This has been one crazy dance year!

This has been the craziest year in dance! It all started with So You Think You Can Dance auditions in Salt Lake in January. Courtney, Kylie and one of our dancers and dear friends, Caitlynn Lawson, auditioned for the show. Kylie didn't really want to but we talked her into it hoping that Courtney and Kylie would be the sisters that they had to split up for drama on the show. (Dang it was Sasha and Talia that got the part!) All 3 girls made it past the first round so that was exciting! Kylie made it to the second round before getting cut - yay! Then Courtney made it to the third round before getting cut - double yay! And then Caitlynn they sent straight through to Vegas! We had a feeling they would love her but you just never know what to expect so we were all ecstatic!!

When the Salt Lake auditions aired they showed Courtney flipping her hair and they showed Kylie in some crowd scenes so we all got to scream with delight at our televisions which is always good fun! (I guess you can tell we are from a small town?) They didn't show nearly as much of Caitlynn as we had hoped. Nigel said that Caitlynn was his favorite girl of the day. Yes! So while we were waiting for things to progress on SYTYCD...



Then in February America's Got Talent came to Seattle and my partner, Lori, had the good idea to go audition so we took our oldest group of dancers at our studio (which includes Kendall and McKayla) and had them audition with a clogging number. We had to find a sub for Caitlynn because she was already committed to SYTYCD. It was crazy and fun and the girls did a great job. Long story, short... they made it all the way to dance in front of the celebrity judges and they put them through to Vegas! Funniest Howie line... ours was a clogging number and the girls were dressed in orange prison jumpsuits with handcuffs and Howie said, "I feel like I'm watching Lindsay Lohan the Musical!" It was hilarious and the judges talked about how much they all liked them but Howie thought they were good but just not quite edgy and exciting enough. Then Piers told Howie that he was crazy and had no idea what he was talking about! It was so awesome to have Piers go to battle for the girls and say how much he liked them and thought they were very edge and that it was a powerful performance!

It was a split vote with Howie voting no, Sharon voting yes, and Piers voting yes! Lori, Janet and I were standing offstage with Nick Cannon waiting for the verdict and then jumping up and down with Nick. It was awesome!

Sorry, Howie, but the edgiest that these sweet girls get is dressing up in prison garb and putting a scowl on their faces!



But getting voted through by the judges is just one more step... what they do on AGT is they let the judges put however many people through they want and then when they have been through all of the cities, the producers narrow down the Vegas round to ensure that they have a balanced amount of talent and not too many similar acts. So, sadly we found out about a week before the Vegas round that we would not be moving on. Darn! Oh well. The girls had a great time and the show treated us all really well! We would do it again in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, when the Seattle auditions aired they only showed glimpses of the girls. They showed them the most when they came back from a commercial and the girls shouted, "Seattle's Got Talent." Here is a still shot taken from the TV!



But Caitlynn's journey on SYTYCD is far from over... it's just beginning! She is in the Top 20 and we are all so excited for her!!! Caitlynn has always had that star quality. She is an amazing dancer and an even better human being. She started with us when she was 3 years old and was just this beautiful child with the most perfectly curled hair for performances. Her sense of timing and musicality was not quite developed... ha ha! But she was adorable and always tried her hardest. She has an amazing mother who guided her and drove her and practiced with her and supported her as she developed her talents. She was dancing with us just last week and now she's in the Top 20!!!

Me, Caitlynn and Lori Baker


I would love to take credit for Caitlynn's amazing dance abilities but there have been many, many people who have been integral to Caitlynn's training along the way. The majority of the credit goes to her! She is just a sponge that soaks up all the training that is presented to her. She is a hard, hard worker and she is the nicest, kindest girl who is generally more concerned about the people around her than she is about herself. Seriously, you would never believe that this girl is as sweet as she is! She has the highest moral standards and her integrity is unparalleled. You couldn't ask for a better role model for little girls to look up to. You would all love her if you knew her!



It should be noted that Caitlynn auditioned in Salt Lake with a solo that Courtney choreographed for her and I helped to fine tune. And she did that same solo in the Vegas round. How awesome is that! I should disclose that when I choreograph for Caitlynn it mainly consists of Caitlynn trying different things and me telling her whether I like them or not. Ha ha! I haven't taught Caitlynn anything in at least 4 years now! But little did I know that by guiding her as she did most of her own choreography, I was actually preparing her to sail through the choreography round in Vegas!! Who sails through the choreography round in Vegas? It's supposed to be drama and tears and breakdowns and sleepless nights. Her group actually got along really well, made their dance up quickly, rehearsed it, shopped for outfits and still got to bed at a decent hour. What the hec???? That never happens. (I wonder if she was wishing I was there to give her group a thumbs up or a thumbs down as they were choreographing? I bet she was!) Here is her choreography group...



Top 20!



It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago, Caitlynn was here dancing with us. Unfortunately, she had to miss her last recital with us and she also has to miss high school graduation and Big Bend graduation because she is a running start student so she will be graduating high school with her Associate's Degree. Yes, she's smart too! I know - is there nothing this girl can't do?!!

Here is Caitlynn with Kendall (on left) and Ciarra (on right) in the opening of their contemporary number this year. I think this makes Kendall a Top 20 dancer once removed, right?!!!



Group huddle before competition. That's Kendall's face in top Left corner and that's Caitlynn on the right.



Hip Hop performance earlier this year...



Jazz Club Elite 2011 - We love our teammate, Caitlynn!!!


Back row: Caitlynn Lawson, McKenna Ries, McKayla Earl, Kendall Earl, Camiel Bruneel, Ciarra Garza
Front row: Sam Calder, Amber Frakes, McKenna Rutty, Chelsea Manly, Megan Roylance, Dayna Bergeson

Everyone needs to go to Caitlynn's fan page on Facebook today and "like" her. Then, hopefully, soon enough we can all be voting for her! You can also follow her on Twitter (which I am finally going to figure out what it is so that I can follow Caitlynn.)



Congratulations, Caitlynn! Everyone at TG and everyone in Moses Lake is so happy for you. Your dreams are coming true and no one is more deserving!!! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!