SYTYCD Audition Recap

New York

Amelia, Contemporary, Silent movie star look, good technique, great personality, can see her love of dance and passion through all her movements, great and very exciting solo choreography

Toshihiko Nakazawa, bit of everything, street dancer, fabulously crazy red hair, from intro package could go either way, has tons of control, has a very unique way of moving. not exactly smooth but also not overly popping, more entertaining than most people, quit during choreo

Austin Freeman, dancing the wiggle, whatever the hell that is, he looks like he should be a dual math and accounting major, I like him because he seems to self aware of how weirdly dorky he is, Tyce has bitchface on, the kid can't dance, but damn is he entertaining

Shafeek Westbrook, street entertainer, he has so much freaking strength, he is primal and animalistic yet at the same time amazingly graceful and ridiculously beautiful, I could watch him dance all day, watching him dance is like looking at a gorgeous piece of art

Leo Reyes, found his mom when she attempted suicide, auditioning so his mom can see him dance on stage, solid technique, but absolutely flawless storytelling and an amazing amount of passion, I also really like the R&B style of his dance, he is totally engaged on stage

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, trained ballet dancer from Switzerland, only trained in ballet but wants to not just do ballet, it is weird to me because his pure ballet technique is not the best I've seen, but his musicality is sick, he would not make it as a ballet dancer but I think he might really shine in this sort of show, the way he attacks his movements is amazing

Dallas

Bree Hafen, has two kids including a 2 year old who loves to dance, feels guilty dancing because it takes time away from her family, she has almost a chaotic quality to her movement, there is something about her dancing that really touches me, just the passion in her face says it all, also her kids are amazingly adorable

Stepheon Stewart, zombie dancing, he is freaky yet funny, and the amount of control he has is just ridiculous, I love ridiculous street dancers like that, super buck

Hampton Williams, exorcist style, he is weird and chill and has pretty music, his dancing looks like if ballet went very very wrong, it is absolutely gorgeous to watch and some of the most purely powerful dancing I've ever seen, in a lot of ways it is super simple yet amazingly complicated, he is pure beauty and power

Daniel Baker, Australian, ballet dancer, his body is perfection, he is male ballet dancer perfection, graceful and manly, he looks so strong when he dances, it is not easy for men to look strong when they do ballet and he really really did

Sam Shreffler, on the autism spectrum but not necessarily autistic, listen, he is not going to get on the show, but he actually moves ok, he is exactly the kind of person that would be fun to dance with at a party or in a club (at least the kind of dancing I like to do), he also exemplifies how even if you are not good enough to be on a dance show that does not mean that you should not dance

Von Kipper, hates the show and doesn't want to be on the show, he's a bit of a prick, no? Cat Deeley puts the smack down on him for dissing the show, he is good at bboy, but he isn't anything special

Jarell Rochelle, is wearing suspenders which makes me adore him, his mom is adorable, he is pure performer, everything in his body and every movement has a purpose, and his smile makes everything even better, he has a gift of showmanship

Los Angeles

Alexa Anderson, made it to the green mile last season, she is basic contemporary, but her dancing is very dynamic and she really uses the whole stage, I like her but I don't feel like I'll remember her

"Johnny Waacks" Gibson, waacker, the best way I can describe waacking is that it always looks to me like it should be a 70s drag queen doing it, and Johnny is pure adorable, everything has gone innuendo! the waacking is fierce, but also he has some other dancing technique because his turns are decent, I think you could take that personality and that style of dance and mold it into something brilliant, dropped during choreo

Eliana Girard, contemporary audition but also does aerialist work, and went to the Joffrey, and is a pole dancer (not in a stripper way), she is so adorable and fun and I love her, she has some of the best en pointe work I have ever seen, and her extensions are unbelievable, I would watch her dance for hours, she has amazing grace and power

Nick & James, the Ninja Twins, they are like a super gay version of Jedward, and I really really like them, if they can't dance and don't get on the show, they need a show on Bravo, I think at 32 they are over the age limit, but I need them on my tv in one way or another, and really, they are good dancers, and entertaining as hell

