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SYTYCD: Top 4 Perfomance Thoughts

It’s a busy Monday night if you are a dance fan, So you Think you can Dance and Dancing with the Stars on at the same time. So I hope everyone got their votes in for their favorite on both shows.

The performance finale was busy itself, each contestant danced 7 times tonight. So I’ll give my thoughts on the new dances we saw tonight…I’ll discuss what they chose as their favorite in a different post.

Top 4: Chris Scott and Travis Wall
I really enjoyed this collaboration from the two choreographers. Each one of the dancers represented element; Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. I will to say this was pre-filmed with the costumes, make up, and the elements themselves.

Kiki & Taylor: Cha Cha – Anya Garnis
So nice to have Anya back on the show. It was a very fun and fast Cha cha. Kiki in his own genre I am not surprised that he does well and is a great partner to whoever he is dancing with. Taylor was the one out of her element and I thought I saw a tiny mistake but I had to hear what Mary had to say. Mary didn’t seem to mind the mistake and Taylor made the hot tamale train.

Lex & Koine: Broadway – Al Blackstone
So this is my favorite Broadway number they have done on this show in a while. I loved everything about it but mostly that it had the comedic element to it.

Koine & Taylor: Jazz – Mandy Moore
This jazz had a very Fosse feel to it. I agreed with Taylor, the choreography started simple and got more complicated as the dance progressed. Thankfully they were able to pull off the side by side turns. I think Koine just needed a little bit more power behind her turns to keep up with Taylor.

Kiki & Lex: Hip Hop – Luther Brown
I really don’t have much to say about this dance other than I enjoyed it. It is nice to see Kiki really having fun in this competition.

Kiki & Koine: Contemporary – Travis Wall
I did have to watch this dance twice to enjoy it…I got lost in trying figure out how the story fit in. Overall it was another beautiful dance choreographed by Travis. I also though both on them danced it well.

Lex & Taylor: Contemporary – Mia Michaels
I was not only excited to have Mia back on the show but even more excited that she had these two to work with. Lex and Taylor had a nice bit of news to reveal after Mia explain the concept of the dance. They are DATING…which explains their chemistry and why this piece worked well for them. I loved this dance and I have missed Mia on this show. Only she would say okay you are going to kiss and while you are doing that you are going to continue to dance with the rest of your body.

I have a feeling it will come down to the two love birds on who will win. Look for a post later this week on how I think the outcome will be. Till then let me know who you think will win.

September 18, 2017 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.

SYTYCD: Top 8 to Top 7 Thoughts

Fabulous opening number by Mark Kanemura, I love when he comes back to the show. Also, great all star dance by Jaci Royal. Each dancer will dance twice once with their all-star and one with each other.

Koine & Marko: Jazz- Mandy Moore
This was pure jazz for me, no story just straight up dancing. Just a great way to start the night. I agree with the judges about what they said about Koine. Side not makes me happy that Marko will be on tour.

Taylor & Robert: Hip Hop- Luther Brown
Luther is on fire on this season. Tonight they were Tay-lo and Bob…alter egos come out during hip hop. I really enjoyed watching this…reminded me of when Witney and Twitch danced together in season nine. Luther giving Taylor the gum might have really helped her with the “stank face”.

Lex & Gaby: Contemporary Mandy Moore
Yay…Lex is in his own style. I agree with the judges…Mandy created a great piece that showed all of Lex’s strengths. His future as a dancer is bright.

Kaylee & Cyrus: Cha-Cha- Val Chmerkovskiy
Ok…so I enjoyed Val’s choreography this week, could be my favorite I’ve seen from him in a while. Kayla, nailed it from the steps, to the hips and looking like she was having fun. I though Cyrus did a respectable job and I wish Nigel wouldn’t throw shade his way.

Mark & Comfort: Broadway- Spencer Liff
I think is somewhat obvious that while Mark is mainly a b-boy/hip hop dancer, he has studied other styles before he came on to the show. I might have to agree with Nigel that he is probably the favorite of the younger crowd. That being said he was great in this number.

Kiki & Jenna: Jazz- Travis Wall
Umm…not my cup of tea. However, I thought Kiki did a great job. I think he needs a little more confidence in himself in the fact that he can do these style. Loved the costuming and makeup, maybe it was the music that made me wrinkle my nose.

Logan & Allison: Hip Hop- Chris Scott
So good, love Chris Scott’s lyrical hip hop. So fun and cute…you can really see the connection between the two of them. Side note…I can totally see Allison and Twitch dancing this together.

Lex & Taylor: Jazz- Spencer Liff
Touring together with a dance convention for year definitely helped them with the connection. Might have to make sure Spencer was ok after Nigel calling this on of the best dances that has ever been on the show. Like Mary I had a little bit of a flash of Hok. I would not be surprise at all if it comes down between Taylor and Lex on who will win.

Koine & Kiki: Salsa: Val Chmerkovskiy
Where has this Kiki been. Worthy of the hot tamale train in my opinion. Also I am enjoying seeing Koine show her fun side. Kiki is good a what he does…won’t be surprised to see him on DWTS in the future.

Logan & Kaylee: Contemporary- Travis Wall
I loved this idea that Travis had…part reminded me of Peter Pan chasing his shadow at times. Kaylee did a wonderful job mirroring Logan…which was a task in itself. Definitely Emmy nomination worthy.

Dassy & Mark: Hip Hop- Chris Scott
I really thought this showed off their personalities well. Glad Dassy was able to pull off the umbrella moves for the live show after breaking nine of them. It was a fun pairing I love how they even continued on even after the routine.

Bottom three: Dassy, Kaylee, and Koine

Dassy in the end went home but like FikShun said she went home on a high note.

August 28, 2017 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.

Season 14: Live Episode One Thoughts

The All-Stars open up the first live show of the season with a great Mandy Moore routine. It didn’t take me long to notice the new stage/set. I feel like it combined the best parts about the two previous sets…love seeing the audience around the stage and up where the stair lead. Every time I saw Cat up there I had flashbacks from earlier seasons. I like how they revealed the top 10 but wish they used a camera that was closer to the dancer…from a distance I could’t tell who they were till Cat said their name. With the exception of Jenna’s choice, all of my predictions were right. Let’s get into the dances shall we. Keep in mind these are just my initial thoughts…I’ll try and rank the performances in another post.

Dassy and FikShun: Choreo: Poppin’ Pete
I love these two together and I agree with Mary that FikShun has met his match in Dassy. Just a very fun routine to start out the show. Dassy personality really shines and I’m looking forward to seeing what else these two can do.
Logan and Allison: Choreo: Tyce Diorio
Allison injured her shoulder during rehearsal, so Audrey Case from season 9 filled in for her. Major props to Audrey for learning that in a few hours. Overall, it was a beautifully danced routine but for me there was something missing that I wasn’t connecting with…this is where the rehearsal footage )that was missing tonight) usually helps me filling what the dance is about. Could have been slightly different if danced with Allison. Logan is a great dancer though.
Kiki and Jenna: Choreo: Dmitry Chaplin
I do think that Jenna made the right choice. I might have to agree with what Jenna said during the academy…Kiki might be the best male ballroom dancers this show has had in a while.
Kaylee and Cryus: Choreo: Tessandra Chavez
Love that Cyrus took a chance and chose Kaylee. I actually thought Kaylee danced this beautifully from emotions to technique. Even Cyrus has stepped up his game since his season. I can see what Vanessa was saying but Nigel left me scratching my head. Don’t worry Nigel the audience managed to get Cyrus to the top 4 his season…so I’m sure Kaylee will get votes
Lex and Gaby: Choreo: Anthony Morigerato
Anthony doesn’t disappoint in tap choreo in my opinion. Loved the Broadway feel of this tap and that they went with her strength for the first show if only to show how well-rounded contemporary dancers are. Lex’s personality is starting to show a little bit more. Cat said it best it was Fred and Ginger meets James Brown.
Mark and Comfort: Choreo: Luther Brown
These two might have the best chemistry of all of the partner’s . When Vanessa referenced “Hook” with the character of Ruffio…I have to agree with that statement. Mark’s energy comes right through the screen and he should be a fan favorite.
Koine and Marko: Choreo: Stacey Tookey
Okay Nigel, stop playing match maker, though they are a cute couple. I agreed with Mary that the lighting helped make Stacey’s choreo come to life and it was dance beautifully by these two.
Sydney and Paul: Choreo: Val Chmerkovskiy
I might have a slight aversion to Val choreography because I had to watch it a few times to appreciate it. Beside one awkward lift, I thought Sydney danced it well and she does have legs for days.
Taylor and Robert: Choreo: Travis Wall
Wow just wow. The best dance of the night for me. Everything about this was stunning. Only standing ovation of the night.
Robert Green and Jasmine: Choreo: Chris Scott
The best reveal of the night. Chris Scott gives us another fun routine. I love Robert since his audition so really looking forward to see more from him. I do wish the costume department put him in pants instead of shorts.

