Big D has some big shoes to fill. Dancing shoes, that is. Fox's summer hit So You Think You Can Dance rolled into town for Season 9 auditions on Friday, January 13, to see if Dallas would once again bring forth some stars. Season 4 gave us Joshua Allen of Fort Worth (that season's winner), Comfort Fedoke and Chelsea Traille. Season 7 picked up California native Robert Roldan at the Dallas audition, and numerous other contestants either hail from the Metroplex or were discovered here.
Hoping to be included in that list, dancers from near and far gathered on a cold January morning outside McFarlin Memorial Auditorium to vie for the title of America's Favorite Dancer. And a title is not all these performers are pinning their hopes on. Last season's winner Melanie Moore also received $250,000, a spot in a Gatorade print ad campaign and on Gatorade.com, and was the cover model for the November issue of the popular Dance Spirit magazine.
Armed with a heavy jacket and my trusty iPhone, I arrived at the SMU campus at 6:30 a.m. and found a long line of hopefuls and their friends and family. First in line was hip-hop dancer Jazmynn Robinson from Jacksonville, Ark., who had actually been in line since Thursday evening. Her dedication might pay off, as she'll probably have some screen time once the episode airs. Look for the pink earmuffs. Right behind her was Jamarcus Henderson, a Houston native with jazz, modern and hip hop training.
The two of them and a few hundred of their closest friends (at least in line, anyway) waited in anticipation for the first round of auditions, which despite what shows up on television, was not in front of Nigel and the gang. The contestants must first pass a producers cut where they'll not only dance their prepared solo, but do some improvising as well, to music chosen by the producers. And being a great technical dancer is not enough to get you in. The commercial dance world places equal if not more emphasis on performance quality and personality.
Moving on down the line, I met Jeremy Ramirez and Jazmin Krug warming up with some freestyle salsa, which illustrated one of the great things about this audition process. Ramirez is from Dallas, and Krug flew here from Orlando, yet they were able to connect through their love of dance. Krug is an Orlando Magic dancer and a graduate of University of Central Florida who auditioned last year in Atlanta. We might also get to see Ramirez on camera, as he later showed host Cat Deeley some salsa moves.
As the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hints of daylight, more people showed up wrapped in blankets, scarves, hoodies and anything else that might keep them warm. One such group huddled in a blanket was a trio of ballet-trained contemporary dancers who all came from Patty Harper Dance Studio in Abilene—Jessica Beck, Taylor Surles and Monica Sherman. Like the rest, they're hoping to get in front of the judges and hear Nigel utter those famous words while holding a simple piece of paper in his hand: "You're going to Vegas."
If the dancers do make it in front of the judges, they then take one of three paths. They could be sent immediately home, hopefully with an encouragement to work harder, get more training and come back. They could impress the judges just enough to make it to the choreography round where their skills at partnering and quickly picking up choreography are tested. Or they could completely blow the judges away and hear the aforementioned words and receive the "golden ticket" (which really just looks like an airline ticket, but is still cool and coveted, nonetheless).
So, why do the hundreds of dancers in line think they deserve that spot? Jordan Riechert, a student at Chicago's Columbia College and Adrian, Mo. native, was there to prove that anyone could go for it, "and they should!" Riechert comes from a small Missouri town with only one main road and where "pretty much everyone drives a tractor." Season 7 runner-up Kent Boyd also came from a small town and made it big, so there's definitely hope for Riechert.
Watch some more dancers state why they should be America's Favorite Dancer here:
And of course, it's also the background stories that make the show worth watching. I met Tristen Everett from Oklahoma City in line with his mother practicing some of his moves. He got into dancing because his parents were competitive disco dancers, so they encouraged him to dance. Michael Jackson is his biggest inspiration, but he's also taken ballroom lessons. When Everett was 13, he lost his father to cancer, so it's just him and his mother now. However, he's determined to use his dancing ability for good causes. Just recently, he and his fellow dancers hosted a benefit to raise awareness for Asperger Syndrome. So what's next for his budding non-profit foundation, On Fire? Wounded Warriors Project.
Speaking of parents, there were plenty of them out in the chilly weather to support their children. Check out what some of them had to say about their brilliant dancers here:
About 7:30 a.m. the show's camera crews started making the rounds. The prospect of national television was definitely enough to bring the characters out. Well, that and the possibility of talking to Cat. She also made her way down the line and definitely contributed to the excitement which was hopefully warming up the performers.
I got to chat with her for a brief moment, and, yes, she is as tall and bright and bubbly in person as she appears on TV. She had some great things to say about Dallas and dancers. Since this is the third time auditions have been held in Dallas, I asked her what she liked about coming to Dallas. "I'm hoping to get to see the city a little bit more," she said. "Everyone here is so friendly."
And who wouldn't be friendly with someone like Cat talking to them? "Today, it's all about having fun, me being a goofball, and having a really great time."
For someone who obviously loves being around dancers, I wanted to know what she's learned about dance, since this is her eighth season hosting the show. Being a dancer myself, her answer was not surprising to me, but was still very flattering:
"The biggest thing I've learned is that dancers are a very unique breed. A never met a group of people who are more hardworking, more passionate, more prepared to give it their all than dancers are and there's a real sense of camaraderie with it. In a way I was shocked by it. Before I started doing the show I thought it was going to be really competitive because obviously everybody's eyes are on the same prize and I didn't know what it was going to be like. Now I know that they all have each other's back, they all stay in contact with each other."
Watch the hopefuls practice their moves and show off in front of the camera here:
◊ Read more about the Dallas auditions here, and an interview with the judges here.
◊ Season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance will begin this summer on FOX. 
