Tag: competition

Guest Who?

Lauren Adams guest-choreographing at Spotlight Dance Works in Chesterfield, MI (Liz Schmidt) These days, it’s common for studio owners to hire guest choreographers—often big industry names like Travis Wall and Joey Dowling—to set pieces on their competition dancers. As a dancer, working with a guest choreographer is both exciting (cool new moves from a dance […]

Why You Should Know Kayla Mak

Offstage, 9-year-old Kayla Mak is like any other 4th-grader. She’s a happy kid who likes math and watching TV. (Her favorite show is “So You Think You Can Dance,” of course.) But get her onstage and you’ll see a whole different Kayla—a girl who’s anything but ordinary. At the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation’s […]

America's Favorite Ballet Dancers

by Joe Toreno There’s no better feeling than rooting for your favorite “So You Think You Can Dance” contestants all season long and then seeing them come out on top. That’s exactly what happened for ballet enthusiasts across the country, who have been hoping since Vegas Week that America would recognize Eliana Girard and Chehon […]

Dancing King

Photography by Joe Toreno It was one of the most emotional moments in one of “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 9’s most emotional routines: Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, 23, leapt across the stage, his face a picture of anguish, to rest his head on a suitcase that represented all the possessions he had left in […]

Dancing Queen

Photography by Joe Toreno “I went blank!” That was 21-year-old Eliana Girard’s reaction when Cat Deeley announced her as the “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 9 female winner. “People were clapping, I was crying and I honestly didn’t know what was going on,” Eliana says. “I’d dreamed of winning, but I never thought […]

Do This, Not That

The judges are fine with you making a mess onstage—as long as you clean it up afterward! (Cory Jones/C Event Pics) Competition weekends should be easy enough, right? Rehearse your stuff beforehand, arrive at the venue with your costumes ready to go, hit the stage, dance full-out and, later, graciously accept whatever award you’re given. […]

Competition is One of Our Favorite Things

The Dance Spirit staff doesn’t like to pick favorite issues of our magazine (it would be like picking our favorite child!), but if we were forced to, the October issue would probably be up there. Not only did we get to crown this year’s Cover Model Search winner (yay, Megan Skalla!), but it’s also The […]

Megan's Magic

by Nathan Sayers When Megan Skalla traveled to NYC as a Cover Model Search finalist back in April, the DS editors were blown away by her stellar dancing and sweet, sincere personality—and clearly, you were, too. After more than 10,000 total votes (a CMS record!) and a race so close it came down to the […]