‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 18 episode 8 recap: No T-Pain, no gain for the final five in ‘Challenge #4: On Tour’
“So You Think You Can Dance” season 18 only eliminated one contestant last week when the top six dancers performed routines for the silver screen: hip-hop dancer Jaylin Sanders got the boot after his more formally trained co-stars out-danced him. That left five contestants to compete in “Challenge #4: On Tour”: Madison Alvarado, Anthony Curley, Mariyah Hawkins, Easton Magliarditi and Dakayla Wilson. So what happened when they took the show on the road?
“Without Jaylin, the house is just weirdly quiet,” says Anthony the morning after saying goodbye to another dancer. “I’m feeling really content, but also it’s hard to feel content when your roommate’s gone. I just have to keep pushing for him.” Cut to Anthony standing alone in a room with two big empty beds. He does know Jaylin’s still alive and this isn’t a “Hunger Games” kind of situation, right?
“This competition is about to get even tougher,” host Cat Deeley tells them when the top five arrive for the challenge reveal. “From Taylor Swift to Beyonce, international tours are a billion-dollar industry, and while it’s the headliner that makes the headlines, any superstar will tell you that it’s their dancers that keep the energy going in their performances.”
So this week they’ll perform as backup dancers for music star T-Pain. And they’ll be working with two choreographers on two routines: Fullout Cortland and Kyle Hanagami. Kyle says he looks for “good people first” when it comes to hiring a tour dancer. “You have to build a sense of community on a tour.” Fullout says you also have to be “smart … very aware of your spacing, very aware of the artist, and keeping the quality of the dance up with each other.” Cat tells them about a few more extra hurdles this challenge entails.: props, set pieces and a quick change between songs.
Rehearsals begin with Fullout, and Mariyah is chosen randomly for a special front-and-center moment with T-Pain, though if she can’t do the move she needs to do, the spot will go to somebody else. “On tour with me, you’re learning everything on the spot, and you’ve gotta catch it” says Fullout. “Dancing on tour, I need your focus, I need to be able to see you through every move.” He singles out Easton, saying he moves well but seems “in a little over his head.” A recurring critique with him; his technique is always on point, but nailing particular routines has been a challenge.
Moving on to Kyle’s rehearsal, which will be contemporary fusion, so Easton should hopefully feel more at home. But this is the routine where they’ll have to contend with props: a light on a stand that they’ll have to turn on and off themselves while doing the choreography. This time, it’s Anthony who catches the choreographer’s eye: “Anthony is so good at everything. I just want a little bit more star quality from him.” Seems like people have to work extra hard to find something to critique Anthony for. He’s perfect! But … his shoelace was untied one time?
Meanwhile, “Madison is a beast” who goes “full-out every time.” However, when she’s lifted upside down in a split position I hear something crack, and Madison reveals that she hurt her hip during the move. She hopes she’ll be okay to continue, and so do I. She’s the only dancer who hasn’t been on the bottom yet, so it would suck extra hard for her to be taken out by an injury. That night we see her limping and carrying bags of ice into the bathroom so she can take an ice bath. Fingers crossed.
The next morning Dakayla reveals that she has spoken to her biological father, who is also there in Atlanta. She hasn’t seen him since she was two-years-old. “They just couldn’t financially and mentally take care of me,” she explains. “It’s a lot,” Mariyah tells her, “and you’re handling it beautifully.” But Madison is still dealing with her hip pain, which she tells to an understanding Kyle. “If you really injure yourself, you’re never gonna go back to being the same dancer, so I want her to not push herself too hard.” But Madison is determined to “block it out,” and “I will do anything in my power to make it to the end.”
“I think I’m feeling overwhelmed,” says Mariyah, “but when am I not?” I’d be overwhelmed too. The amount of specific, minute movements you’ve got to remember to be a professional dancer is staggering, as demonstrated moments later when Anthony and Dakayla are paired up — of course — for some rapid-fire choreography including a lift. “The big thing for you,” Kyle tells Anthony, “is bending over to help her, and then the other thing is about adding intention, is about figuring out how to make this feel honest.” Kyle wants “a little bit more emotion from Anthony.” That said, “he is one of the cleanest dancers up there.” I really think he’s the front-runner to win this thing … unless he’s eliminated this week, then forget I said that.
Then it’s time to get back into Fullout’s routine. He says that Dakayla is “sweet” and full of energy. “She packs a punch, but sometimes that punch just doesn’t land.” And he thinks Mariyah is “textured,” but she lacks structure on being able to see where the moves start and end. Before too long this rehearsal is over too, and nobody’s limbs or joints have snapped, crackled or popped this time, so I’d call that a success. “Tomorrow is the challenge day,” Fullout tells them, and with a mischievous grin adds, “Hopefully I don’t change much. Sometimes the changes go all the way down to backstage at the show. So you never know.”
