Boot Camp at Jacob’s Pillows Brings Out the Best (And Worst) in the Dancers
The recruiting is over. And boot camp has begun.
From Salt Lake, there were 13 dancers. Five from Washington D.C., and six from Austin, Texas.
Obviously, us viewers knew that the company was only going to have 12 dancers, but I wasn’t sure if the 24 dancers that were flown to New York knew that. But at least they all were given a fair shot at making that top 12.
To me, this has been the best episode so far. I’m not a huge fan of the audition stage of any show. I like when it starts getting to the nitty gritty, and we can get to know the people.
I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know a ton about dancing, but it was obviously a big deal when they arrived at Jacob’s Pillow. Even if someone didn’t make it to the final company, it seems like this opportunity would have made it worth the trip out to New York.
It made me laugh when one of the girls on the bus said they were hoping this whole experience would be “drama free.” Yeah right. Especially with the number of girls that are present — drama is inevietable. I have been surprised by the lack so far, but I’m guessing as it gets down to crunch time right before the gala, the fangs will come out. We can always hope their won’t be drama, but I’m seriously doubting it. The editing of a show tends to bring drama in anyways — isn’t that why a lot of people watch shows like this?
Anyways, I think my favorite part of this episode was the word exercise. I feel like it really gave all of the dancers an opportunity to put their best foot forward and show off their individual strengths as they created a dance that expressed a word they felt described them best. I absolutely LOVED Laura’s, and Shepherd’s was pretty cool as well. I was disappointed in Chase O’s though — he obviously has a lot of talent, but I felt like he fell short in this exercise.
They sure did focus on Shepherd a lot, didn’t they? He’s the dancer that has been most recognizable thus far. Are they focusing on him because he’s probably the least trained — classically, at least? Or because it’s obvious he is working hard? I’m going to be surprised if he ends up being cut in the end, because of all the air time he’s been given. Even though he’s probably not the most polished dancer, he’s actually probably one of my favorites. Because I do think he is very grateful for the opportunity to be there, and is willing to go outside his comfort zone to get there. This is one of my favorite clips that focused on him in the show:
It was a nice touch to include the BBQ that was put on by Billy and Michael. If anything, it showed some more insight into the dancers, and even Billy’s and Michael’s, personalities. I enjoyed watching it — a bit of comedic relief.
So obviously, at the end, the dancers got the news that six of them were going to be sent him the next day. Laura acted as if this was shocking news, but I kind of wonder why. I mean, they knew by this point that only 12 would make to the final performance, right? And seeing as there was only about 17 days left, cuts were bound to be made relatively quickly. It will definitely be interesting to see who goes through. I’m not sure how they are going to go about it — only select the most polished, precise dancers, or perhaps bring through some of the ones with less experience, such as Shepherd. This next video makes me wonder even more about him — sounds like he is on the brink of elimination.
We shall see. This show is starting to get really good, I can hardly wait to see next week’s episode, especially after watching the preview:
