Well here they are. I had to make sure they were good enough for you guys. Amazingly I didn’t have to edit any of these. *gives herself a scratch-n-sniff sticker*

So here is a picture of all the finalists before the show!

Let’s start off with the first interview…Good Cookie!

Good Cookie

Next up was Ashley Atherton our 1st place winner!

Ashley Atherton

J-Bros kindly obliging my request.
Johnathan & Jason

Small talk with Nicole Candler:
Nicole Candler

And finally me and Imaginations Gone Madd reminiscing 80’s style.
Imaginations and Me

Yet at the end of the night there could be only one…and you know who that was. So here are some extra photos of the second and third place winners.

The White Castle Boyz who came in second place!

And Kasey Turner who came in third place!

They will be up shortly.

So the results are…..

In third place: Kacey Turner (lyrical)

Second place: The White Castle Boyz (Hip-Hop)

First place: Ashley Atherton (Tap) with $500!!!

Wow…I never got $500 when I was 10. You lucky duck, you deserve it.

You’ve all done a wonderful job, everyone! Whether you placed in the top three or not, you’ve all managed to make our day!

Remember that the votes were based on a 50/50 vote from both the audience and judges.

Good night everyone and thank you for reading.

Pulling out a skit from Rush Hour, White Castle Boyz smoothly transforms from a comical atmosphere  to a slow jam number and then again into a comedic number.  Rarely do you see a performance that was all out better than their first and these guys have not only accomplished that…but now they’ve made a fan out of me! They’ve incorporated slow jam songs, cuts from different movies,  to well-planned sharp moves. The audience loves these guys.

Kacey Turner:

Kacey may have  seemed shy during our interview last time, but she doesn’t display a lick of that during her performance. It may look  the same, but it’s not. Kacey has taken liberties of contorting her body to match the context of the song she’s dancing to.

Ashley Atherton:

This 10 year-old performs like she was born  for  it. As noted in my interview with her, Ashley has competed in many contests in the past. So doing a number on this stage feels completely natural to her. You can  tell by the look and confidence exuded on stage. Ashley performed a lively tap number to “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

Imaginations Gone Madd:

This trio is highly dedicated to the form of true hip-hop. So much so that,  in  fact, during our interview I had to stop myself from reminiscing about those 80’s hip-hop movies like Breakin’, Beat Street, and Crush Groove. Their performance this time was more structured than  their first and looked like it  was based on a group of friends meeting up for some friendly competition. Not like last time where they did their best to perform by getting up there and breakin for the wow’d audience.

Raushi Chopra:

Raushni is performing an Indian folkdance. She was done up in beautiful traditional Indian wear. Her performance was cute, energetic, and fun. She’s has so much support from her fans as she danced and an amused audience.

Next….THE RESULTS OF THE TABULATIONS!

Nicole is starting off this final round as the first act. If you remember from last time Nicole is a Lyrical dancer who performed a really gentle number. This time around she’s dancing to a lovely ballad. Looking at her perform on stage, I can see that she’s made use experimenting  with her legs and toes. Doing  this just adds to the majesty from  the song. It’s like she’s creating, or enacting a story on stage.

J-Bros:

Jason and Johnathan are back doing their Jazz/Hip-Hop number. If you remember they gave a really energetic performance in our last live event. This time around they giving off the same energy as  before. Jason is capturing everyone’s heart in the audience as he makes the stage his home away from home, and Johnathan is there complementing all  the hard work these two worked weeks for. Truly entertaining! You should hear the audience, they love them!

Rodasii:

Rodasii is back and decked out in even more exotic bellydancing costumes than before. Seriously…that stuff looks cool. Heavy! But cool. I’ll take a picture of what  they’re wearing this time so you can see what I’m talking about. To match their costumes, their dance was just as exotic. They’re showing the audience even more of their skills. Amazingly, they’ve successfully incorporated some hip-hop dance music in their performance. Now that I look at it, it’s a perfect fusion! I mentioned wanting to take Bellydancing after this and made Dr. Anvari very happy!

