SYTYCD Worldwide Rankdown

[*Diana]

Romina D’Ugo

 

Romina D’Ugo was a dancer from the very first season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. That is awesome I feel like to be a part of a first season of something in a way beginning it's journey. I am cutting this dancer because quite frankly Amanda went for the jugular with these nominatoons much like my first set of nominations so  hopefully it works out for her like it did me anyway I just had to cut the dancer I felt deserved to be cut most and with such big names Romina felt like the most justified cut at this time. She only made it to the top 18 of her season and with names like Allie and Natali on her season she didn't stand a real chance anyway on the show or in this game. She has made a name for herself post show so she has that going for her.

 

SAVING: Jemma Armstrong

CHOREOGRAPHY: Nina Plantefève-Castryck

[JC]

I'm going to let everyone save their faves first before I make a decision

[FrogLenzen]

Donyelle Jones
Gaby Diaz

Jessica “JJ” Rabone

Vincent Olivier-Noiseux

Nicole “Lamb” Iovine

Jess Stokes

Sigourney Korper

Redouan Hergé Link

Liam O’Callaghan

Melanie Koster

Aleksandra Borkowska

Hanna Szychowicz

 

Jack Chambers***

Ania Tarnowska***

Stephen Perez***

Ellen Houck***

Anna Kapera***

Manuela Verzwyvel***

[totes4totes]

Manuella Verzwyvel

 

Like Chehon before her, I am a fan of incredibly beautiful dancers who can only dance contemporary/lyrical routines. Because, admittedly, that's all Manuella did well. But because NL7 was a bit of a letdown overall, her lyrical routines (particularly her Moderns) were, IMHO, standouts. (Of course I expect others to come in here with like Melanie Koster's routines BUT THIS IS MY TRUTH AND I STAND BY IT). 

 

Here are her good routines:

 

LOVE IT

 

Admittedly not the best Viennese Waltz and they just give waltzes to modern/contemporary dancers so they can add as much lyrical stuff in there (JK that's mostly a US thing) but it's to Avril Lavigne. So.

 

Anyway, the rest of the videos are hidden so I'll just have to get on my VPN. The modern with Roger though is still one of my personal standouts. Anyway, she's UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME an obvious cut here. 

 

Saving: Ellen Houck

Choreo: Anna Kapera

[*Diana]

Prayer circle for Jess and Gaby. 

[Elliott]

28 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Save Jack

Choreo Ania T.

Cut Stephen Perez

Refresh

[Elliott]

STEPHEN PEREZ

 

Stephen Perez is a dancer from the fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia. He was a contemporary dancer and (I think) he was partnered with Maddie Peat (but I’m too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia). He was eliminated in the semi-finals and clearly didn’t leave a mark on the competition since I don’t remember anything he did. 

 

CHOREO: Ania

SAVE: Jack Chambers

[Elliott]

17 minutes ago, FrogLenzen said:

Do any of our Canadian friends have a subscription to the Toronto Star? This is the original article.

 

https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/break-the-floor-dance-company-sexual-harassment-allegations.html

 

@Elliott @sublymonal @*Chris

I don’t have a subscription but the article is loading for me. I’ll C+P it in my next post.

[Elliott]

Oh wait JK, only the first paragraph is loading for me. 

[totes4totes]

I'll copy and paste. Do not ask me my methods.

[Alex95]

https://archive.ph/g4RVl

[totes4totes]

Here's the full article:

Quote

Isla Clarke was 16 when she alleges she received a nude photo texted by one of North America’s most famous dance choreographers, a man nearly twice her age. He was inviting her to his hotel room.

Hours earlier, the Toronto-born teen performed before a panel of judges that included the choreographer, Nick Lazzarini, a luminary in the dance world and first-ever winner of the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Clarke was competing that July 2012 day at a New York City event put on by Break the Floor, a prominent company that tours Canada, the United States and Mexico hosting dance schools and putting on performances led by elite dancers and choreographers known from Broadway, film and television.