Sam Lenarz, her mom kicked her out, she has a quietness to her dancing, a subtle quality that is usually ignored by dancers in exchange for power, and the entire dance seemed very sweet and hopeful

Caley Carr, surfer dude with an epic mustache, is a tap dancer, so adorable, he has amazingly clear tap sounds and a ridiculous amount of flare, he also has some other dance technique in there, I would enjoy watching him on my tv every week, dropped during choreo

Megan Branch, from her intro package I thought she was going to be a dance team girl, but she is really kind of quirky in her movement, almost like a Mark Kanemura lite mixed with a traditional contemporary dancer, she has good technique and is interesting to watch

Cole Horibe, has dance and martial arts background, which is usually combined with bboying, but he seems like he is going to be contemporary, this is very much league of extraordinary dancers shit, something not seem before and absolutely unique to him, he is like a bundle of power

David Matz, circus performer, does cool giant metal wheel work, sometimes with the wheel on fire! he just absolutely blew my mind, that is so gorgeous and fascination and I can't figure out the physics of it at all, but I want him to continue to dance for hours for me, dropped during choreo

Stephen Jacobson, ballet dancer, his audition was crap and ridiculous, he did a pseudo-ballet type bullshit, and then rightly got schooled by Nigel, his actual ballet is amazing, really some of the best technique I've seen

Jonathan Anzalone, I remember when he was on before and he was an asshole, he is so much nicer now, he has turned from cocky to confident, and amazingly entertaining, the air he is getting on his windmills is amazing, I find him very interesting to watch and also sexy in a way that most bboys are not, dropped during choreo

Jasmine Mason, brother has auditioned the past three seasons, but they got in a car accident 6 weeks ago, he aimed the car to protect his sister, he was pronounced dead on arrival but came out of a two day coma, and is back dancing already, for 18 she dances really mature, and just has an engaging way about her, I want to watch more

Marshea Kidd, his dancing just brings joy out, besides his ridiculous technique and style, his emotion and passion means so much, and having broken his neck 6 weeks ago, he is truly inspirational

Atlanta
First of all...shout out to Debbie Allen, she is an amazing judge

Audrey Case, her turns have such an ease to them, everything she does is so full of control yet looks effortless, she also looks like there is nothing she would rather be doing than dancing, she just looks so darn happy.

Glitch, Boris, Andre from Dragon House, they all live together with a bunch of other dancers and are one crew, tried to create their own style

Boris Penton, dancing hip hop to piano music, has a double blue mohawk, he has an insane musicality to his movements, he freaks me out in the best way possible, the best way to describe his dancing is...have you ever seen a piece of music represented by colors? that is what his body did

Andre Rucker, I can't even...it is like he is CGI, I just...there are no words

Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer, he has more personality in his dancing than his roommates, but the same robotic quality to his popping, I mean...shut the fuck up. Out of the three...all of which were beyond words...he is the best, purely genius

Joshua Alexander, he is cute and good, but I'm not finding anything particularly engaging about his dancing, but I think he is adorable and had great personality, just a bit hectic in his dancing, I'm actually bothered by not liking him more

Tim Conkel, karate instructor, I sure hope he can dance because I already love him, he is slightly cocky but in the same way that DTrix was cocky, he reminds me of Steve Terada from Quest Crew, he didn't have a ton of dance in there, but his martial arts was ridic, and his ballet...oh my gosh! he may crash and burn in Vegas, but he will be amazingly entertaining while he does it

Jackson Alvarez, again with the crazy hiphop that sort of blows my mind, I just don't understand that sort of isolation, and how much fun is he? He did the Wobble! I love the Wobble! Debbie Allen Wobbling is my new favorite thing ever!