Jessica Dover:

Dover is back in  the final round doing her hip-hop contemporary number. Ok, I won’t comment on her flat belly, but she has made the audience take notice of all the  moves she’s putting out there for everyone to see. She’s taken more risks with handstands, forward flips. If Jessica wanted, she could be a great choreographer. So I’m hoping she receives a scholarship to make her dreams come true.

Good Cookie:

These two may be  young, but they knew about Crush Groove!

They start off with a loud and very supportive crowd here in the audience. Their a hip-hop duo whose outfit is inspired by America’s Best Dance Groups’ Winners Jabawokee. Right now these guys placed some Crumping,  old skool hip-hop moves, and a wonderful stage presence as they’re interacting with the song playing. So they’re not just dancing, they’re truly performing for us, Yuma. These continually had screams in the audience throughout their number.

And now it’s time for intermission! 5 performances left!

This time I got here with time  to spare!

Yippie for me!

So with that  I was able to interview contestants that escaped my grasp last time! 

This time I was able to interview…

Nicole Candler

Good Cookie

J-Bros

Imaginations Gone Madd

and  a few of our esteemed judges!

As a pre-show performance, Dawn’s Dance Studio is putting on a performance  themed after Moulin Rouge. This performance has all ages involved where all were dressed like Can-Can dancers doing chorus lines, running through the audience, and flipping on  stage!

Nice show ladies!

Only 10 can make it, which means 3 of our semi-finalists will be left out.

Check the Dance Yuma Dance page to view who will be competing at the finals on April 23rd and don’t forget to purchase tickets to the event to root for our dancers.

It can’t be easy getting up on stage like that. So give them all of your support!

That’s right. You can either listen to the podcast or wait till Friday when the online voting is made live to the public.

Either way, our 13 semi-finalists await your votes in the coming week as only 10 of them will advance to the final round on April 23rd.

So remember, go to our Dance Yuma Dance page Friday and make your vote known.

I’ll see you guys back at the Historic Yuma Theatre on the 23rd as we cheer on the final 10.

See you soon!

 The first ones I went to were Rodasii, the bellydancing duo.

Chatting with Rodasii

Next I felt I just had to see what Jessica Guerrerro, our very first DYD winner and current judge, was up to. Let me tell you, it looks like she got taller since last time.

Hello Jessica!

After that I made a trip to Jessica Dover with a burning question on my mind…

so what was it…

After Jessica’s interview I had to rush to my seat.

The 13 semi-finalists were being announced!

It means I have 15 minutes to hunt down some well deserved  photo opps and audio interviews.

During the intermission I decided to start off my probing by interviewing another one of our judges. Dr. Vicki Anvari.

Small talk with Dr. Anvari

After I left the judges table, I decided that it was time for me to grab some recordings with our contestants from the first half of the show.

The White Castle Boyz were first!

Small chat with the WCB

After that I found Kasey Turner walking around…

Chatting with Kasey

And lastly I spoke with Raushni on her performance…

Speaking with Raushni

The last person I had to squeeze a few comments out of, before the second half, had to be one of our own, Lori Stofft.

Me and Lori on DYD

Nicole Candler:

She’s doing a lyrical performance where she master control of ever step she takes on stage. She’s displayed amazing control and gave a very graceful air of gentleness as well. She has every talent in her to become a great lyrical dancer. It’s pretty obvious she’s taken care of all the years and hours of practice by the strength in her legs and arms.

J & T Etc.:

This duo has a well choreographed lyrical performance. The planning and practice definitely paid off for this event. They went on stage and danced hard for the audience.

These girls have nothing to worry about.

Good Cookie:

These two boys took the audience with their Hip-Hop routine. With cries of an Encore, they displayed classic hip-hop styles in their performance. You can tell they put their heart and confidence in the practice time they’ve had. Their synching is just as sharp as their performance.

This was truly enjoyable.

Ashley Atherton:

What can I say, this kid (at the age of 10) dances like a pro!

The smile, the moves, the stage presence…she’s been doing this since she was still in diapers.

