SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Miami & Memphis Auditions

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE took the show to the Southern part of these old United States on the search for new and surprising talent.  What they found were a few potential stars, a lot of two left feet and a judge who decided to show us his inner drama queen. Seriously Tyce?!

With two hours of auditions last night and more on the way tonight there was no way I was going to comment on each and every dancer that took the stage (I’m saving that for The Top 20) but there were a few standouts for me. Will we be seeing any of the dancers past Vegas or will they slip away into the oblivion never to be seen again (well until they audition next season that is.)

• Priscilla Morrero from Miami, FL infused the personality of a Broadway piece with Contemporary and a little Ballet to win the judges over. Her musicality was fantastic. Tyce was especially moved.

• Janette Manrara & Romulo Villaverde are back again this season after an impressive audition last year.  Janette moved on to Vegas but didn’t make the Top 20. Her partner Romulo was cut after the choreography round. These two have some of the sickest lifts I’ve ever seen. They were impressive as a couple last season and even more so this year. But have they improved enough individually to move on? I guess so…they are off to Vegas.

• Joseph “Shwam” Smith was a nice surprise. Based on his I’m not sure what kind of dancing to call it.  Maybe B-Boy? He reminded me of Twitch in terms of the comedy, but he wasn’t as good. That being said he had more technique than I expected. He moved on to choreography. And then on to Vegas.

• Erik “Silky” Moore was one hell of a tapper who could more than hold his own in hip hop too. A rare find. Tapping is one genre woefully underrepresented in this dance show craze. Nigel has explained in the past that because tap took so much time to learn that it really couldn’t be pulled off well on the show. I wonder if that will change this year. I guess we’ll see. I don’t see how it’s much different than learning an intricate ballroom routine such as the Argentine Tango.

• Marico Flake may have looked like he was about 15 but this Memphis Jookin’ dancer was a Miami police officer.  I had no idea what Memphis Jookin’ was until tonight, but isn’t that the beauty of this show?! His natural talent sent him straight on through to Vegas…although I would have liked to see if he could pull off more than the jookin’. I mean he’s a cop by day, can he handle learning dance routines?

• Caitlin Kinney was one of at least three sibling pairs that are going to Vegas. Her sister went through to Vegas at the Miami audition. Caitlin had a strong body and beautiful lines. So glad she went on to Vegas!

• Anna Dunn whose dad took his own life a year ago may have had a tragic story, but she uses dance to deal with her emotions. I thought she was one of the more interesting dancers we saw tonight. She was gorgeous and those eyes! Debbie Gibson wrote a song about her back in the day. We’ll be seeing more of her in Vegas.

• Travis Prokop may not have been my favorite dancer of the night but his Dad gets the award for “most supportive dad”. Dad coaches the high school football team but is completely supportive of his son’s passion for dance.  Aw, I love you Coach Prokop! Travis was graceful but not strong enough for the judges.  But he must have really shown them something in the choreography  round because he’s on his way to Vegas.

• Two of my favorite dancers of the night were brothers Ryan and Evan Kasprzak who both are beautiful jazz/Broadway dancers. Evan made it to the Top 40 of Vegas last year, and his brother, Ryan, is trying out for the first time tonight. Evan made it back to Vegas. YAY! His brother Ryan was one hell of a tapper – very entertaining. Ryan says he’s a well trained dancer and knows other genres well.  I guess we’ll see because he too is heading off to Vegas.

Just a few of the dancers that made an impression on me last night.  But it wasn’t all about the dancing.  Last week it was Nigel who perhaps had a little too much to say. Tonight that honor belonged to gues judge Tyce Diorio. Tyce needs to stick with the choreography.  While he offered some colorful commentary last night (“A milkshake full of Tylenol.) he was just a little to much. He was diva’ing all over the stage last night. Last night’s episode should have been called “So You Think You Can Shut Up Tyce?!”.  Listen, I love me some Tyce Diorio, but I prefer to see him working his magic with the choreography.

So that’s that.  Any memorable auditions for you last night that weren’t mentioned here? Anyone you’re already pulling for in Vegas?

We’re back tonight to check out more dancers.  If you’re a fan of the show or just watching for the first time tonight, I hope you’ll join us for our SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE live chat tonight at 8pm est.