Join me tonight for the first NYC auditions! Don’t forget to comment!
Our judges are still Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and Vanessa Hudgens. They’re really hyping that La La Land thing for Mandy Moore.
1) Impavido/Kaylee Millis – Contemporary
She played a lot of sports, and gave that up to dance. She had to pay for her own dance lessons, and worked odd jobs since she was 12. She thanks her parents for giving her even more drive to follow her dance dreams. she’s very quirky. I like her. What a way to start off NYC. I love that her choreo shows offf both that she can dance, has technique, but also has her own style and personality which shines in her solo. This girl could go really far. I’m sure there are some choreographers on the show that would love to work with her. So cool, so chill. Loved it. Standing ovation from all three judges, and literally everyone in the audience. Nigel says its difficult when everyone dances brilliantly, but that’s she’s an individual. She has a neat style, and a great face, and a little funk. Mary says she loved every second of that routine, and that she oozed confidence. Vanessa says she is a beautiful dancer, great look, great hair…. she’s straight through to the Academy! She thanks her parents again. Nigel says after that she set the standard. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
2) Ana Sanchez- 23- Colombia- Colombian Salsa
She’s really short (4’11”), and she’s auditioning with a partner who is ‘non auditioning’. She wants to make the hot tamale train. There are some cool lifts here, but the guy is not auditioning… soo… as far as Ana, She looks good dancing, lots of energy, and she seems to be hitting all the marks. I miss the originality, but it was a solid audition nonetheless. Mary screams in Nigel’s ear. Mary says it takes so much stamina, and they threw on the tricks on top. Vanessa says it made her want to shimmy, and she was having fun. Nigel loved the lifts, and compliments her partner. Ana is straight through to the academy. Her partner had aged out of the competition. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
3) Koine Iwasaki – Contemporary
She was born in Japan, and when she was young they moved to America. Her dad is a sushi chef. She started dancing before she could speak English, and it became a second language to her. There’s a lot of strength and precision in her movements that I like. I can also feel a little bit of her personality through this dance, and she stands out because of it. It’s not your typical dance, but a personalized dance to show us who Koine is. Standing ovation from the judges, and the audience. nigel says she had power, strength, and technique. Very professional performance. Vanessa says she got chills from the final pose. She calls her a strong dancer. mary says there are so many different layers. She’s straight through to the Dance Academy! – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
4) A montage of hip hop dancers- Kyle Bennett J, Shaquille Worsley, Alex Diaz
Three strong hip hoppers. No idea if they made it through or not. We didn’t get their results.
5) Classic and Havoc- Flexing
A hip hop duo showing a new hip hop form. Some really cool visual tricks here, but not a lot of “dancing”. They have incredible control over their bodies. Nigel says he thinks they’re genius. They did things he’d never seen before. Mary calls it sick, but in a good way. Vanessa says it was really cool. After some odd hesitation, these two are both straight through to the Academy. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
6) Chaz Wolcott- 29- Tap Dancer
Chaz has been in Cats and Newsies. So, he’s obviously going to be good. It’s his last shot to get through. You’re a tapper, you’ll go through. His spins are super fast. There’s definitely a Broadway flair to his tapping. Really great audition, as expected. Standing O from the judges. Mary screams while standing. She says she’s never had a tapper bring a tear to her eye. Vanessa says he’s so so good, and there was a yuminess to his dancing, and he made it seem effortless. Nigel says it was perfect choreography to the music, and he’s one of the best tappers he’s seen. Mary questions how he’s going to be able to do the show, but Chaz says he’s willing to take time off. “It’s like taking master classes.” He’s straight through to the Academy. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
7) Darius “The Bigger Cheese” Reed- 24
It’s a boy wearing girl clothes. It’s nice to know we can still be transphobic this season. Vanessa laughs immediately. Darius sheds the clothes pretty quickly, but it’s never a good dance. I don’t know if I blame Darius, or the show. Probably both. I don’t think this is Darius and I think he did it for the show. Vanessa says she laughed her butt off. “You do you boo.” It’s a no from Nigel and Mary, and Vanessa is a No, but come back. Really? Darius mouths off when he exits the room. Nigel invites another dancer to the stage to dance around without his shirt on. It’s all very bizarre. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
8) Montage: Logan Hernandez, Abby Griffin
Logan is Contemporary/BBoy, Abby is Contemporary/Pointe. They’re through to the next round.
9) Ryan Bailey- Contemporary
He admits that his style confuses people sometimes. He has his own dance studio and dance company. he hopes to bring something America has never seen before. Unique and somewhat bizarre at times. But this kid obviously CAN dance. There are some movs that he does that show off his technique, but, a lot of it is very manic. I’m not a fan of his style, but I also admit he can dance. Nigel calls it “deconstructing dance”. he liked that he didn’t like it. He hated it, but he liked it. Mary says it was the most bizarre audition, and oddly beautiful. Vanessa says his routine was confusing, interesting, and different. Mary says Academy. Nigel was scared to say Academy, but he says it. Vanessa agrees, and he’s straight through. – Click to Watch Performance VIDEO
Join me again next week for part two of the NYC auditions. Who was your favorite dancer tonight? Sound off in the comments below!