Janelle Issis, belly dancer, I don't know what constitutes good belly dancer, but her isolations are amazing and she is fun to watch, the performance level is amazing, I wish I could do that, it is sexy without being slutty

Danielle Dominguez, overly fond of bacon, the word I would use to describe her dancing is quirky, not your normal contemporary, interesting to watch

Courtney Kirby, with grandma who used to be a dancer and dance teacher, she isn't very smooth in her transitions, but her technique is good and she is different from other contemporary dancers, more like the boys of contemporary with lots of aerobatic tricks

Asher Walker, oh well he is just freaking adorable, he reminds me of tWitch with that overabundance of personality, one of the most purely fun hiphop performances I've seen in a long time, so fun and funny

George Lawrence II, used to do track to get his dad's approval, lost some of that when he quit for dance, he is made to dance, his dancing had a quietness about parts of his dancing yet such an extreme power, he doesn't have all of the technique of a lot of the dancers, but his passion comes through more than just about anyone

Abigail Ruz, there is some sexiness going on with her, and quite a bit of power

Calvin Turner, Jr., gorgeous lines and fabulous technique

Aubrey Klinger, I love her look and performance

Brittany Ortner, she's kind of ditzy, but her dancing is really fun, a bit of Fosse jazz mixed with contemporary, there is also an innocent sexiness to her movement

Damon Bellmon & Deon Lewis, auditioned last year but stole (or did a tribute to) their choreography, they are full of personality, I like them both, but their styles don't mesh perfectly, however their choreo is fun and exciting and unique, they are pure fun! Deon got eliminated during choreography, but Damon made it

Salt Lake City

Witney Carson, Latin ballroom, doing a chacha tango, she is really really good, her connection with her partner and the audience is great, and I feel like she could be even better if she had a stronger partner, he needs to be trained up a bit, but man, some of the best ballroom since Anya

Lynn Gravatt, doing alien space dance, she is weird, but in a really genuine way, and I like how much she cares about her dancing, there is a chaotic quality to her dancing, but also some technique, I actually find that I really enjoy watching her dance though I'm pretty sure this competition is not for her

Diana Tomasetta, she is sweet and adorable, I like that she really embraced some moments in her dancing and didn't fill every second, she is very engaging to watch, just gorgeous musicality

Gene Lonardo, Praying Mantis Man! he is weird but really good, very Mark Kanemura but with some contortion, I was expecting joke audition and he was fucking brilliant, both in performance and technique

Lindsay Arnold, ballroom and latin dancer, but with other styles thrown in, she and her partner are both really great, there is a lot of snap to her technique and also her performance is really nice and bubbly.

Mariah Spears, Krumper, such snap and power, but also other dance technique, however her krumping is legit, like ridiculously good at it with a lot of pop to it

Murphy Yang, was disowned by his family for pursing dance, what a unique and fun style of hiphop, combining some ballet into it, he just looks like he is loving what he is doing, his interpretation of the music is amazing, very entertaining and thoughtful, eliminated in choreo

Dareian Kujawa, grew up poor and hungry, he is shirtless and built, what comes through his dancing besides his ridiculous technique (besides his feet) is passion, every move has a purpose, wow he is brilliant

Johnny Ahn, thinks that he is God's gift to women, his partner (Whitney Hallam) looks like she is thoroughly annoyed with him, there dancing is amazing, but they are playing for the audience only and not for each other, they have no connection with each other, but the technique is amazing and the dancing was fabulous, both eliminated in choreography

Adrian Lee, auditioned in season 7 and I remember him and loved him, he has such polish to his movement, and every thing he does has a purpose and passion, his hands are a bit weak but everything else is spot on, I love him

Rachel Applehans, used to be super shy and now is really really not, I'm not always a big fan of overtly sexual dancing, but she is very captivating and flirty in her sexiness, it is almost burlesque in parts, though I'm not sure if there was enough technique

Leroy Martinez, he is a big guy and looks so sweet, he is in a dance crew that helps kids after school to keep them off the streets, his performance is beyond, and his popping technique is fierce, and then he ships out a back flip on his elbows, shut the fuck up, he's got skillz, he is one of only about three auditions I've rewound to watch a second time, everything about his audition made me smile, he reminds me of the guys in Heavy Impact crew from America's Best Dance Crew, eliminated in choreography

And now the auditions are done! Overall I think that this crop of talent is the strongest they've had and at least in auditions it has been light in contemporary, which is good. I like variety in my dancing. Time for Vegas, which I won't be recapping because that is crazypants. Come back in a couple weeks to find out my thoughts about the top 20!