“SYTYCD” Week 4: Top 10 Revealed!

We’ve officially made it past the audition round on this season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” but that doesn’t mean that the hard part is over. The 35 dancers who made it through auditions now had to face the true test: the choreography round. 

And while, typically, this round could have gone on for a number of days to whittle the groups down, everything is different this year. Allison Holker revealed that this season the choreography round would last only one day, and would see 35 turn into 10!

So in case you missed last night’s episode, we’re here to recap all the best dancing, and the drama, plus which 10 talented dancers made it to the next round.

First Cut: From 35 to 16

For the choreography round, the judges were joined by iconic L.A. choreographer Galen Hooks, who has previously worked with the likes of Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, and Jennifer Lopez. For the first round of cuts, Galen led the dancers through an intense jazz routine. 

The dancers began to perform in groups of five, and it was quickly clear that the judges weren’t playing. From the first five, only one dancer made it through: Easton Magliarditi—a standout from the first day of auditions. 

From the second group, Easton was joined by Ali Deucher and Mariyah Hawkins, along with Julian Carmolinga, and Roman Nevinchanyi. From the third group, Madison Rouge Alvarado and Olivia Alboher moved forward alongside Anthony Curley, who judge Maksim said already looked like a “front-runner.” In the fourth group, Dakayla Wilson, Avery Gay, and Braylon Browner made it through. The final group struggled a bit, and only Jaylin Sanders and Andrew Park went through and were warned by the judges not to disappoint in the duets. 

Second Cut: From 16 to the Final 10

After the first cut, it was time for some teamwork, and the judges had the chance to see the dancers perform in pairs. Galen tells Cat Deeley that this is an opportunity for the dancers to show “everything they can do” (our favorite kind of choreo). 

After the first two pairs performed for the judges, Maksim Chmerkovskiy spoke up, saying he was feeling frustrated that there wasn’t enough partner work, resulting in a lack of emotional connection between the dancers. But Allison disagreed, saying the dancers “smashed it.”

The second and third groups fared well, though the judges did voice some concerns that it seemed the choreography didn’t come quite as naturally to Jaylin, who had admitted in the first round that he was struggling with not having trained as extensively in jazz or contemporary. In the final group, it was Roman who seemed to have trouble, with Allison saying he wasn’t as “solid” as she had hoped for.

Once all 16 dancers had the chance to perform, it was time for deliberations. Cat called in the first eight dancers to hear their results, and it was a landslide—all eight were heading through to the top 10. 

But in case your math isn’t mathing, that means only two of the dancers from the second group have a spot in the final 10. Ouch. In the end, only Jaylin and Avery make it through, and it’s an emotional, tear-filled moment. 

And with that, we have our top 10: Olivia, Madison, Braylon, Anthony, Avery, Mariyah, Easton, Roman, Jaylin, and Dakayla.

But on this season of “SYTYCD” there’s always another twist, and, in this case, there were actually two. First, it was announced that for the first time ever, all 10 dancers will not only be dancing together but also be living together as they go through the competition. 

The final twist? The judges will be joined at the table by “Dance Moms” and “Dancing with the Stars” alum Jojo Siwa. So strap in, folks, we’re pretty sure this season is going to be a crazy one.