Halifax thinks it can dance

Josh MacLean couldn’t wait for the So You Think You Can Dance Canada auditions in Toronto on June 9.

So the Cambridge, Ont. native drove 17 hours straight to Halifax to strut his stuff before the producers at the Cunard Centre on Monday morning.

MacLean, 19, was the first in line at 5:30 a.m. for the auditions, which began at 9 a.m.

By 10 a.m., the former figure skater, who has just completed two eight-month contracts as a dancer on Royal Caribbean cruise line, had his gold ticket for today’s Celebrity Auditions.

About 80 dancers showed up yesterday to try to impress judges Tré Armstrong, dancer, choreographer and star of How She Move, choreographer Melissa Williams, who has worked with such artists as Prince and Bryan Adams, and special guest judge Dan Karaty, from the hit U.S. version of the TV series.

Those who couldn’t make it Monday still have a chance. Producers will see dancers who haven’t yet auditioned and who arrive at the Cunard Centre by 9 a.m. today.

A judge and choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance, Karaty was tapped to be a guest judge on the upcoming CTV Canadian series while at auditions in Washington, D.C.

Armstrong and Jean-Marc Generoux, a Quebec native and ballroom dancer who has performed in the films Dance With Me and Shall We Dance, are the permanent judges. Luther Brown, whose hip-hop soul choreography has been featured in videos for artists including Jully Black, Brandy, Shawn Desman, Keshia Chante and Diddy, and Blake McGrath are alternating third judges. Toronto native McGrath, a finalist in the first season of the U.S. version of So You Think You Can Dance, is also the audition tour choreographer.

Karaty says the talent level and dance styles in both the U.S. and Canada are the same and the key to success is versatility.

"You have to be able to do everything. One day you’re doing hip hop, the next a paso doble, and the next a theatre jazz routine.

"It’s about being proficient in a number of styles, being a well-rounded dancer. No matter what you do you have to be able to pull it out when it counts."

And, he says, dancers need personality plus.

"When you get on stage, if you’re having a good time, I’ll have a good time. You need to make me smile. A great dancer has tons of energy. It’s all about entertaining."

Karaty, who has choreographed videos and tours for Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, ’NSYNC and Britney Spears, says he gives the dancers credit. "I don’t think I could do what they do. It’s incredible."

He says the hardest thing for judges to do is to be honest.

"It’s important to be realistic. If you don’t think someone has it, you have to be strong enough to say ‘no thank you.’ But at the same time you hope you don’t let someone go who would turn into that special someone that we need on the show. It’s all about talent."

April Gulliver, a 25-year-old native of St. John’s, Nfld., who says she has been dancing professionally since the age of two, is confident she has what it takes.

The gold ticket recipient has been looking forward to the auditions since she heard last year there was a chance the show might come to Canada.

"I looked on the CTV website every day till I saw the date for the auditions and then I booked a one-way ticket because I know I can dance."

A hip-hop specialist, she says she had a few butterflies in her stomach before the auditions, but when she got on stage the adrenaline was pumping and it just flowed.

"The hardest part was waiting outside from 6 a.m. till 8:30 (when registration began). To me dancing is like breathing."

Once into the auditions, the dancers were divided up into groups of 10 and were asked to freestyle for 30 seconds. Most of those auditioning had assumed they would dance in a group and for Jessica Sayde, a 24-year-old Halifax native, the chance to improvise was a bonus.

"Freestyling is one of the things I do best."

A full-time dance teacher and choreographer at Halifax Dance, Sayde, who also has a degree in sociology from Saint Mary’s University, didn’t start dancing till she was about 14.

"I was a gymnast until then and then I started dancing, copying music videos, and was training, touring and competing in hip hop and jazz."

She was encouraged by her friends to audition who clearly knew she had the right stuff as she secured a gold ticket.

"I was supposed to be away, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t stay and try. You can learn so much from the choreographers. I hope to get re-inspired. I know it will change my life even if I don’t do well."

She’s looking forward to showing off her hip-hop routine for the judges today, which she made up two days ago.

"It has popping and smooth R and B so it will take it different levels and show I was also trained in jazz."

Curtis Dillon, a 20-year-old Dartmouth resident, plans to showcase his jazz skills in today’s auditions, noting his strengths are in tap, hip hop and lyrical contemporary dance.

After spending four hours at the auditions, the Dalhousie University math and French major was on his way to his teaching job at the Joseph Wallin School of Dance in Dartmouth.

"I’ve been dancing since I was six. I love the way you can make it your own, the way you can feel it become something different, the way you can feel the music.

He says the auditions were lots of fun, though there were no words in the piece he was asked to dance to which was difficult for him because "as a lyrical dancer, it’s all about the lyrics. I’m very proud to get through."

He’s been a huge fan of the U.S. So You Think You Can Dance since the first season (it’s now in its fourth) and this summer, while working at a Tim Horton’s camp in Quebec, he had no access to TV so he had his father record every episode and send him clips.

"I love to see all the amazing dancers and the different styles of dance. I’m excited to be part of that, for the burst of energy everyone will get from the experience."

MacLean, who specializes in hip hop and contemporary dance says it’s a tradition for him to go to his friend Rebecca’s house, make pizza and watch the show together.

"It would be surreal to make it to the show. It would be a jumping off point for my career. It’s like free classes."

Kasha Pinel of Hawkestone, Ont., says making it to the show would be like having a personalized workshop, and says just being part of the auditionprocess will help her career.

"The more you audition, the more you learn. I love the show and it’s cool to say I auditioned, and would be even cooler to be on it," says the 19-year-old dance student at George Brown College in Toronto.

After the Celebrity Auditions, the successful competitors move on to a final round in Toronto. The series is slated for a fall debut.