Break the Floor has a fervent following. For aspiring young dancers like Clarke, the company’s events are an almost mandatory stop if they want to pursue dancing professionally. Thousands of hopefuls cram into hotel ballrooms across the continent for the chance to be discovered by a top choreographer and catapulted into the spotlight.

Inside a Manhattan hotel, one of those choreographers Clarke idolized was now propositioning her for sex, she alleges. Lazzarini denies subjecting anyone to unwanted sexual advances.

A Star investigation has found allegations of widespread sexual harassment and predatory behaviour by BTF coaches over their younger students, where dancers say their complaints of inappropriate conduct have been dismissed by the company’s owner, letting the problem fester for years.

Eight former staff and students allege BTF employees, famous in the dance world, initiated sexual conversations, propositioned them for sex, sent them nude photos, sexually harassed them at work or engaged in sexual relationships with them. Six of them have agreed to go public with their allegations.

Six dancers, including Clarke, allege Lazzarini subjected them to unwanted sexual advances. Three of them say these alleged advances happened when they were under 18.

While for some of the dancers in this story the sexual interactions were, at the time, consensual, they now feel a power imbalance pressured them into relationships with leaders of the dance world who are many years older than them.

At the New York event in 2012, Clarke said she turned down Lazzarini’s request to join him in his hotel room. (The Star has not seen the now-deleted text from Lazzarini, but has spoken with two people with whom Clarke shared or discussed the message).

“I could feel the relationship change because I basically rejected the offer.

Eventually, Lazzarini began to avoid her at dance conventions, Clarke said, and this made her anxious, as she feared he was in a position to impede her career. “I could feel the relationship change because I basically rejected the offer.”

In a statement, Lazzarini apologized “to those who bravely stepped forward to share their truth.”

“I have dedicated my life to creating happiness and joy in this world through dance and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have caused anyone to feel sad or hurt,” he said.

“While some of what is being said about me is inaccurate or mischaracterized, there is enough truth in their stories to make me feel ashamed and remorseful. I apologize and sincerely regret that my actions have hurt people I cherish or has broken their trust.”

In a later response, after being presented with an additional accusation that he sent nude photos to a teenage dancer, Lazzarini added: “I have never subjected anyone to unwanted sexual advances. Any claims to the contrary are simply untrue.”

In 2019, according to multiple sources, Lazzarini accidentally posted to Instagram a video that appears to show himself masturbating. After this investigation published, BTF issued a statement saying it fired the choreographer following this incident “because of concerns about this type of behaviour.”

After receiving questions regarding the allegations, Lazzarini sent text messages to three of the dancers who spoke to the Star, saying to one, “I will do my best to be a better person” and apologizing to another, “I’m so so sorry I ever made you feel uncomfortable.”

Ellis alleges that Stroming decided there was no sexual harassment because Lazzarini never touched his genitals.

Stroming did not respond to specific questions, though told the Star that the dance company did not have “fully thought out policies and procedures regarding this” and, “over the last year and a half we have worked very hard to make BTF a better and safer environment for everyone.”

“We could have and should have done better,” he said.

BTF has undergone training and revised its code of conduct, the company said in a statement.

“We are truly heartbroken that anyone has been subject to inappropriate behaviour by any person associated with Break The Floor,” the statement read. “We remain committed to these initiatives and will continue to learn and be better.”

Two of the choreographers facing allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour are listed as employees on the company’s website.

On Oct. 1, BTF kicked off its fall season with an event in Toronto at an airport hotel.

Entering a BTF event is like walking into a carnival. Hotel lobbies, colourfully decorated, are lined with vendors selling clothes and videos. Attendees squeeze into small ballrooms where choreographers teach classes.

The largest room is reserved for the main stage, where at many events, aspiring dancers perform showcases and compete for the title of “best dancer.”

“It is one of the most exciting events of a young dancer’s life,” recalled Keanu Uchida, a professional dancer from Ottawa. Now 25, Uchida grew up attending BTF conventions. He won the best dancer title in 2014 and worked for BTF for two years as a dance assistant, travelling across Canada and the United States.

