BLOGS
In a fairly surprising move, brought on solely by the judges and not by the American voting public, Biana Revels and Phillip Attmore were eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance. The two were three of the much-hyped tap dancers who were predicted to go far in the competition this season. However, World Series playoffs messed with the schedule, and we'll never be able to know how popular they actually were. The two grabbed their tap shoes and did a quick conference call with reporters before heading back home after their abbreviated journeys.
First Up, Bianca:
What made you come back season after season to keep auditioning?
Bianca: Over the years of trying, every year I noticed that I grew not only as a dancer, but as a person and, you know, like I always say, they never had a tapper on the show, and I was really the first one to bring a wide exposure to it. So I figured why would I just open the door and not walk through it? I wanted to make sure that I at least made it to the Top 20 and inspired someone to get up and dance or to show them what tap is really all about.
There had to have been part of you that was disappointed that America didn't get to vote.
Bianca: Yes, you know, it's definitely kind of a bummer to not have been able to have the opportunity to be voted [on], but it doesn't end here. I feel like God had me on this show for the amount of time that he wanted me there, and maybe I'm meant to do other things and this is just a beautiful foundation for [something great]. So it is a bummer, but you'll see me in other things and you'll get to watch me, so I'm excited about that.
How do you think you handled the end to your journey on the show? Were you surprised?
Bianca: I was just a little surprised, especially because Phillip got cut at the same time. I had amazing exposure on the show and I got to step out of my element and do a contemporary piece and a Broadway piece, and now it's time for me to move on and do other things, so it was a bittersweet moment.
As a traditional tapper, you got to do some modern contemporary dance. Did this give you the impetus to take that a little bit further?
Bianca: Oh, most definitely. Every critique that I've been given over the years, I take it to heart because I know that -- that's one thing I will say about the So You Think You Can Dance judges, is that they really do care about our well-being. They really do care about our development as people and as dancers. So every critique that I was given about my speed, about going the extra distance, I will take to heart and apply it and move forward. So yes, it definitely has pushed me to want to continue to better myself in other genres.
Next up, Phillip:
It seems like this year more than before, there's been a lot of work where the man and the woman are almost the same size and it's really hard for the guys to do the lifts. When you went in to try and do those lifts with Channing, did you get a feeling that this was going to be really hard?
Phillip: You know what, it was certainly a challenge and that is a very good observation, because I don't think that that's something that the judges actually took into consideration, in terms of -- I mean, Channing is a beautiful girl and not at all large in any way, but she's very muscular and I think we were a little bit out of proportion when you consider the types of lifts that they were asking me to do. So it was definitely a challenge in rehearsals and then going out on stage. I think we pulled it together as best we could, you know, considering we had three days for rehearsal. But yes, it certainly was a challenge, though, throughout the entire run of that piece.
It was really difficult for Nigel to let you and Bianca go. Did you have a chance to talk to him at all before you left?
Phillip: I did a little bit; I mean, I hugged each of the judges and Nigel came up to me. He said he was sorry for my loss. I don't know that he and the judges knew that I had [recently] lost my father. And yes, he said it was really hard to let us go, so he expressed that as well, which was really a nice exchange before I left, you know, to be able to thank him.
With all the tappers, nobody else was going to be asked to do tap. Don't you think that that puts the tappers to a disadvantage right there, because another guy could do hip-hop, for example, but he couldn't do tap?
Phillip: Yes, it certainly puts the tappers at a disadvantage, and I think that the only way that I can put it into words is that I had to learn the samba in three days. The samba, no matter what anyone says, the samba is not something that you can fake, particularly the routine that Channing and I had to learn. It was a very difficult routine, and in the back of my mind I was constantly thinking, well, if somebody has to learn a routine like this in three days, then they can certainly have tap in the hat and have someone pick it out, and learn the basics of tap in three days and make them do it on stage, because it's the same amount of difficulty. So I certainly believe that tappers are at a disadvantage, especially when I stepped up on the platform for critiques next to Channing and I was ripped apart the way I was. I mean, obviously, I wasn't expecting the best of comments, but I wasn't expecting, for instance, Mary to say that I let my partner down. I don't think that was a fair comment. So, you know, I was absolutely at a disadvantage in some ways.
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All of my questions settled—tahkns!