So You Think You Can Dance 2022 Recap: Choreography Round

CR: Adam Rose/FOX

Happy Wednesday y’all! It’s time for all of this season’s successful auditioners to show us what they’ve got in the Choreography Round of So You Think You Can Dance!

We’ve seen dozens of auditions in various dance styles over the last three weeks, and after tonight, only the best of the best will make it through to the Top 12 after tonight’s Big Cut.

the Choreography Round consists of three rounds led by choreographer Mandy Moore. The first round will be in their own dance style, the second round will be in partner work, and the third round will be a group routine. Contestants will be cut after each round until only 12 remain.

Mandy Moore teaches routines to each group of contestant in each dance style, and we see one dancer’s foot dripping blood by the end of rehearsals.

Round 1 – Contemporary – Matthew Deloch, Samuel McWilliams, Waverly Fredericks, Thiago Pacheco

The “Contemporary Boys” performs a routine to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and Waverly and Samuel outshined the other two, in my opinion.

Matthew, Samuel, Thiago and Waverly move on.

We see a montage of the rest of Round 1.

Konnor and Keaton move on. Sage moves on. Alexis moves on. Several others move on who are not named.

Round 1 – Contemporary – Mia Mellican, Jaliyah “Juicy” Kersten, Madison Moser, Maci Montes

This group performs to the same Whitney song and while Maci’s performance isn’t technically perfect, she is the most fun to watch!

Madison and Maci are cut. Mia and Jaliyah move on.

Round 1 – Hip Hop – Essence Wilmington, Sara Ito, Madina Beisekeyeva, Brianna Grey

Essence absolutely blew them all out of the water with that routine!

Brianna is told to come back and do a solo. Essence, Sara and Madina move on.

Round 1 – Solo – Brianna Grey

Brianna dances for her life with a solo Hip Hop routine in attempt to impress the judges and move on. Her performance is much stronger this time, with some uniqueness she lacked last time.

tWitch says yes, JoJo says no, Matthew says yes.

It’s time for Round 2 and all the dancers are paired into partners and rehearse with Mandy Moore.

Round 2 – Partners – Beau Harmon and Jaliyah “Juicy” Kersten, Thiago Pacheco and Alexis Warr

Jaliyah and Thiago were best and I would have liked to see them partnered together.

Beau, Jaliyah, Thiago and Alexis all move on.

We see Round 2 continue and several more move on, including Keaton and Carter, while several others are cut, including Sage, Jordan and Sara.

Round 2 – Partners – Andrew Park and Madina Beisekeyeva, Matthew Deloch and Brianna Grey

All danced well, but Andrew and Madina had some serious unexpected chemistry.

Matthew moves on. Madina, Andrew and Brianna get cut.

Round 2 – Partners – James (Brianna’s boyfriend) and Virginia Crouse, Waverly Fredericks and Jordan Betcher

James let me down, but Waverly always impresses. And both girls didn’t perform their best.

James, Virginia, Waverly and Jordan all move on.

Round 2 – Partners – Samuel “Hooliboy” Kyei and JoJo Lokhorst, Essence Wilmington and Samuel McWilliams

I expected so much more from Samuel Kyei, JoJo was all right, but Essence is going to win this whole thing I’m calling it right now.

Essence, Samuel McWilliams and JoJo move on. Samuel “Hooliboy” Kyei gets cut.

The remaining dancers now prepare for the final round: the group routine. They all rehearse with Mandy Moore to perform a routine that combines the many different styles.

Round 3 – Group Routine

They all perform the group routine, some dancers clearly outshine others. I liked the way the routine was split between a collective group number and separate smaller ones in different styles, but in my professional opinion as a choreographer, the opening was very repetitive.

The judges deliberate, and the results will come in next week’s episode!

This episode was incredibly fast-paced, so I appreciate you all bearing with me as I recapped everything of importance! The live blog will be taken over by MJ next week when we find out who makes the Top 12, and I’ll be back for the June 22 episode!

About Ashley Amber 84 Articles
Ashley Amber is a 29-year-old writer, author and dancer. When Ashley isn't live-blogging shows like The Voice and Dancing With The Stars for MJ's Big Blog, she works as a writer for Happy Productions and a contributor at The DIS, and previously published over 300 articles for Collider. Ashley has also authored a self-published fantasy/romance series of novelettes, and made her poetry debut in 2021's LGBTQIA+ anthology Deviant: Chronicles of Pride by InkFeathers Publishing. As a former pro ballroom dancer, when she's not writing, you can find Ashley on Youtube and TikTok where she posts dance videos featuring her own choreography and tutorials.