| 
FOX TV’s So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Auditions are Underway
Interview and Photos by Andy Lee
Auditions for So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 began January 5 in Atlanta then moved on to Dallas and New York. Upcoming auditions take place in Salt Lake City on February 23 and Los Angeles on March 2. FOX TV’s So You Think You Can Dance features aspiring young dancers as they compete by performing a variety of different dance-styles in an effort to win the title of America’s Favorite Dancer and a $250,000 cash prize. The extraordinarily talented dancers in the competition are challenged by various genres of dance, music and the choreography created for them by seasoned professionals.
I sat down with the SYTYCD Season 8 dancers the very last day of their 32-city tour that ended here in San Diego. It appears that the TV show, followed by a long road tour, has taken a toll on America’s Favorite Dancers. What’s next as far as prospects and careers for the top ten remains to be seen.
Andy – How many of you have been touring?
Jess – There are ten of us and Missy and Nick are two alternates that we invited. And they’ve been great. I think it’s great for them because America didn’t get to see them dance as much. We also have understudies.
Andy – I had the pleasure of interviewing you the first day of your 32-city tour and tonight is your last show.
Melanie – It seems so long ago! I’m so excited. I’m super excited. I haven’t been this excited for a while. It’s going to be a fun one. Tonight there’s no pressure. I get excited but a lot of it is nerves.
Ricky - It’s the last night and we’re going to kill it on stage. I’m not even stressing out about our bodies being sore or anything.
Andy - After 32 cities, your bodies must be really sore. Are you all taped up?
Ricky – Yeah, we’re all taped up and icing.
Clarice – Our bodies are like dying, just worn out. The tour has taken its toll.
Melanie – Our bodies are just telling us “no.” At the beginning of the tour we were all the way up here and fabulous, now we’re like eeeeeeeeee! “I don’t want to go that high anymore. I’m tired.”
Clarice – But tonight will be a really memorable show, just like the first one. We just want to go out with a big bang and enjoy ourselves. And this time we’ll have everybody. For the first show we didn’t have Marco. He got hurt on the last rehearsal just before the tour and joined us a week and a half on the road. But the good news is that no one is injured right now.
Andy - You did a lot of back-to-back shows in many different cities. Where did you sleep last night?
Clarice –We slept on the bus. I slept well last night.
Ricky: The rocking of the bus helps a lot.
Melanie – I slept like a baby. I can sleep anywhere.
Andy – Do you ever get nervous before a show?
Jordan – I don’t really get nervous; I just get really cold before I go on stage. I get super cold and have to wear sweats and a jacket with a hoodie. Right before I go on stage I rip ‘em off real quick.
Mitchel – Every show I get nervous. My heart beats fast. I start to sweat like crazy. I don’t know. It’s not that I’m scared. I just don’t want to mess up or disappoint the audience.
Jess – For me I get anxious. I always wonder what the crowd is going to be like especially in different cities and cities that I’ve never been to. I’m always looking forward to the show. The adrenalin starts to kick in once the show begins. It’s show time. Just switch on that knob and let’s do it!
Andy - During the TV show competition do you get to pick your dance routines? Are you assigned choreographers?
Sasha -The only thing we got to pick out of a hat are the genres of dance. And that was like later on in the show. Before that, they just gave them to us. They handed them to us on the show. Whoever hires the choreographers for the show picked who they wanted to do a certain type of routine. Like Sonya would be selected to choreograph a jazz routine.
Missy - There’s a lot of choreographers out there and they pick like whoever.
Sasha - We don’t get a lot of say.
Missy - All you can do is the best with what you are given.
Nick - You can’t just change from jazz to something else.
Andy – So what you are all saying is that there is a lot of luck involved in what genres of dance you perform and what choreographers you end up with?
Missy - A lot of it is luck because the second week I got the “cha-cha” with a partner that’s a “free runner.” And obviously that’s going to be hard. I’m not a cha-cha dancer and he is a free runner. Wadie (Jones) runs and jumps off buildings! It’s out of our control, so a good percentage of it is luck.
Andy – How about your dance outfits?
Nick: Everything is picked out for us from style to choreographer. They have their ideas and they know what they want us to wear. They usually have really good ideas. You work with what you get. Sometimes it’s not the best, but the TV show is all that matters.
Andy – So with all that luck of the draw, how lucky do you feel how it all turned out?
Sasha – I feel extremely blessed. I don’t know about luck. Um, I don’t know, I’m just happy and very honored. It’s very overwhelming that a lot of people are watching and like jobs, of course, are going to be had, and offered to us, and so we make connections. It’s awesome!
Andy – Who was your favorite Choreographer and why?
Clarice – I really liked Justin Giles. He actually was able to do three pieces on the show. I was the only duet that he choreographed. He has a mellow and positive spirit. I liked that a lot. He wasn’t over the top demanding and showed us exactly what he wanted.
Ricky –The person I absolutely loved working with was Tice. He’s just a trip. He’s so fun to have in rehearsals and his stuff is so free and you get to experiment. He’s the funniest person ever. The way he explains things is really touching. You understand what he’s expecting.
Melanie – Travis and Manny were both of my favorites. I got to work with Manny twice and did a jazz piece with her. She’s so inspiring and brings the best out of people. Travis’s work is like crazy. Ha ha. Nobody has a brain like Travis.
Andy – So tonight is your last performance. What are your feelings?
Missy – I would say bittersweet cause we are all excited for what the future holds for us and we’re ready to move on. We’re a family and we truly all get along. It’s going to be sad and we’re all going in different directions. Some will be in New York. Mitch will be in Atlanta. Most of us will be in LA but still we’re going to have to make a conscious effort to stay in touch after tonight to get together and see each other again.
Andy – Do you have any jobs lined up or are you just waiting to see?
Jess – Tomorrow is a new day, pretty much for all of us. I’m planning on going back to New York and New Jersey area. Hopefully, I’ll land myself in a nice show. I’ve done a couple of Broadway shows before all this. I’m very happy to have that type of training and then using it. In Broadway, you’re performing for the person the back row of the theatre, and in television you’re performing for somebody that’s two inches away. It’s a great learning experience about understanding audiences.
Ricky – I’m going to do a lot of commercial work and a little dancing. I was on a reality show in Atlanta called Real Housewives, and I’m a model for Chuckie underwear.
Missy – A lot of us are teaching.
Nick - Teaching and choreography is what really helps this show. For me, I don’t know about anyone else, but once this show is over, it’s almost just like another job and I’ll be back to unemployment tomorrow, and I’ll have to start looking (for work).
Missy - Yeah, I mean there are possibilities, but for the most part I have some teaching jobs lined up, but when it comes to a job-job, it’s all up in the air. It’s a dancer’s life...very spontaneous.
Andy - What is the first thing you are going to do after the show ends?
Jordan – I’m going back home to L.A. tomorrow.
Melanie – The first thing I’m going to do is go to China. The second thing I’m doing is moving in with Clarice and Ricky in L.A.
Andy - Have they been talking about bringing you guys back next season?
Melanie – Yeah, possibly as All-Stars; maybe opening the show. I don’t really know. |
