SYTYCD New Orleans - There are rules for these things
So You Think You Can Dance auditions in New Orleans got off to a rough start with the judges looking.... well... let's just say it looked like they spent some time in the French Quarter the night before. There were a few slurred words. A questionable wardrobe choice. An off-color joke. Only one or two of the dancers looked drunk, though. They pretty much brought their A-game.
Some really talented dancers showed off amazing lifts, fantastic tumbling tricks, and a style of dance the judges had never seen called New Orleans Bounce. More details after the jump. (Including the three rules for how NOT to impress the judges.)
Day One of New Orleans Auditions
This time they started out lecturing the crowd about how they have to have their performance right there in their faces, and to look the judges in the eye. This seemed to have quelled the zombie horde. Nigel wasn't there to chew out the bad performers anyway, so the usual nice-guy-judges had to step up and say some emphatic "No" votes.
New Orleans Bounce is an extremely high-energy hip-hop style that seems to treat every four-count as a thirty-six count or something. Bounce is an understatement. The judges sent the first guy who showed it off straight to Vegas. He was pretty impressive.
Another very well-rounded dancer added some gymnastics tricks into his modern dance solo. It sounds like something of a trainwreck, but seeing it was pretty impressive. He showed off his range and fit everything together. He got another ticket to Vegas and we all know he'll make a strong showing in that audition.
One hip-hopper warmed up by drinking six Red Bulls and then did what can only be described as a comedy hip-hop solo. Somehow it got him a second chance in the end-of-day choreography test. Sadly, in that he showed comedy was all he could do -- in spite of one more energy drink to top off the day.
Another break dancer -- a surprisingly tall one still recovering from a car accident -- passed the choreography test by the skin of his teeth. They warned him that they were throwing him into the deep end, and hoped he wouldn't drown. We'll see soon.
Day Two of New Orleans Auditions
On day two, the judges were back to their usual selves, though Nigel was still missing. The dancers varried from extremely highly trained ballroom dancers (straight to Vegas) to a talented hip-hop dancer with zero formal training (on to the choreo test... sadly, didn't pass).
One excellent modern dancer had the judges completely agreed on sending him to Vegas within six seconds of starting his music. All it took was standing on one foot and raising the other one slowly higher than his head and making it look effortless.
The best story of the day was Diana Drexler, who left her grandfather's sickbed to travel to the auditions and got a call from her family saying he died the day before she danced. She was exceptionally composed until one of the judges asked her how she's doing. She still managed to put out a great performance -- and at the age of 29, so she's not just a cute little teenager. She earned her place in the choreography test. (And then passed with flying colors.)
And of course we'll share with you:
Mary's Rules Of What Not To Do
#1 Dance with your hat pulled down over your eyes
#2 The never-ending reach out to nowhere
#3 Self-worship - rubbing parts of your body way too much
#4 Men's booty-shaking
Excellent as these are - the demonstration thanks to Adam Shankman really made it awesome.
Overall General Thoughts
Thought The First (And Only)
We don't get the inside-out pockets on the sweatpants. Maybe someone can explain it to us in the comments?