So You Think You Can Dance Episode Recap and My Take – Season 6, Audition 6 (Salt Lake City)
The guest judge for Salt Lake City was Mia Michaels.
Straight to Vegas
They showed bits and pieces of a bunch of ballroom couples, I am not sure where they landed in the mix though. They also showed Nigel falling in love with numerous female dancers, not sure what the outcome was for any of them.
Hayley Cloud (Contemporary) – She herniated a disk in her back dancing. Not the best I have seen. She does some great tumbling. She is overflowing with personality. Mary said wow, strong, powerful and uninhibited. Mia had her stand on her hands which she can apparently do for a long time. She referred to others as competitors and Nigel really liked it.
Iveta Lukosiute (Ballroom) – She is from Lithuania and has a fabulous accent! Her partner didn’t compete. She can twirl for AGES! And her legs go on forever. What caught me the most though, was that she oozes charisma. Nigel said she is vivacious and that she danced brilliantly and said he does not think he enjoyed watching a couple dance so much since Pasha and Anya. Mary said wow, Season 6 is shaping up and that she is exquisite and then she cried. Mia said she is magical and that it is a privilege to watch her.
Leigh Asay & Josh Murillo (Ballroom) – They have only been dancing together for 2-weeks; she has auditioned before. You can tell they have not danced together very long. He was just okay, and actually messed up in a couple spots. She was really good in my opinion, her movement is super sharp. She knocked off her toenail in the routine, they had to call a medic. She handled it quite well at first, but then the adrenaline wore off. They sent her straight through, but sent him to choreography (see below).
There were also two girls that we were not shown in their entirety:
Megan Kinney (Contemporary) – Caitlyn’s younger sister who also auditioned last season but was eliminated during Vegas week. She seems to have really grown since we last saw her. She did a cool jump and some moves that really showed how strong and flexible she is. Mary said she has a stong body and strong technique and she can probably do anything she puts her mind to.
Genise Ruidiaz (Contemporary) – She flipped her hair around a bit much for me. But her dancing is beautiful and she is extremely flexible and really knows how to showcase that. Nigel said as far as he is concerned he does not know why she is on that stage (making it seem like they thought she was bad), but then concluded with –and not down here grabbing a ticket.
Through to Choreography
The choreography round this season for auditions is a Latin dance with Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis from Season 3.
Day 1 – I don’t think they said how many people made it through to choreography.
Bryan Boyer (B-boying) – His downrock is SICK!!! He must be made or rubber with a shatter proof head! Nigel said it is one of the best they have seen this year. Mary said lots of energy and she loves his spirit. Mia said it was an awesome job, one of the strongest for sure. He was overwhelmed by it and left saying he would take some lessons and come back next year.
Ariana “Satine La Rouge” Rowley (Burlesque) – I am mortified!!! I never would have thought I would see someone do a striptease in these auditions! Silence from the dancers in the audience. Nigel was speechless. Mia stumbled over her words. Mary asked if she thought they would like to see some stripping today. I think Nigel needed a cold shower. Basically she made it through to choreography because Nigel is male and Mia wanted some entertainment. Wow, brutal, painful, she looked entirely confused, I felt really sorry for her partner. She was a big no.
13 others from day one made it through to Vegas.
Day 2 – I don’t think they said how many people made it through to choreography today either.
Ashleigh Di Lello & Ryan Di Lello (Ballroom) – They are a married couple. His personality comes across a lot more. They look like they have a lot of fun dancing together. They are both seem to have a lot of strength, her arms are super buff. Mary sad he is very masculine, but said she seemed a little fake and that the chemistry wasn’t there. (I agree, it was not sexy and I expected it to be.) Mia told her there is something missing but said he is fabulous, real and honest. Nigel agreed with them, and said she went overboard but said her dancing is good. They sent them both through.
Josh Murillo (Ballroom) – (See above) They didn’t send him to Vegas, he really struggled, and tried to make up for it by going overboard.
19 others from day one also made it through to Vegas.
13 dancers from Day 1 and 21 dancers from Day 2 got tickets to Vegas after the choreography round.
DIDN’T MAKE IT THROUGH
Nobody here tonight, they were either good or freakish!
JUST PLAIN SCARY, SAD OR WEIRD
Tristy Mirci (???) – I am pretty sure she thought she was dancing contemporary, but it was BRUTAL!! Just painful to watch…bad leaps, awkward kicks, kind of like a kid dancing around the living room. Nigel asked if she had been taking classes and I was surprised to hear her answer that she had been for 3 years!
Pascal Nayigiziki (???) – I think this dude has some serious issues. He crawled, he acted crazy, he threw himself on the ground (and it looked very painful) and he tore off his shirt, with some unexplainable weirdness mixed in between. He did do the worm at some point. He ended with a tantrum. Mary was thrown into a freak out. Nigel said it started out like bad food poisoning and then it was like he was bitten by a Tsetse Fly. Mary said he was running around having a conniption fit. Pascal then said that he is a great investment. Mia asked what style it is, and he said it’s not a Hip-Hop, Nigel said no, then he said “swagger” and got a no, so he called it Pascal Style.
Next up—Vegas week starts!!
Note: Tonight, Nigel (@dizzyfeet) tweeted the following: “We are going to do one top 20 show, this year, with no competition element. We want to introduce each dancer, dancing in their own style.” And then later this: “They probably won't do solos. More trios, pas de deuxs, quartets The contemporaries will dance together, the ballroom couples, mmmn tappers?”
This makes me really happy because we often don't see enough of a dancer really showing their strengths off.