WELCOME BACK WADE! I don’t know about anyone else but I have sure missed his presence on this show. A great collaboration with his wife Amanda and Tony Testa. Loved this group routine and I hope to see more of Wade this season.

August 7, 2017 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.

Academy Episode 2: Contemporary, Ballroom, and Groups

Information overload in this weeks episode…it’s hard to keep track of names and who is on which all-stars team. Definitely seeing the difference between the one and two-hour episodes. Even watching the episode twice I wasn’t able to keep up with everything. So I figured I would just go with my thoughts about tonight’s contemporary, ballroom, group rounds.

Day two started off with a difficult contemporary combo from Travis Wall. I really enjoyed that Travis allowed the dancers to free style the start of the routine. Allowing them to interpret the music into their own form of movement. Also not pairing them up I think gave the dancers more of an opportunity to take Travis’s choreography and make it their own. Just like the hip hop round the contestants have an hour to learn the dance. However, each group will learn their fate right after they dance. Robert finally has someone on his team and he might have gotten a little dramatic to ensure that Taylor would be on his team. If you noticed that contestants that were chosen to be on a team in last weeks episode still had to participate in rest of the rounds, I’m assuming to let them keep proving themselves to the all-stars that chose them. By the end of the first round of day two 14 more dancers were cut.

Next up ballroom with Dmitry and Jenya. Happy we got to see the Cha Cha demonstrated so we know what the choreography is supposed to look like. Also by this point each all-star only has one more space left on their teams. The reactions of the all-stars were feature a little bit more this round and it’s nice to see them enjoying themselves before they have to make a hard decision. I noticed that they began to struggle deciding what they want to do, Paul changing his mind of what he was going to do to save Vacily was a great example of this. The teams are full at the end of this round.

Day two of the academy is over or so they think. Cat breaks the news that it is time for the group round, in which the dancers would work through the night to create a routine and perform it the next morning and one person would be cut from each team. Okay so group night was when I wish was a separate episode or a two-hour one. I missed the intensity of what this round usually is…granted I never really enjoyed the drama that the group round can bring but it did make the group routines a little more impressive. Overall, Paul’s team might have had the worst group dance of the night and they seemed to have the most drama. Jenna made an interesting move by saving Kevin from elimination, she obviously connected with him on some level not to be able to let him go. In making this save, Jenna had to cut two of her dancers from her team. After group rounds each all-star has 3 team member left.

Next week is the final episode of the Academy before the live show start and the all-stars still have to cut two more dancers from their team. First up in Jazz with Sonya, followed by the all-stars dancing with each of their final two dancers (well that’s what it looked like to me). Ending with the green mile in which we will find out our top 10 dancers. I have a few guesses of who might be in the top 10 so I’m curious to see if I have any correct.

July 24, 2017 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.

Academy Episode One: Solos & Hip Hop

Tonight we were treated to a great opening number choreographed by Mandy Moore. I actually loved that they did this, it made the introduction to the Academy more exciting. Anyone else notice that part of the choreography was use in the initial audition rounds. Tonight’s episode was jammed packed full of information and I know I didn’t get all the names for the teams but I’ll hopefully fill them in next week.

Round One: The dancers must impress the panel of All Stars with their solo or duet(ballroom). If they get the majority of the vote, they will move on to the next round. I always enjoy watching the All Stars reaction to the all-stars. There were several that did impress and I wasn’t surprised either. Kristina and Vasily for me stood out. They danced so beautifully, but we didn’t see them much throughout the rest of the episode. However, I did spot them at the end of the episode when they were previewing the rest of the Academy. 71 dancers moved on the next round.

