No, but really. She moved to America in 2012 because of SYTYCD. Talk about following your dreams, I guess? But wow…That’s a hugemove. Even Cat Deeley was like, “girl, no.”
Dassy totally faked us out with a (really bad) interpretation of musical theatre, or jazz, or…something before getting down to making my jaw drop so much that it almost broke off. Wow, wow, wow. That was some sick animation, among other things.
Judges’ comments: Big ol’ Mary Murphy scream about an amazing day in Los Angeles. This is the content that I’m here for (on top of the dancing). She was full of praise for Dassy, telling her: “You were so much more than I could ever dream for. When you first started your number and you were messing with my emotions, I thought, ‘I thought she was supposed to be doing hip hop.’ And then you went ‘BAM!’ on us! You just hit us!”
BAM, y’all. Mary knows how to fangirl about dance better than anyone else in the business (except maybe Nigel Lythgoe when faced with good tappers or me, crying about contemporary on my couch).
Vanessa Hudgens loved that Dassy was “very feminine but also masculine — a woman who can pop and lock and do animation…” Um. It’s 2017. We’re on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE season 14. This shouldn’t be surprising at this point. But I digress.
Nigel recognized Shirley Bassey’s version of “Big Spender.” Since he used to be her choreographer (what?!), he knew Shirley would have loved seeing Dassy dance to her music. He admitted to being a little bit worried about how the dancer would do in other styles, though.
The verdict: A reservation at The Academy, even with Nigel’s reservations. (See what I did there?)
The next dancer, Blessin Giraldo was “all about women empowerment and giving back to the community.”
Blessin grew up in Baltimore; so she was exposed to poverty, drugs, gun violence, and everything else the city is known for. She wanted more out of life. When she saw step dancers at her all girls’ school, she instantly fell in love, started her own team, and started making a difference. After her graduation, she even returned to keep teaching.
Blessin wanted to be the first stepper to win SYTYCD. Perhaps more importantly, she wanted to show everyone that stepping should be considered art — just like any other form of dance. Before she could educate the masses, she had to wake Nigel Lythgoe up to the fact that stepping isn’t just for men.
Dude, Nigel. Even my crazy, redneck hometown had both boys’ and girls’ teams.
Judges’ comments: Nigel and Mary did this sort of…borderline inappropriate thing with imitating the spoken part of Blessin’s step performance. Not really here for that, guys.
Once the judges finally decided to get serious, Mary said Blessin was full of fire and passion; but she was concerned that the show would be “really tough” because of all of the other dance styles. Vanessa felt “like, empowered to be a lady right now” and called the performance “really cool to watch.” Nigel said he’d find it more effective to see Blessin’s team. She loved that idea and said the whole reason she was at SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE was to show the world that “step is amazing, and it’s a great outlet.”
The verdict: Three “yes” votes for choreography.
Hip hop variety reel, complete with eeking and a triple-jointed dancer — or several.
…I’m Mary Murphy’s screams right now.
After that scary — yet fascinating — business, it was time for the last Los Angeles contestant: Dustin Payne from Columbus, Georgia.
Cat Deeley really loved Dustin’s fancy hat, but Mary Murphy was more interested in finding out what made him start dancing. As it turned out, his mother founded a dance ministry at her church.
Something tells me that the church didn’t teach him how like that, though. Anyone else get the impression that they were watching water ripple and flow? Amazing.
Judges’ comments: “Wow! That was something! Holy smokes! Wow! Your transition from one move to the other was out of this world!” (That was from Fangirl Mary, obviously.) Nigel loved the jooking, especially the finger movements that accompanied it. Vanessa said Dustin showed her things she’d never seen before. She, too, loved “that finger thing.”
If this were a different kind of show, or perhaps a different kind of website…Um.
The verdict: A ticket to The Academy. No need to drive for thirty-two hours.
Mandy Moore’s choreography round was tacked onto the end of the episode and super rushed. That didn’t stop Cat from reminding us that Mandy choreographed LA LA LAND, though.
The first group was kind of a hot mess — but without the hot. Nigel had to let Blessin go, but he reiterated his desire to see her step team come on the show. (Oh, please. Oh, please.) The triple-jointed dancers didn’t make it, either.
Insert obligatory shot of the dancers that did make it to The Academy showing off their tickets here.
And that’s all she wrote for Los Angeles!
Stay tuned for SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE’s New York auditions next Monday, June 26, at 8/7c on FOX.
