SYTYCD SEASON 6 EPISODE 7 – RYAN Kasprzak eliminated!!!
After traveling to six cities to find America’s Favorite Dancer, 152 of the best dancers in America were at the So You Think You Can Dance semi-finals in Las Vegas. Host Cat Deeley and 152 dancers welcomed the judges: Tyce Diorio, Mia Michaels, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy, and Nigel Lythgoe.
Vegas auditions began with solos as a way to compare each dancer with one another. First up was Nathan Trasoras. This basketball shorts-wearing dancer wowed the judges when he auditioned for Season 5, but he was only 17 years old at the time. Since you must be 18 to be on the show, the judges decided to give Nathan a ticket to Season 6 auditions in Las Vegas because he turned 18 in between seasons. Although the judges aren’t giving feedback after each solo, they looked pleased with Nathan’s performance.
Ellenore Scott performed a quirky routine with lots of personality. She received a standing ovation from the crowd and judges.
Following Ellenore was a half hour of amazing solos. Out of the first 10 dancers, two dancers, Paige and Chase, were sent home but the others were through, including Ellenore, Nathan, b-boy Justin Kenney, Iveta Lukosiute, and four more dancers.
Next we saw a montage of more incredible dancers who entertained the judges. Shelby “Skip” Skipper had the judges bouncing in their seats as they watched him perform the New Orleans Bounce. Skip and the other contestants shown sailed on through to the next round of choreography. Allison Becker, the hearing impaired dancer who auditioned in Arizona, and Thomas Hamilton, the young man looking for a way out of his tough Georgia hometown, were the next dancers to perform solos. Thomas climbed the scaffolding on the stage and Nigel had to ask him to get down. After watching them dance, the judges decided to send Allison and Thomas home.
At the end of day one, same sex ballroom dance champions Willem de Vries and Jacob Jason performed together. The judges were more impressed with Willem than Jacob, so they sent Jacob home. Jacob never said goodbye to Willem, but Willem said he will be sure to fight extra hard to stick around and represent same sex ballroom dancers.
In total, 41 dancers were sent home based on their initial solos in Vegas, which meant that 111 dancers were still left in the competition.
The first genre the contestants would have to master was hip hop. All of the dancers squished together on the stage to learn a hip hop routine from Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo. After an hour of rehearsing, the dancers performed for the judges. Nigel stopped the music abruptly during the first group to let them know they need to scurry off the stage because they’re all through. The next group of dancers included Jean Lloret, the b-boy who was sent straight to Vegas without any criticism after his audition in Boston. Unfortunately, Jean wasn’t able to master the choreography and was sent packing.
Next up was Ryan Kasprzak, who was the last man to be cut before Season 5’s Top 20. His brother Evan made it to the Season 5 finale. Would Ryan be following in his little brother’s footsteps? After Ryan danced hip hop the judges were split down the middle, so he is sticking around, but he is hanging by a thread.
At the end of day one, hip hop choreography sent 21 dancers home.
Day two in Vegas started with Cha Cha choreography led by Louis van Amstel with help from Season 3’s Anya Garnis. Louis promised the dancers that this would be a very quick routine, and his performance of the Cha Cha with Anya proved just that. Just 15 minutes into rehearsal, Billy Bell was smacked in the face by his partner and his nose began to bleed. Billy was forced to sit down until the bleeding stopped.
The first group performed and all of the dancers were sent through to the next round including Iveta Lukosiute and Russell Ferguson, who got a standing ovation from Adam Shankman. Adam was particularly blown away by Russell, and Nigel said, “Whatever she did, she should do to a lot more people here.”
After lunch, we saw the judges praise many dancers’ Cha Cha moves, and they were all sent through to the next round of auditions.
It wasn’t long before Billy’s nose healed, but he missed most of the rehearsal and never got to practice to the music. His partner, Salsa dancer Christina, helped him through the moves in the back of the theater. B-boy Jonathan “Legacy” Perez and contemporary dancer Paula Van Oppen were in the audition same group as Billy. Legacy is not used to working with a partner, so he was nervous. After their group performed, Mary said that Legacy didn’t show enough personality, but the judges still love Legacy’s b-boy solo. They asked him to fight for his life in the competition by performing a solo at the end of the Cha Cha round. Everybody else in his group, including Billy, went through to the next round.
John Litzler, the contemporary dancer/tumbler who impressed the judges during hometown auditions, didn’t perform a strong enough Cha Cha so he was also asked to dance for his life.
Ryan Kasprzak was in the final group of Cha Cha performers and needed to impress the judges in order to stick around after yesterday’s warning. After Ryan’s audition, Nigel said people will always be talking about his amazing solo as long as SYTYCD is around, but Ryan didn’t have the feeling or style that’s needed to execute a successful Cha Cha. Despite the judges’ love for Ryan, he’s going home. On his way out the door, Ryan called Evan to share the news. “It has been amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Ryan said to Evan.
John was the first dancer to perform for his life in the competition. Nigel said his face revealed that “the lights were on but nobody’s home.” Five judges placed their votes and it was up to Tyce to determine John’s fate. “If this is dancing for your life it needs to look like the last time you’re going to dance ever,” Tyce said before telling John it’s a no. Although John is headed home, the judges encouraged him to come back next year. Since he’s only 18 years old, he has time to work on his facial expressions and performance to make it on the show in the future.
Before performing his solo, Legacy broke down on the stairs due to the stress of having to “dance for his life.” After performing his b-boy moves, Nigel told Legacy, “You need to come up to the standard in other dance forms. What you do is fabulous.” The rest of the judges mentioned that Legacy needs to work on his transitions between stunts and not waste so much time. Luckily for Legacy, he received 6 yeses and he’s moving on to the next round.
At the end of the ballroom portion of auditions, early favorties Teddy Tedholm and Skip Skipper were going home.
Next week is more footage from “the best Vegas week ever” as 77 dancers fight for 20 spots on So You Think You Can Dance’s sixth season.
Were you shocked by Ryan’s early ouster? What other eliminations surprised you? Which dancers impressed you?
Related posts:
