This week NBC’s World of Dance continued to work its way through The Qualifiers. J Lo, Derek, and Ne-Yo will have their work cut out for them eliminating some of these amazing dancers in the next round. You won’t believe who took the stage.
The Junior Division
Ballroom duo Daniel and Mishella are dancers to keep on your radar. These two are only 10 years old, but they have already won 10 national championships and 4 international championships. Their jive and their mature performance personality had the judges impressed enough to award them an average score of 82.7. Mishella and doppelgänger Daniel will be strutting their stuff in The Duels.
It’s hard to imagine any dancers reminding us of Eva Igo after her incredible performance last year (and her even more striking return this season), but that’s exactly what Madison Brown did. Her ability to command the stage, the audience, and her body is breathtaking. With an average score of 87, if this contemporary dancer masters emotion in her performances, we could see her against Eva later in the competition.
The Junior Team Division
Freshh, a hip hop team from Vancouver, Canada, came to the stage to bring “the energy and the explosion” to the judges for their first impression. The judges wished that they had brought personality with that energy, but their funky hip hop was enough to carry them through to The Duels with an average score of 84.
The Upper Team Division
Giving ever dancer a memorable and effective presence while still performing cohesively is a difficult task especially when your team has thirteen dancers, but that’s exactly what Los Angeles dance team Embodiment did. The judges were thoroughly impressed by the incorporation of tricks and strength into elegant choreography (though J-Lo may have been a bit biased since one of the dancers has also danced back up for her). This dream-team of male dancers earned an average score of 84.7. They’ve left their mark on The Qualifiers. Now, they’ll have to work hard to do the same in the rest of the competition.
Girl power group Marissa & The Heartbreakers took the stage ready to own it. These dancers came to the stage with dance moves and strength. They dance in high heels (no, not character heels, stilettos). Between the ankle strength and contortion, precision is their only option, and that reflected in their average score of 83.7. There will be more incredible heel dancing in the next round.
Many North American, South American, and European countries have been represented on the World of Dance stage over the course of two seasons, but we haven’t seen many dancers from Asia or Africa. Silver Beat came all the way from Rwanda (and other parts of Africa) to bring Afrodance to that stage. The judges were enamored with their ability to bring their culture to the stage, but they wanted to see some more competitive moves showcased alongside their talent. Unfortunately, a low average score of 78.7 sent this group home.
Last season, Royal Flux made it through to The Duels, but were ultimately sent home. The final dancers showcased last night, they came back to take the competition on again, but this time more than a competing team will be up against them. A few hours before their Qualifiers performance, one of the members of the team broke her foot rehearsing. Unwilling to let her team down, she danced anyway. Her determination and their teamwork made it nearly impossible to see any differences in her performance. It was worth it. They received and average score of 87, so they can take on The Duels again.
Next week The Qualifiers continue. (Can you believe there were only three episodes of this round last season?) We can’t wait to see who we will meet next week. Who knows, maybe one of them could end up winning the million dollar prize.