Break the Floor calls itself “one of the world’s preeminent dance companies,” and its programs reach more than 300,000 dancers each year. Its touring conventions will make numerous stops this year, from Miami to Vancouver and Calgary to Anchorage, Alaska.

Once on the convention circuit, children as young as five years old and teens spend entire weekends, from early morning to sometimes past midnight in hotel ballrooms and convention centres. Teens who win titles at BTF events are invited back to work on the convention circuit as dance assistants for choreographers on the BTF roster, known internally as “faculty.”

“[Winners] get the most attention and respect. And everybody strives for that, obviously, because that leads to more opportunity and attention from the faculty,” said Uchida.

In dance spaces, students are in frequent and close contact with their teachers, spending long hours training and rehearsing with them. At BTF, this contact led to physical boundaries being blurred. Dancers repeatedly described feeling sexualized in their learning space, and multiple dancers said they felt leered at by some choreographers who would message them compliments on their appearance, sometimes immediately following classes.

Many students endured inappropriate sexual advances or comments from their instructors, Uchida said.

“It was discussed by everyone, but was talked about as more of an inconvenience than something that absolutely should never have been happening in the first place,” said Uchida, who alleges in 2015 he had a six-month consensual sexual relationship with Lazzarini when he was 19 and Lazzarini was 31.

Uchida, who was working as a dance assistant for BTF, alleges Lazzarini groped him in public without his consent before and after their relationship, and made derogatory, as well as racist comments about him in front of his peers and boss.

Uchida is now volunteering with BTF to help further revise the dance company’s code of conduct.

Lazzarini denied subjecting anyone to unwanted sexual advances, adding that he would not “respond to each and every claim in your forthcoming article that is false, taken out of context or completely exaggerated.”

Lavallee caught the attention of Wall — an Emmy winner and “So You Think You Can Dance” runner-up — who was judging his performance at a BTF competition in the summer of 2008, Lavallee said.

Soon after, Lavallee, then 16, attended a hotel-room party in California where he said Wall, who was around 20, gave him crystal meth — a highly addictive stimulant — so he could stay awake for his flight back home to Arizona. He said he had never done drugs of any kind before. Lavallee said they exchanged numbers, and over a few texts and calls, he agreed to become Wall’s dance assistant. Lavallee said Wall flew him around the United States to help him teach choreography to youth in a dance studio and other conventions.

Wall did not respond to detailed questions sent by The Star, and said only “the accusations against me are false,” in a statement through a publicist.

BTF’s website shows the company still employs Wall, who is currently scheduled to be part of a BTF-affiliated dance convention’s 2021-2022 faculty.

“I didn’t really understand why communication was cut off. The only reason I could think of was because we didn’t take it further romantically.

In the fall of 2008, Wall was teaching a course near Lavallee’s house in Arizona, and Lavallee’s parents invited Wall to stay overnight, Lavallee said.

Lavallee also said that Wall gave him ecstasy that night. “We were doing hand massages, which just creeps me out now,” he said.

Lavallee called a friend to come over to divert where he said he felt the night was leading.

“It just felt like ... the next step was for us to be in contact and kiss one another.”

Lavallee said he made it clear he was not interested in a sexual relationship. The relationship did not progress further physically, Lavallee said. However, Lavallee said Wall told him he had romantic feelings for him, and thought of him as his best friend. A few months later, without warning, Lavallee said, Wall cut off communication with him in the middle of one weekend and didn’t show up to one of their scheduled teaching sessions. Lavallee said Wall’s disappearance left him feeling unmoored and now feels he was being groomed for a sexual relationship. He said he felt punished for dodging the alleged sexual advances.

“I didn’t really understand why communication was cut off. The only reason I could think of was because we didn’t take it further romantically.”

That same year, Lavallee alleges a 24-year-old dancer forced himself onto a 16-year-old Lavallee at a party. That dancer now works for BTF as a choreographer.

About five years later, Lavallee, who now works as a professional dancer and choreographer, told his mother, Wendy, about everything that happened between him and the two older choreographers.

