Been Loving You Too Long - I've Got Dreams

Johnny Ahn Interview Music: Dan the Automator feat Hieroglyphics – Don’t Hate the Player Don't Hate the Player (feat. Hieroglyphics) - Don't Hate the Player - EP

Johnny Ahn & Whitney Hallam Audition Music: Rodolfo Guerra Y Su Sincopata Latina – Mueve El Cuerpo Mueve el Cuerpo - Demasiado Corazòn

Adrian Lee Audition Music: Otis Redding – Try a Little Tenderness Try a Little Tenderness - The Very Best of Otis Redding

Montage of dancers going to Vegas: Afrojack & Shermanology – Can’t Stop Me (Club Mix) Can't Stop Me (Club Mix) - Can't Stop Me - EP

Rachel Applehan Interview Music: Marilyn Manson – Slo-Mo-Tion Slo-Mo-Tion - Born Villain

Rachel Applehan Audition Music: Jessie J – Mamma Knows Best Mamma Knows Best - Who You Are (Platinum Edition)

Montage of bad auditions from day 2: Nicki Minaj – Starships Starships - Starships - Single

Leroy Martinez Audition Music: Chris Brown – Yeah 3X Yeah 3X - Yeah 3X - Single

Montage of people going to Vegas after Choreography Round Day 2: The Wanted – Chasing the Sun Chasing the Sun - The Wanted

June 13, 2012 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... =)

Podcast: SYTYCD Season 9 – Auditions: Atlanta

Listen to the podcast

Episode 46 direct download

Subscribe to podcast on iTunes


Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
2:51 – Dragonhouse Crew: Boris Penton, Andre Rucker, and Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer
9:02 – Other Hip-hop/Street Dancers: Tim Conkel, Jackson Alvarez, Asher Walker, and Damon & Deon
16:28 – Bellydancing: Janelle Issis
17:53 – Contemporary Guys: Joshua Alexander and George Lawrence II
21:31 – Contemporary/Jazz Girls: Audrey Case, Danielle Dominguez, Courtney Kirby, and Brittney Ortner
29:46 – Wrap-up

Episode Length: 32:18

After an exciting set of auditions in Los Angeles, we found ourselves disappointed with the turnout in Atlanta this year. That’s not to say there weren’t some standouts, and those standouts were pretty amazing. We were treated to some absolutely amazing hip hop from the members of the Dragonhouse Crew, with Boris Penton, Andre Rucker and Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer each offering us unique and draw-dropping takes on their “robotic” style of dance. It’s breathtaking what is possible with this style, whether it’s a fresh take on a character-based performance or melding two unrelated elements together, such as Boris’ movement atop a beautiful piano piece. Beyond the Dragonhouse Crew, Asher Walker surprised us with his self-taught brand of hip-hop dancing. While his dance vocabulary is limited, he overcame this with a great personality and sense of musicality, gliding to and fro across the stage without effort. George Lawrence II put forth a strong contemporary performance, putting every inch of his body into his extensions and balancing this with a tasteful routine full of contrasts in speed and quality of movement. Rounding out the dancers that impressed us was Danielle Dominguez, who’s Sonya-inspired style stood out and displayed a sense of power while maintaining a quirky character.

We wish we could say that we liked everyone from Atlanta, but many of the other contestants left us with mixed feelings. We felt lukewarm towards Tim Conkel, Jackson Alvarez, and Joshua Alexander, and we didn’t know what to make of Courtney Kirby. In addition, during her segment we wondered if having family members sit up at the panel is actually a good idea or if it carries a risk of biasing the judging panel. We discuss these things and more in the Atlanta audition 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.

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!