Next up: Miami! Naturally this montage involves a lot of bikinis and bare torsos frolicking in the surf. We have a new panel here, as Nigel is joined by Jason Gilkison and Sonya Tayeh, who Cat reminds us is now "Emmy-nominated" choreographer Sonya Tayeh. The first guy to try out is a Czech ballroom dancer named Michael. He's been training in Germany for a competition in England but flew to Miami in order to have a chance to try out, of course. Awesomely, the reason he got into dancing was seeing Dirty Dancing when he was 11 years old, and specifically he mentions Patrick Swayze appearing half naked. Obviously, I already adore this guy. Nigel loves him for not pulling faces during his routine (though he does make a funny little fish face every so often, which is currently funny but could grate if he keeps it up), Sonya loves how precise he is, and Jason is the one who gives the most technical feedback (being the ballroom expert), that he managed to showcase his own footwork and skills while at the same time still being a really great partner. Michael is delighted and honored to hear that from Jason, and he's even more delighted when they send him straight to Vegas.
Next we meet Terrell, who is from Liberty City, a super-rough neighborhood on the other side of Miami. He tells us that he didn't want to sell drugs or fall into a bad life and so he turned to dance, and that even more unusually for the neighborhood he decided to do contemporary dance. We meet his dad, who wasn't too sure about it at first, but who supported him and tells us how proud he is of his son. Oh, show, you didn't need to add the piano music as you show him dancing in the street outside his house, I'm already getting kind of misty! Sheesh. And then he's dancing his routine to "Black and Gold" by Sam Sparro, so now he's my new favorite. (Yes, I'm easy. And also fickle, I know it, it's okay.) His movement and his lines are amazing and Sonya is beaming as she watches him -- all three of the judges adore him and send him right through to Vegas.













Comments