Round Two: Hip Hop with NappyTabs, who are everywhere these days. The contestants have an hour to learn the routine and then have to perform it for the All Stars. So it’s either sink or swim, and from what I saw there was everything from amazing to awful. I do wish the show will show the viewing audience what the dance actually looks like. After all the dancers have performed one of three outcomes will happen. 1) Picked to be on an All Stars’s team 2) Move on to the next round or 3) Sent home. If more than one All Star want them on their team the contestant gets to choose whose team he or she wants to be on.

Kevin Davis Jr: A Krumper that had five All Stars wanting him on his team. Allison, FikShun, Cyrus, Jasmine, and Comfort all explained why they wanted him on their team. In the end he wanted to choose the person who he would benefit the most from, so he picked Allison.

Dassy Lee: Not surprised she had both of the Hip Hop boys wanting her on their team. Dassy chose FikShun over Cyrus. I’m thinking FikShun has an edge over Cyrus since he has won the show and mentored last years winner.

Logan Hernandez: Robert, Allison, and Jenna were all wanting him. Jenna even made a bold statement of the night by saying he would be her partner on the show. She basically said he would be in the top 10 if he chose her. Logan chose Allison…chances are he might not have believed Jenna.

Robert seemed to have a tough time convincing someone to be on his team. After tonight’s episode he is the only All Star that doesn’t have anyone on his team yet.

At the end of tonight 13 of the 40 spots were filled, and next week the dancers face contemporary with Travis and ballroom with Dmitry. I am going to try to get a who is on each All Star’s team up.

 

July 17, 2017 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.

New York Auditions: Part 2

I case you didn’t notice last weeks episode was a repeat, I’m guessing due to the fourth of July the network didn’t want to air a new episode. So tonight we get to see the rest of the auditions in New York, and it also concludes the initial auditions before the Academy. There was plenty of talent tonight from the amazing to the not so great (which always makes me wonder if they watch the show).

Magda & Kiki: They have an interesting dynamic but they a just dance partners, and Magda does all the talking. What I liked about their audition is that it wasn’t too over the top with the tricks, and I was a little surprised they didn’t do any lifts. It was just a straight forward cha-cha that got them their ticket to the Academy.

Claudia & George, Jaryd Farcon, and Allen Genkin…just a few more ballroom dancers to make it straight to the Academy

Zachary Downer: He auditioned for season 12 and made it to the green mile. Can’t say I rememberer him but it is very clear after watch him dance again why he made it as far as he did. Love the infusion of the african movement with the contemporary.

Ramita Ravi: I have to admit I was excited to watch her dance the moment she sat down to talk to Cat. I do enjoy watch the Bollywood style of dancing. I was somewhat surprised the judges didn’t send her to the academy right away. I think that they just wanted to see more of what she can do. Thankfully she made it through the choreography round.

Peter Mangione: I must have missed the part when he said he had only be dancing for six months, but when he mispronounced Ballet, I pretty much knew this would be a not so good audition.

Arielle Disciascio: I was on the fence about Arielle, yes she is a fantastic dancer with precision and control. However, I wanted to see her let go and really just dance from the heart. So like Nigel I wanted to see her do the choreography.

Some more familiar faces of past seasons are back to try again and the are all hip hop dancers. Chris Andrews, Chase “CTut” Lindsey (the finger tutting) and Jason Kidd. One last familiar face for tonight was Romainson Romain, provided the most moving audition of the night, the judges knew he had a lot weighing him down and I loved that they lifted him up. He also didn’t do too bad in the choreography round and he made it to the academy.

Marc “Full out” Royale: Um dancing professionally for two years…yeah I don’t think so but I see why he goes by full-out.

Claire Rathbun: I love how ballet dancers especially those that do pointe make it look so easy and effortless. I also love how she wants to prove that you can have a big personality and still do ballet. Based on her personality I wonder how well she will do in the hip hop genre.

Lex Ishimoto: He took a big risk by doing an improve for his audition, but man did it pay off. It was the best audition of the night. Plus at the time of his audition he was performing with Travis Wall’s (and Nick, Teddy, & Kyle) company Shaping Sound. I can’t wait to see what All Star get him on their team. It’s a bold prediction from me but Lex will be in the top 10.

So 100 dancers total for the LA and New York Auditions made to the academy. They will be tested by Travis Wall, Sonya Tayeh, Dmitry Chaplin, and NappyTabs. Looking forward to next week.

July 10, 2017 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.

Next Generation: Top 5 Thoughts

Tonight’s episode marked the 250th episode of SYTYCD. I can’t help but wonder how many dances there has been in the 250 episodes. We even got a special performance from Travis Wall and Maddie Ziegler, which was Emmy worthy. So tonight each of the remaining five performed with their all-star twice and they even got to choreograph their own dance. I’ll admit I was slightly worried when they announced this last week but I have to say all the kids did a great job.

Tate and Kathryn: First up a routine choreographed by Stacey Tookey. These two just simply dance beautiful together, just like the do every week.
Tate’s Choreo: I really loved the concept that she came up with the masks and breaking away from there insecurities. It is something that I can see a contemporary company performing. I agree with the judges that Tate will become a fantastic choreographer one day.

Kida and Fikshun: Pharside and Phoenix didn’t hold back with this Krump routine and as Lil C would say the performance was Buc. Kida did seem a bit out of sync and I think that Nigel was right in the fact that he just needed to make his movements bigger to compensate for a tight-fitting jacket.
Kida’s Choreo: I seriously loved this dance. It fun, funky and animated. Simply it is just what they do best.

Emma and Gaby: When Cat said that Savion Glover was choreographing for the show, to say I was excited is an understatement. I love that Savion slowed them down a bit tonight and it had an old school type of feel. I have to agree with Nigel if you get a chance look up some of these other famous tap dancers.
Emma’s Choreo: I would have never had guessed that an eleven year old choreographed this tap routine. I can’t get over how good of a tap dancer she is.

JT and Robert: Stacey Tookey gave us another beautiful dance. I didn’t quite connect with the story behind it but I did think it was danced well. JT has improved with the help of Robert.
JT’s Choreo: I feel like this was a big challenge for someone his age and I thought he did ok. I love that Nigel admits that he has fallen under the JT’s cuteness spell.
Tahani and Comfort: Dave Scott went for a hip hop with hints of it’s African roots. I feel like that the costumes and make up made this dance even better. It was a high energy fast paced dance that I enjoyed. Tahani might only have a few things to work on but over all it was a good performance.
Tahani’s Choreo: Again another fun concept, it’s great seeing the contestants really going all out for their choreography. I personally loved that she turned Comfort into a nerd. Unfortunately, tonight was the end of the road for Tahani.

So we are down to the final four and we are two weeks away from announcing a winner. Tonight’s votes will be combined with next week performance finale votes. I honestly don’t have a clue who will win but I have noticed that out of the remaining all-stars there are two winners and two that placed third. I’m curious on how the all-stars have affected the voting.

August 29, 2016 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.

Next Generation Top 6: Thoughts

So now that the Olympics are over we can get back to the competition. I honestly think that the remaining dancers are all fantastic and it’s really hard to pick just one that will win. This week we got to see them dance with their all-stars and paired with each other.

Each of the next generation dancers shine when they are dancing with their all-stars. I feel like three of them stood out the most. Ruby, JT, and Emma.

Ruby: She has probably the most infectious personality and the Jive was the perfect way to show it off. Love seeing Mark Ballas choreographing for SYTYCD again and loved that Ruby teased him about  his man bun. Only critique I have is that maybe Paul could have channeled Mark just a little bit more.

JT: This routine choreographed by Al Blackstone might have been my favorite so far that JT and Robert have done together. I can’t help but to smile watching these two together. I do think that JT is slowly turning into Roberts mini me…saw that in his solo. Maddie said it the best, that this dance also  explains what this show has been about.

Emma: I’m consistently blown away by her tap skills. It was so great to see Nick Young from season 8 choreographing for the show. SpecTAPular! Thanks Paula for that new word to add to my vocabulary.

Now on to the Next Generation pairings and I think I’ll rank these.

  1. Tate and Kida: Mark again delivers another great routine. I think he turned Kida and Tate into ballroom dancers, they both did a great job. I will probably watch this Paso again and again.
  2. Tahani and Ruby: While this broadway routine was a little bit lack luster for Nigel, I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the routine and thought that Ruby and Tahani performed it well.
  3. JT and Emma: I really like what Travis brought out in these two. They seemed to have a more maturity to their dancing. However, I think that there is still few things that they still needs to work on.

