Last week, I had the chance to catch up with 3/4 of the first dancers that were eliminated on So You Think You Can Dance. I talked to Wadi Jones, Nick Young and Iveta Lukosiute (Missy Morelli was unavailable) about whether they thought that only contemporary dancers could do well since the first week saw the breaker (Wadi), the tapper (Nick) and the ballroom specialist (Iveta) eliminated right off the bat.
Wadi said that he did agree.
I think each and every person brings something different and something very special to the show and it just so happened that no contemporary people went home this week, but that doesn’t have anything to say about the break dancing,” he said. “And I think everybody was amazing and it just was according to how America felt about our actual pieces that we had done.”
Jones, who was heavily featured in the show’s audition episodes referenced the dance shows in other countries as being examples of why it isn’t always just about the contemporary performers.
“I don’t think the fact that everyone has a specific style. It generally has to do with how well they do here. I think it’s just the personalities and the talent in general. Anybody can be first. We had other seasons where there was a hip-hop, when there were other countries… tap winners, so it has nothing to do with the style of dance.”
Nick Young just reaffirmed what Wadi said. “He couldn’t have said it any better. So, whatever he said, I’m in. Second that,” mused Young.
I asked the outspoken Iveta if she thought it was about the dance or about America’s personal favourite.
“It’s about your personality; it’s about how you finesse the people,” she said. “I do believe America wants to see different dances and different styles and I think they just want to see contemporary people doing contemporary pieces, because the show talks about certain style of dances.”
