Previously, twelve contestants performed live for the studio audience on The Mo'Nique Show. Kaleila and Kristin were sent home, leaving ten dancers to compete for the $50,000 grand prize.
Born to Dance - Day 1, Commercial Rehearsal
The contestants entered the studio, hoping for a celebrity guest for the week's competition. Instead, they were greeted by Laurieann, Richy, Peanut and ten vacuum cleaners. Ten "Sears Kenmore Intuition" vacuum cleaners, to be exact.
As Laurieann explained, one of the first jobs she had was in a commercial, performing as a dancing tampon. She wanted her contestants to have a commercial experience, so they danced together, each with a vacuum cleaner. The choreography was very precise, and involved a lot of movement around the floor for all ten dancers. It was clear that there would be some shots from above with the formations they were using.
At first, the hoses started falling off the vacuums, then attachments were flying around the room. The dancers were having trouble with the choreography as well, especially Jahleeka. They all went to the loft at night to continue rehearsing on their own.
Born to Dance - Day 2, More Rehearsal Time
The dancers were given a second day to rehearse the choreography, this time with just Richy and Peanut. They spent a long time "cleaning" the routine, which means they took time to go over each small part of the dance to make sure everyone was in sync and knew what they were doing.
Born to Dance - Day 3, Commercial Shoot
At the commercial shoot, the dancers were put in makeup and wardrobe. Their characters were 50s housewives, complete with sweaters draped over their shoulders and beehive wigs. Leo Marshall, the director, had them fix their staging with Laurieann and then began to shoot. They danced in front of a green screen, and started running the choreography.
Laurieann, Richy and Peanut critiqued on the side while they ran the routine, saying that Jessica and Hennessy both had good facial expressions. Lydia and Keisha seemed to be holding back when they were performing in the back of the group; however, when they were rearranged and came to the front, they were good.
After performing a few times as a group, Leo had the dancers run the routine individually, staying more or less in one spot on the floor. These different shots proved to work well for some, like Theresa and Jessica. On the other hand, Jahleeka looked uncomfortable (and later took her shoes off while on the side), and Lydia did not seem to be happy. Quiana lost her place and froze, stopping in the middle of the routine. She redid it and was correct; however, Peanut consoled her off stage, saying, "You have to recover, make that [bleep] up for dear life."
Born to Dance - Elimination
At the elimination back at the studio, Laurieann started with a prayer as she usually does. She told all of the dancers that she was disappointed overall in the performance at the commercial shoot. She warned that this is not just a dance class, but an opportunity for a better life, and the dancers need to take it and run with it.
Laurieann said that five of the dancers did impress her: Hennessy, Andrea, Jessica, LaTonya, and Kristina. They were all through to the next round.
Jahleeka, Laurieann said, was disappointing. This could have been a week where Jahleeka's larger frame would have benefitted her, but she did not work it to her advantage in this challenge. Despite this, Laurieann put her through.
Laurieann also reprimanded Quiana for stopping during her shoot. She said if it had been her rehearsal, Quiana would have been sent out. She also hinted that Quiana is becoming elitist, saying that the idea of entitlement is wrong. However, Laurieann put her through.
Lydia, according to Laurieann, was not "present" at all during the shoot. When she was in the back of the group, she became invisible, which is something she needs to work on. Laurieann also put her through.
Going home were two dancers: Keisha and Theresa. Laurieann said Keisha looked like a fish out of water at the shoot, and was very inconsistent. Theresa danced too much in her head, and has taken too long to come up to the level that Laurieann needs. They both went home.
Next week, the remaining 8 dancers move on to perform the lindyhop with some professional male dancers: Hennessy, Andrea, Jessica, LaTonya, Kristina, Jahleeka, Quiana and Lydia.
Terry Finch - Terry Finch is a dance teacher and choreographer in Central PA with an extensive training and teaching background in many forms of ...
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