And it shows!

This girl was born to dance the night away.

J-Bros:

In this hip-hop duo, Johnathan Solorzano has returned and this time he picked a partner to keep up with his upbeat style.

I definitely feel  like dancing after this performance. After all, isn’t that the point?

Janyna Evaro:

Janyna choreographed this herself and, ever so smoothly, made it completely match the mood  of the song that she was dancing to.

This performance had a veryto relaxed feel to it.

Jessica Dover:

 Jessica is another one of ourl return contestants from last year’s event.

She has managed the impossible. She’s attained the ever elusive FLAT BELLY!

………………………..well for me anyway.

Her  performance was based on a story of a guy who was cheating on his girlfriend. As this was explained by John Courtis, the night’s MC, some of the guys in the audience threw in some heart-felt banter by groaning.  Jessica laughed in with the joke.

Rodasii:

We have  finally seen some great dancers here tonight, and our last is a pair of bellydancers. This duo was enchanting!

They are giving Yuma a tasteof what it’s like to bellydance.  Swirling skirts, shaking hips, and jangling jewelry,  the music was definitely setting the mood. 

Patsy is a return contestant to Dance Yuma Dance and this year she’s up  on stage doing an Irish Jig.

 You know, the music is pretty catchy. Lots of people are clapping for her and also to the beat of the music. At the end of her performance the audience roared in  the midst of the atmosphere she created.

 She may be 71, but let’s face it, she’s still young!

Next up  is Imagination’s Gone Madd.

They are are a trio of B-Boying, Poppin’ and Lockin’, and Hip-Hop fusion dancers who specialize in treating the audience to their stealth, finesse, and agility. 

Kasey Turner (yes she’s next) is performing a Lyrical number.

I gotta say, I started clapping early in  this number. This girl’s got talent. She expresses balance, poise, and true control of her limbs.

Downside to this is  that her performance was way too short! Just as I was enjoying this, her number ended.

Amanda and Elizabeth:

This duo  decided to do a Hip-Hop number. The music they chose to dance to had their audience clapping with them. The choreography they worked on is nice. I have to give it to them, it takes a lot to go up on stage and perform in front of an audience like this.

Girls just keep practicing. It can only get better.

Raushni Chopra:

Go Raushni! Go Raushni!

Raushni has decided to do an Indian Folkdance number.  I’m sure a lot of you guys would try to call this Bollywood dancing…but it’s not. Bollywood came later.

Raushni is, in fact, dancing to a Bollywood number, but she’s  dancing  solo in traditional Indian garb.

Raushni, you have suceeded in captivating the audience in your outfit, dance,  expression, and music.

Seriously I’m enjoying this way too much.

Heather Kennedy:

Heather is doing a ballet/jazz number to the popular song Apologize, by One Republic.

She looks a little nervous. But it takes real guts to go up there and finish out the performance. And that’s exactly what she did.

Danny Meza:

Danny is a return contestant from last year’s event. He decided to dedicate this number to his grandmother who past away recently. He’s doing a Reggaeton/Hip-Hop number. At the start of this performance he was coupled with another person who assisted in   his performance by doing flips on stage.

Ok Danny, dance your heart out boy! He treated the audience to a number of varying music styles and even acted a little making his stage presence widely known.

Les Dancers:

This multicultural dance duo are quite confident on stage. Out of the duos that performed so far, these two show signs of hard practice hours paying off. They’re not scared one bit. They make eye contact with everyone in the audience practically telling you “hey, you’re going  to like this! *insert confident smirk here*”

People, these ladies were a pure class act. High entertainment quality.

The White Castle Boyz:

We continue our wonderful journey in the various styles of music and culture by having this fusion act work the stage and the audience with their multi-faceted performance.  The music only accented what these guys bring  to the stage in  terms of style. They also threw in  a little acting as well.

With hip-hop, old skool, and some dance music thrown in, you could easily tell that these guys have definitely planned out and practiced their execution of their number.

But now for intermission and some audio interviews!

See you in  15!