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Cat, will we see you auditioning for Season 10? The front section of the audience stands for the whole show comfy shoes are a must!
Then, when huge set pieces come through—like rocks for the final Lion King-style number—the audience shuffles to make room. It makes the fans feel like part of the action. We even spotted Tyce Diorio chowing down while reading Dance Spirit , of course. Backstage after the show, we chatted with the All-Stars, who were eager to share how excited they were for the winners. The call came after a lengthy audition process with Spielberg in the room, and the role, originated by Wilma Curley on Broadway in and later portrayed by Gina Trikonis in the film, was her biggest dream.
In fact, it's something Garcia-Lee says she manifested from the day plans for the movie were announced in January On top of her regular training, she would travel multiple hours each day to New York City and New Jersey for classes with Steps on Broadway and the Princeton Ballet School, respectively.
Her bedroom walls were lined with cutouts from the pages of Dance Spirit , which served as inspiration for her goals. Her mother, Terri Garcia, was a professional dancer in the s she even danced Francisca in the West Side Story tour in , and Garcia-Lee was eager to follow in her footsteps. Garcia-Lee went to high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied first ballet and then drama. As a sophomore, she was cast as Graziella in her school's production of West Side Story.
The magic of performing Jerome Robbins' iconic choreography never left her. She's been banging on West Side Story 's door ever since. All the while, she held out hope that West Side Story would someday come her way.
In , Garcia-Lee was considered for Graziella in the Broadway revival but didn't get the role after countless callbacks. After that, two more productions didn't cast her as Graziella. For the Broadway revival, she was only offered the opportunity to audition for the role of Anybodys. She turned down both opportunities in favor of other projects—she would wait for Graziella. Despite the rejection, she was undeterred.
So when Deadline published an article announcing the film remake, Garcia-Lee felt that playing Graziella was meant to be. At the audition, the casting room was filled with many of her friends and fellow Broadway darlings, like Eloise Kropp Cats and Jonalyn Saxer Mean Girls. According to the film's choreographer, Justin Peck, Garcia-Lee quickly caught the eye of the creative team.
I could sense that from the first audition. At the same time, she was committed to the Broadway run of Moulin Rouge! She spent much of the winter and early spring of trying to figure out how to do it all. She asked if she could miss some rehearsals and most preview performances including the all-important first preview performance so she could film her scenes in the movie.
I'll never forget Steven up on a ladder, then Steven halfway down the ladder, and then Steven on a rolling chair, Steven lying on the floor looking up at [the choreography] this way, Justin tweaking and tweaking. Rehearsals for the iconic "Dance at the Gym" scene lasted two weeks. Before the work began, Garcia-Lee says, she familiarized herself with Peck's work as much as she could to get a sense of his style. However, I loved the challenge of it. Once rehearsals wrapped, filming for "Dance at the Gym" lasted six days, and according to Garcia-Lee, her feet never hurt so badly in her entire life.
But that didn't stop her from soaking up the magic. Especially on the day she and her co-star Mike Faist Riff shot their duet. We lost ourselves in the art. We finally got to the end of [the take and] Mike and I fell to the floor.
Steven ran over to us, dove on the floor with us and smothered us with love. It was magic. But all those celebratory can-can kicks came to a crashing halt in March when the pandemic hit, just as she felt she was "stepping into the height of her career. Though she thankfully recovered, she was left wondering what the future would hold. Several months later, it was announced that West Side Story 's release was going to be pushed back a year. Garcia-Lee spent her days volunteering at a horse stable in Brooklyn.
It was the first time in decades she found the time to get back into the saddle like she did as a kid growing up close to the Bucks County farms. She found solace and comfort around the horses.
Then, with the help of her dad, she drove across the country to L. She wanted to focus on acting and find something new to give her purpose. But that doesn't mean she let go of dance.
As studios resumed in-person classes, Garcia-Lee returned to the dance floor. The learning curve right now is having a lot of grace with myself. When it comes to professional work, Garcia-Lee's been auditioning for film and TV projects while cultivating the next phase of her career. She also dreams of playing Roxie in Chicago on Broadway.
