Elimination has officially begun on season 13 of So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation.Â
The second live show opened with a Bollywood Dance by the Top 10 and a few back up dancers. Tonight’s judges had a bit of a twist as Jason DeRulo couldn’t be at tonight’s show. In his place was All Star finalist Twitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLidJuK6eUU
This week, the Top 10 had to step out of their comfort zones and do a partner dance with one of the other Top 10 contestants. The first performance began with Jordan and Ruby. Their dance was “intricate” as said by judge Paula Abdul. It was also a blend of fast paced and unique, complete with matching outfits and face paint. For their second piece, they slowed it down and kept their balance with a piece showing a friend helping out another dealing with a broken home.
Ruby naturally brought the spice to the stage with her All Star Paul.  Jordan mixed it up in gold with her All Star Sasha.
Shaeden’s first performance was full of unbelievable breakdancing moves to “Treasure” by Bruno Mars. Daniela wasn’t shy about bringing the flavor to the stage and ended with a pose that takes the timing and precision to nail.
Daniela became frustrated in rehearsal at her difficulty to pick up the dance as it was out of her comfort zone but showed no lack of confidence in her piece with partner Shaeden to “I Love It” by Icona Pop. The pair went to Broadway for their second performance of the night and had the judges in awe at the originality of the routine and the way it pulled out their personalities.
© 2016 FOX Broadcasting Co. Cr: Patrick Wymore
Emma and J.T. stepped out of both of their comfort zones to perform a hip hop number and finished off the dance by making it rain. Judge Nigel stated Emma seemed more comfortable performing the piece but that J.T. may need more work for that particular style of dancing. Judge Maddie said she understood the struggle as she’s “not the best at hip hop” either. For their second duo piece, Emma and J.T. tapped into the classic West Side Story. Paula stated they worked great “as a couple together” and Nigel felt the performance redeemed J.T. from their first duo.
J.T. tapped into his comfort zone for his partner dance with his All Star and not surprisingly killed the choreography. Emma tapped back into her style with All Star Gaby for their performance and nailed it to the last step.
Tate didn’t disappoint with another meaningful contemporary piece with All Star partner Kathryn. Kida and his All Star Fik-Shun performed another robotic duo dance that was impossible not to watch. Meanwhile Tate and Kida gave a new meaning to the word “turn up” when they brought hip hop dancing to the farmer life. In their second performance, Tate and Kida mixed up their dance moves and according to judge Maddie, the two are both “completely different dancers but somehow you make it look amazing”.
Jake and Tahani used contemporary dance to express the struggle with bullying that was sure to relate to anyone who has been bullied across the world. Both dancers expressed their experience with bullying and were overcome with emotion at the end of their piece. The judge’s agreed that their connection with the dance and the message was what brought the piece together. Jake and Tahani broke out of jail and into jazz for the final performance of the night.
Jake brought the fire to the stage with his All Star Jenna dancing to “Ain’t Your Mama” by Jennifer Lopez. Tahani and her All Star partner helped pump up the crowd with their dance to “Pep Rally” by Missy Elliott.
The episode ended with an elimination, and the Top 10 went down to the Top 9 saying goodbye to Daniela. Stay tuned to So You Think You Can Dance next week to see what the Top 9 have in store on FOX. Check out Daniela’s journey below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJ_w5VncnE