“I wish I would have known back at the time when it happened. I would not have stayed silent,” said Wendy in a phone interview with the Star. “I can’t tell you how many times I thought about writing to Travis (Wall). All I would need to do is say [five] words: ‘I know what you did.’ ”

Lavallee said he did not tell Stroming or BTF staff about what he alleges happened with either Wall or the other choreographer, saying he thought his concerns would not be taken seriously.

Others did make allegations about BTF staff to owner and CEO Stroming, but their concerns were dismissed, allege two former staffers who say they were harassed on the job.

Lonetree was 19. Hicks, who was working as the convention announcer, was in his early 30s. The Star reviewed the text messages.

In the text conversation, Hicks told Lonetree, “I have a blow job with your name on it.” Lonetree brushed off Hicks’s propositions over text, the texts show.

Lonetree alleges Hicks later confronted him, took off Lonetree’s headset, and told him to take a walk and “come back with the answer I want.” Hicks strenuously denies saying this and denies removing Lonetree’s headset. He said that he and Lonetree flirted with one another before the text in question. He also noted that he was not in a position of authority but in a first-year, entry-level position.

Lonetree said he recounted the alleged exchange to Stroming. Lonetree said he was soon after moved to a different convention, which he said made him feel like he had to start over and establish himself with a new team. Hicks, meanwhile, continued to work at RADIX every season, through 2021.

Lonetree now questions whether he was punished for speaking up.

“I totally feel like I was a headache [for Stroming],” Lonetree said.

Stroming did not respond to questions about this incident.

Hicks said he apologized to Lonetree and was reprimanded by Stroming. Hicks said he sought therapy and a “sexual treatment course” in an effort to “hold myself accountable and also … deal with the feelings of feeling like I had wronged him in that way when that was never my intention.

“I don’t know in which ways more to be accountable, in which ways more to apologize, or in which ways more to make it right,” Hicks said.

He worked at a convention in Minneapolis, Minn., where he alleges a 31-year-old Lazzarini groped him.

Lazzarini noticed a tear in Ellis’s pants and “he just shoved his hand up my pants, to which I quickly reacted because I was already embarrassed and didn’t need a hand grabbing my genitalia,” alleged Ellis.

Lazzarini “would laugh and smile and would play it lighthearted so as to not take on the full responsibility of what he was doing,” said Ellis.

The next summer, Ellis said he approached Stroming at the Dance Awards, the biggest BTF event of the season, to tell him how Lazzarini had harassed him.

Ellis said Stroming peppered him with questions. When Ellis explained that he recoiled before Lazzarini actually touched his genitals, he alleges Stroming declared it “wasn’t actually sexual harassment because he didn’t actually touch me.”

“I then felt very embarrassed. I felt very invalidated,” Ellis said.

“I’m not trying to bring this company down. They provide amazing opportunities. But the sexual climate behind closed doors is deplorable to me.

Stroming did not respond to questions about Ellis’s allegations. In a statement, BTF Productions said, “For some time, we have taken substantial steps to ensure BTF is the safe and comfortable environment that our attendees and employees deserve and expect.”

Following his boss’s instruction, Ellis went back to his tasks at BTF.

In the months that followed, Ellis said he began accepting Lazzarini’s advances, once making out in the choreographer’s hotel room during a work break.

Ellis recalled that on the last night of the dance season in May 2017, when Ellis was 21, Lazzarini kissed him while they were out at a club with other staff members. Ellis said it was this moment where he realized he had to leave the company. He said he found the work climate to be too sexualized to continue there.

“I carry so much shame, because I knew who this person was … I still indulged in the attention anyways, and it made me feel super icky. I just knew after that the company was bad news and I wanted out.”

“I’m not trying to bring this company down. They provide amazing opportunities. But the sexual climate behind closed doors is deplorable to me. It’s the opposite of a zero tolerance policy,” Ellis said.

“I believe if I had been taken seriously at the time I came forward with my experiences, this could have prevented another person from finding themselves in the same position that I was forced into,” Ellis said.

