An eclectic mix of dances embodying contemporary grace, interpretive sensuality and energetic hip-hop filled the stage Tuesday at Wharton Center to kick-off the 2013 “So You Think You Can Dance” tour.
The 11-time Primetime Emmy Award-winning show- started its 42-city tour with a sold out performance, which is a big deal for the Wharton Center to host, said Tara Peplowski, marketing manager for Wharton Center.
“It’s very exciting to have that caliber of dance performance on our stage that has received national exposure,” Peplowski said.
The top 10 finalists of season 10 took to the stage and provided the audience with season favorites and new dance routines that included a bicycle number, varying forms of dance and music by Robin Thicke and Beyonce.
The season 10 tour line-up included Aaron Turner, Hayley Erbert, Jasmine Harper, Jenna Johnson, Makenzie Dustman, Nico Greetham, Paul Karmiryan, Tucker Knox and season winners DuShaunt “Fik-shun” Stegall and Amy Yakima.
Yakima, of Northville, Mich., was excited to be back in her native state, and said winning the season and being on tour is a dream come true.
“I would be home right now taking dance lessons — now I’m out on tour,” Yakima said. “I’ve watched the show since I was little and you see all these people doing big things on the show and you think, ‘Maybe I could do that,’ and all of a sudden, it happens.”
Yakima, a jazz dancer, and Fik-Shun, a hip-hopper, won the $125,000 prize and were crowned America’s favorite dancers.
After trying out for season nine and not making it as far as she would have hoped, Yakima said she came back in full force for season 10.
“I definitely think it put a fire underneath my butt,” Yakima said. “I wanted it so bad. I saw that the dancers there were just amazing so I knew I need more practice, more focus.”
“It put me in that path and I took way more ballet way more hip hop and tried to open up a little bit more and it helped.”
Fik-Shun, once a street dancer in Las Vegas, said he had never watched the show before he was on it and didn’t expect to win.
“I never saw myself thinking, ‘I have to win this, I have to win this.’ It was more like, ‘Oh snap, I have to pick this up,’” Fik-Shun said. “It was definitely living in the moment and taking it day by day.”
The finalists had a short amount of down time between the season’s end and the beginning of the rehearsal for the tour, which they all said put a lot of strain on their body.
Fik-Shun, who snapped his ankle and wore a brace for much of the season, said he didn’t let the multiple injuries he endured during the show hold him back.
“I think I had more injuries on the show then I think I’ve ever had in my life,” Fik-Shun said. “It’s one of those things you have to just push through.”
Fik-Shun, the Kansas native, said all the hard work is paying off.
“It’s actually living in the moment and living your dreams,” Fik-Shun said. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else right now, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here.”
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