On the day of stage rehearsals — the last day before showtime — the dancers seem a little off performing Kyle’s routine. “I think that some of them are still in their head, and I see the doubt in their face,” so Kyle hopes they’re able to “let everything go” by the time they get to the performance that counts. Fullout’s stage rehearsal follows, and he instructs the five dancers, “I need all squats to be the squats. I need all grooves to be the grooves. I need in the box for everything. Okay?” An underrated challenge for contestants every week is to try to translate their choreographers’ instructions into plain English. Maybe it’s clearer in context. Or I’m just not up on my dance lingo. Go get ’em kids, and make sure you groove that squat in the box!
Madison’s hip still feels “sore” and “tender,” but “even if it was hurting, I would not allow it to affect my dancing.” Might not have hurt as much as Fullout switching Easton and Anthony’s positions because “I love the energy that Anthony was giving me versus Easton. You look a little scared, and I need you to find that energy.” Yeah, Easton, get in the box! Do you even have the box? Easton is “a very hard critic” on himself, so that stung, and his confidence has taken a hit.
Performance day arrives, and T-Pain is in the house! Judges Allison Holker, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and JoJo Siwa are in the house! … And the dancers are dressed like glowsticks. “JoJo, you know all about dancing on tour, says Cat. JoJo thinks “it truly does take such a special human to become a tour dancer. It requires stamina, teamwork, adaptability. You’ve gotta stand out while still blending in, and not over-shining the artist.” The medley begins and the top five groove the squat out of Fullout’s hip-hop choreo. If there are any errors they aren’t apparent to the naked eye. One quick change later, during which Anthony feels like he’s going to barf, and it’s time for Kyle’s contemporary with those damned light bulbs, but that too goes smoothly. I’m interested in how the judges will pick the performances apart because the dancers seemed genuinely to be a pretty even, cohesive unit to me.
Allison thinks the performances were “fantastic from all of you.” She applauds Madison for still going despite her hip injury, but in the first performance it took Allison a while to find her. I have a feeling she’ll be safe again, but it’ll be rough if they put her in the bottom and she has to dance a solo to save herself. Maks tells Mariyah that they’re looking to hire a “Swiss Army knife of a dancer,” and while she had a great moment dancing with T-Pain, she ended up half a count behind by the end of the medley. Allison sees something in Anthony even though he’s not the best technical dancer — like, what? This is the first we’re hearing that critique, and also Kyle said he was the cleanest out of the five. Yada yada yada, JoJo mentions the showmance between Anthony and Dakayla, Anthony says nice things, moving on.
Maks thinks Dakayla is “peaking at the right time” and was the absolute standout of the performance. JoJo was blown away. But Maks feels like he needs to see more confidence from Easton, though Allison felt the opposite, that this was the “fire” they needed to see from him. When it’s time to deliver the good and bad news. Dakayla is the first called out, and she is safe. Madison is safe too, so she won’t have to dance a solo. Maybe I’m underestimating her for the win. She hasn’t had a bad result from the judges yet. That means Anthony, Mariyah and Easton are all in jeopardy. Judging from their performances the last times they were at the bottom, I’d expect Anthony and Easton to stick around.
Easton is first, dancing to Stevie Wonder‘s “Lately,” and the judges agree that his performance is predictably fantastic, but he may be better as an artist than he is at the business of dance. Allison once again disagrees, however, saying that he showed them with his solo exactly what they want to see from him. Mariyah is next, performing to Jazmine Sullivan‘s “Lost One,” and just like last week I’m underwhelmed. I feel like she’s capable of so much but holds back in these solos. JoJo feels like she poured herself into the routine, but she just danced in a little square of the stage instead of pulling out all the stops. Allison thinks she has more to give, though. Anthony is last up, dancing to “Disconnect” by 6lack. It starts slow but builds, and I think he out-dances Mariyah in the end, though I think Mariyah probably out-emoted him. The judges are impressed that Anthony delivered a solo that was markedly different from his previous one, demonstrating range. But JoJo thinks he lacked polish and made a couple of mistakes. I think Easton had easily the best solo of the three and sadly Mariyah had the weakest.
The two dancers moving forward are … Anthony and Easton. That does indeed mean that Mariyah is out of the competition in fifth place. Sad to see her go, but ultimately the right call I think. Cat tells her that she has a singular “star quality” that no one can teach. “This has been such a beautiful experience, and I did exactly what I came to do,” says Mariyah in the end. “Thank you so much.”
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