In yet another week of incredible dance and heightened emotions, So You Think You Can Dance moved on to its next round this week. That’s right, dancers. It’s time for The Academy. Over three days at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the 79 dancers that made it through the auditions worked intensely on four round of choreography. This week, we got to watch them dance their way through hip hop, ballroom, and contemporary, and so many favorites have already gone home.
Hip Hop
Luther Brown was the first to put the contestants through their paces with his hip hop choreography. The important thing to focus on for any dancer trying to make it through this genre is that it’s all about the attitude and personality brought to the choreography.
This round saw some struggling from the beginning, and even Nigel was saying, “Where’s the sauce!?”. Hip hop audition stars Sumi Oshima, Dezi Saenz, and Anna Linstruth were lucky to get a second chance to perform the choreography after stuttering their way through an initial performance. While they made it through, hip hop spelled the end for Michael Sales, Samuel Sweetser, Victoria Neukon, Shamus Moriarty, and Lauren Luteran. Trent Edwards also ended up going home after a chance to dance for his life that didn’t go as well as his initial duet with his twin.
Ballroom
Sassy and full of tricks, ballroom choreography meant a cha cha taught by Emma Slater and Sasha Farber who had the contestants stunned by their preview of the choreography. Even dancers outside of their genre like tapper Eddie Hoyt and Frank “Ghost” Crisp Jr. showed that they could keep up with ballroom and moved onto the next round, but others like Jalen Sands, Maia Bliudnikas, and returner Bridget Derville-Teer were sent home to develop their ballroom skills. Ballroom also sent Colton Edwards home to join his brother, and Sarah “Smac” McCreanor ended up being more entertaining than technical and found herself headed home as well.
Contemporary
The final choreography round before the group round was contemporary with Talia Favia. Talia’s emotionally choreography gave hip hop dancer Benjamin Castro quite the breakthrough and brought out some incredible moves from Bailey Munoz and John John Tarrayo who proved they weren’t just b-boys. Even after training and showing significant improvement, Jay Jackson went home, ending his SYTYCD journey.
Many of our favorites made it through this week, but even more were sent home to work harder on their technique. Next week, the remaining dancers will take on a Mandy Moore group number to determine who will make it into the Top 20 and the final cut.