After a yearlong delay, she is physically and mentally ready to celebrate playing Graziella. The timing is exactly right. Photo by Jayme Thornton. To her credit, she is quite an emotional dancer and the movements are good. Nigel calls it "absolutely beautiful" and praises her technique. Mary thinks she's a star - gorgeous with good leglines and perfect for the show.
Jesse agrees, saying that she embodies dance and has such a maturity about her dancing despite her young age. It's a unanimous yes - she's straight through to Vegas. We're at the end of our time in Vegas, and there's still the results of choreography to find out.
After learning and practicing a routine for an hour, everyone goes in front of the judges. Slick and Emilio are the results we're interested in, and unfortunately it's not good news for the former. Slick is sent home, but Emilio will get another chance in Vegas. Next, we're headed to Austin and while Jesse is no longer with us on the panel, Minnie Driver has taken his place. I'm not sure why, but sure, let's go with it.
First up in the Lone Star state, it's 4-year-old Anthony. Sure, he can't do anything until he's 18, but for some reason they let him come on the show anyway because he's adorable.
He does some pop and locking and general breakdance moves, and is basically so cute I wanna scream. If he sticks with dancing, he'll probably actually be good when he's big. At the moment, though, this is just a nice bit of filler. The audience is super into it, of course, and he gets a nice big standing ovation and lots of applause. He can't go to Vegas, of course, but instead, Nigel offers to send Anthony and his mom and dad to Disney World. They'll take it - but seriously, how did this happen?
More of age, it's self-described "sexy" dancer Hayley Erbert. She's 18 and from Topeka, Kansas. Technically, she's a pretty good contemporary dancer - passionate, flexible that's important, right? Nigel loves the way she uses the stage and her extensions and technique. Mary calls her "absolutely gorgeous" and admires her beautiful footwork. Minnie Driver thinks she embodied the music perfectly and was extremely moved. It's an automatic ticket to Vegas for Hayley. Moving along, next up is year-old Donovan Gibbs , whose family lost their house and car in order to keep the dance studio they own.
Frankly, I don't see how you could choose a dance studio over keeping your wife and kids in a house with a shower and beds, but to each his own. All the struggle has at least made Donovan a really passionate dancer. What he does is a mix of contemporary and modern are they the same thing?
He even breakdances at the end. Mary calls him the first person who has brought "fire" to the stage and had a great vocabulary with several genres that were well executed. Minnie agrees, adding that all of his hard work definitely paid off. Nigel calls his father up on stage and forces the two to put on a battle - man, the dad is good. After that little distraction, it's time for some results. I think you know what's going to happen here: it's straight to Vegas for Donovan.
Nigel wants him to go to choreography and Minnie wants him to go to Vegas, so it's up to Mary - who seems to have stuck her finger in an electrical socket if her hair is anything to go by - and she says Vegas, so that's where he'll go. Next up, Dannon O'Brien thinks he's super quirky and indeed, that's what he is. He dances to an Andrew Bird song and does quite a lot of leaping and stretching on stage. I suppose this is what they call "contemporary", but his seems way too unstructured and a bit sloppy.
He's just kind of Nigel likes him, though, and says as much to Mary while he's on stage. After, Nigel says that it's "very strong and very creative" and he really enjoyed it. Mary agrees, adding "engaging" and "creative" to the adjectives to describe Dannon's performance. Minnie thinks he's meant to dance forever and will go on and on. Season 10 auditions head to L. Welcome to L. Or, as I like to call it, the home of the amazing Eliana. His audition goal? To unleash the beast.
Leaving the judges exhausted and sweaty, Slick gets three stamps of approval. After being a foster child at the age of 4, Alex was raised by her aunt, whom she now considers both her mother and her dance teacher. Also, did she just say she won Miss Dance America? Regardless, Alex delivers a very strong contemporary routine with hints of jazz?
A member of the Orlando ballet, Sebastian has come to L. So long as he promises to trash those shorts spoiler: he does , Nigel hands Sebastian a not-so-golden golden ticket. Mariia and Misha want us to know that their relationship is strictly professional…. The super sexy duo heats up the stage with a performance that has Mary woo-wooing Mariia right onto the Hot Tamale Train. And you know what? But what they all are is unexpected. And with that little tidbit of information, expectations are high for this young man, but luckily, his popping and his animation both prove to be good enough for another look.
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