This week, we saw the final auditions from the Qualifiers round of Season 4 of NBC’s World of Dance. With the Callbacks in sight and anticipation ramping up for The Duels, who are you hoping to see make it to the finish line?
Géométrie Variable
This trio of dancers whose professions include masonry, plumbing, and even electrical work took a chance on dancing to get where they are today, and they brought their incredibly synchronized tutting moves to the competition showcase exactly what they were working toward. Ne-Yo called their performance “entertaining” and “cinematic,” and all of the judges were impressed by their ability to transfer emotion with linear movements. This group received three enthusiastic yeses from the judges.
Gigabots
The faces in this Junior Division group might seem familiar since they came from two previous World of Dance acts, Minibots and Funkonometry. This new popping group had stand-out moments that included grooves and hard-hitting moves, but the judges weren’t that impressed. JLo specifically mentioned that their performance wasn’t as strong as the work these dancers brought to the show last year. Nos from JLo and Derek sent them home.
Maddy Penney
Season 4 is the season for ballet! Junior Division soloist, Maddy Penney came to the competition to break ballet stereotypes about the quiet and shy ballerina. She is proud to be goofy and loud! The judges were impressed by her technique in her contemporary ballet routine, but they wanted to see more emotion from her to match. Maddy received a no from Derek, a callback from Ne-Yo, and a yes from JLo, but Ne-Yo changed his mind, giving Maddy two yeses and a ticket to The Duels.
CBAction
These dancers brought an extra-happy performance to their Qualifiers audition despite being one member short due to a broken knee. While the judges couldn’t watch them without smiling, they still wanted to see more from these street dancers. We’ll be seeing them in the callbacks round.
Kurtis Sprung
Walking into the warehouse for his audition without a shirt or shoes, contemporary dancer Kurtis Sprung performed a routine that Derek thought was awkward in an intentional and beautiful way. The judges sent him through to the next round with yeses from Ne-Yo and Derek (JLo asked for a callback) and advice to work on getting out of his head so he could translate his movements into effective messages.
Even More Dance
Since this week was the last episode of the Qualifiers round, we saw even more performances than usual. Among the montaged dancers were some heartbreaking nos for Itty Bitty Crew (Junior Division), Amari Smith (Junior Division), and Willis (Junior Division) and callbacks for The Difference (Junior Division), Pumpfidence (Upper Divisioin), and Project 21 (Junior Division).
With the Qualifiers over, next week, the Callbacks round starts, and we’ll see who will use their second chance to wow the judges and make it to The Duels and who will be sent home.