Unfortunately someone had to leave and Ruby was the one that had the least amount of votes. Sad to see her go but I think she will have a great dance future.

Next week will be the shows 250th show and the Next Generation is taking over the choreographing jobs. I’m not sure about this idea but if they all-stars are allowed to help then it may work. Plus a special performance from Travis Wall and Maddie.

 

August 22, 2016 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.

Next Generation: Top 9 Thoughts

So this week the dancers are back dancing with their all-stars in their own styles. I think I’m starting see the pattern of how the show will go from week to week. Great opening number choreographed by Brian Friedman to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”. On a side note did not know that Jason Derulo wrote that song.

Jake and Jenna: (Samba) Always good to see Dmitry back on the show. I think he found the way to work around the height difference. I also liked seeing Jenna helping Jake with the steps he didn’t know yet. Overall it was a fantastic performance.

Tate and Kathryn: (Contemporary) I’m really loving Brian Friedman’s choreography tonight. This piece was stunning and so are the dancers. My only complaint was maybe they went a little overboard with the smoke machine. I agree with the judges Tate is the best technical dancer on the show.

Kida and FikShun: (Hip hop) Dave Scott hit the jack pot with these two. Loved the concept of this dance. The make up department out did themselves, Kida really did look like a puppet.

Jordan and Sasha: (Jazz) This was definitely a fun piece and boy was it jam-packed with a lot of fast moves. They did fall out of sync a few times but no other real issue.

Sheaden and Marko: (Hip hop) I think Sheaden proved why he was picked to be on the show. I also think this truly allowed him to show off his personality.

Ruby and Paul: (Argentine Tango) Pretty sure that Paul had bruises all over his legs. Loved that the piece had a lighter feel compared to the usually darker feel I’m used to seeing. After watching the performance I would have never had guessed that Ruby has never really done the Argentine Tango.

Tahani and Comfort: (Dance Hall) It’s always good to see new style on SYTYTCD. Just hard to judge…I thought it looked good.

JT and Robert: (Contemporary) Seriously, Travis Wall will have another Emmy nomination next year. My favorite of the night. It is so nice to see JT slowly breaking out of the “cute kid” role.

Emma and Gaby: (Tap) Like Nigel, I really enjoy being about to see tap on the show every week. There is no denying the fact that Emma is a fantastic tap dancer.

The bottom two tonight were Sheaden and Ruby. This is just going to get harder every week to watch these kids get eliminated. I did agree with the judges that Sheaden would be in 9th place. I have a feeling we might see Ruby in the bottom next week.

July 25, 2016 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.

The Academy: Day 3 and 4

It’s the final rounds of the Academy and by the end of the episode the top 10 will be revealed. I’ve said it before but I am so glad I don’t have to make the decision that the All-Stars do.

A NappyTabs hip hop was up next and they had an hour to learn this very fun choreography. Not sure why hip hop got an hour and the other style got an hour and a half rehearsal time. Tabitha and Napoleon were impressed by the talent of the next generation. Most of the kids were impressive, I thought. Comfort was having a difficult time with this round of cuts, so she has Phoenix and Logan dance for their lives.

Contemporary with Travis Wall was next and an hour and a half to learn it. Travis didn’t hold back and the kids went for it. I thought that the All-Stars got their chance to show why they were chosen to mentor these kids. I thought they all gave great advice, especially Joshua in telling his team to use their hip hop experience in the contemporary round. I thought all of the contestants were impressive and the All-Stars were moved, Jenna seemed the most emotional. This was the round the struggle of making the decision was really starting to show on the All-Stars faces.

Before the All-Stars made their final decision on who would be joining them in the top 10, they had a one on one talk with each of their final two contestants. This is when I decided to play the guessing game of who I thought they’d pick. 5 out of 10 I guess correctly. So here is your top 10.

Kathryn and Tate
Sasha and Jordan
Fik-Shun and Kida
Jenna and Jake
Joshua and Sheaden
Robert and JT
Paul and Ruby
Gaby and Emma
Jonathan and Daniela
Comfort and Tahani

Since it will be two weeks till the live shows, I post my thoughts on the top 10 next week. Also a post with the National Dance Day routine.

June 27, 2016 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.