Lindsey, from California, said he started exchanging text messages with the 34-year-old choreographer. Lindsey alleges Lazzarini sent him nude photos of himself.

“I was naive, and I was just letting it all happen,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey said he eventually sent nude photos back when he was 17. After he turned 18, he engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with Lazzarini. The Star has spoken to a friend of Lindsey’s who said they saw the texts and photos Lindsey and Lazzarini exchanged.

Looking back, Lindsey feels he had been groomed.

“I don’t think I was aware of how manipulated I was and how easy it was for (Lazzarini) to take advantage of the situation,” Lindsey said.

“To get anywhere, like here, you have to do whatever the teachers said, you know what I mean? So I think I always kind of accepted it as, ‘it is what it is, you can’t do anything about it.’ ”

[*Chris]

1 hour ago, FrogLenzen said:

Do any of our Canadian friends have a subscription to the Toronto Star? This is the original article.

 

https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/break-the-floor-dance-company-sexual-harassment-allegations.html

 

@Elliott @sublymonal @*Chris

 NVM.

 

Dr. Megan came through. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by *Chris

[Deeee]

I won’t be home until about 5:30 but I would love to keep Jess and Donyelle please and thank you very much

[Deeee]

Wait I also need Redouan, Melanie K., JJ, Gaby to survive as well. Please. Cut the Polish dancers. Lol

[Deeee]

Oh my gosh I didn’t even notice Lamb and Vincent omg

[Deeee]

Just cut Liam and Sigourney. I will do everybody’s write-ups tonight if they just give me the right four cuts lol

[totes4totes]

14 minutes ago, Deeee said:

Just cut Liam and Sigourney. I will do everybody’s write-ups tonight if they just give me the right four cuts lol

I see your Sigourney and will raise you Sigourney's routines with Angelo >>>>> Lamb's entire journey!!!!!!

[Deeee]

Save Donyelle

Choreo VON

Cut Liam

[Deeee]

LIAM O’CALLAGHAN (BENELUX6, EXPERIMENTAL, TWELFTH)
 

Liam had a rather tragic run on the otherwise stellar Benelux 6. His run consists of three Hip-Hop routines and one Samba. The most notable part of Liam’s run was his elimination during Top 14 week. Johan decided to voluntarily quit the competition in this dramatic turn of events. He never disclosed the personal reasons that drove him to leave the competition. I would like to know them because I am very nosy. LOL. So Liam got to come back only to be sacked with another Hip-Hop routine with Rowan. Rowan did incredibly and Liam was there. Liam was then promptly eliminated again for the final time at Top 12. All of his routines were varying levels of underwhelming and/or not good. All three of his solos are very unique and interesting however. From what I can remember. 

SAVING: Queen Donyelle Jones
CHOREO: King Vincent Olivier-Noiseux

Edited October 28, 2021 by Deeee

[totes4totes]

13 minutes ago, totes4totes said:

I see your Sigourney and will raise you Sigourney's routines with Angelo >>>>> Lamb's entire journey!!!!!!

Embarrassingly I mixed up Sigourney from NL1 with Suzanne from NL2. I now completely agree with Dee’s statement. Lol.

[.Rei]

What’s left?

[Deeee]

1 minute ago, .Rei said:

What’s left?

Gaby Diaz

Jessica “JJ” Rabone

Nicole “Lamb” Iovine

Jess Stokes

Sigourney Korper

Redouan Hergé Link

Melanie Koster

Aleksandra Borkowska

Hanna Szychowicz

[.Rei]

Save JJ

Choreo Jess

Cut Hannah

[.Rei]

Hanna Szychowicz

 

So apparently I know her from PO9 but I really have no recollection of her or her routines even if she made it all the way to top 4. She was apparently eliminated at top 12 and then brought back and again I have no recollection of this. The only people I remember from this season are Stefano and Klaudia Antos. During her run she danced Jazz, New Age, Krump, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Contemporary. Lol I forgot how the last seasons from PO were allergic to ballroom. Here are some of her routines:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saving Ballroom Dancer: JJ Rabone

Choreography: Jess Stokes