Following last night’s announcement that Shelaina Anderson, 19, a Contemporary dancer from Edmonton, AB, suffered an injury during rehearsals and was unable to perform, it was revealed tonight that she has withdrawn from the competition and is therefore one of the eliminated competitors. Also eliminated tonight was her original partner HANI Abaza, 26, a Modern Contemporary dancer from Ottawa, who danced a Jazz number with last-minute substitute partner SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA Season 2 winner, Tara-Jean Popowich.
Rounding out the other bottom two couples were: Bree Wasylenko, 22, a Contemporary dancer from Toronto, ON, and Edgar Gilbert-Reyes, 22, a Hip-Hop dancer from Calgary, AB who danced Hip-Hop and Jesse Weafer, 25, a Contemporary dancer from Aurora, ON., and Julia Harnett, 26, a Latin Ballroom dancer from Calgary, AB, who danced a New Disco number. Following the reveal, each dancer had the opportunity to dance for their lives before the judges deliberated and decided that HANI would join SHELAINA to be the first dancers eliminated from the competition.
Before the results were revealed, the Top 21 took to the stage to perform a dramatic dance from the Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Bill T. Jones, from the smash Broadway hit FELA! The group performed to “Zombie” from the Original Broadway cast recording of FELA! The dancers performed sharp movements and intricate lifts in militaristic style. Jones, who also won a Tony Award for Best Choreography for Spring Awakening, announced that Canadians will soon have the chance to enjoy FELA! in Canada in 2011.
Jean Marc Genereux, Tré Armstrong and Luther Brown are joined by guest judge Mia Michaels for the second Performance episode on Monday, August 30 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV (go to ctv.ca to confirm local listings). The Top 20 dancers taking to the stage are:
1. Amanda Cleghorn, 19, a Contemporary dancer from Mississauga, ON
2. Bree Wasylenko, 22, a Contemporary dancer from Toronto, ON
3. Charlene Hart, 24, a Contemporary Jazz dancer from Abbotsford, BC
4. CLAUDIA Primeau, 26, a Ballroom dancer from Montreal, QC
5. Danielle Gardner, 21, a Contemporary dancer from Surrey, BC
6. Denys Drozdyuk, 25, a Ballroom dancer from Toronto, ON
7. Edgar Gilbert-Reyes, 22, a Hip-Hop dancer from Calgary, AB
8. Janick Arseneau, 20, a Contemporary dancer from Bathurst, NB
9. Jeff Mortensen, 22, a Contemporary dancer from Edmonton, AB
10. Jera Wolfe, 19, a Ballet dancer and Breaker from Inverness, NS
11. Jesse Weafer, 25, a Contemporary dancer from Aurora, ON
12. Jonathan Arsenault, 26, a Contemporary dancer from Kitchener, ON
13. Julia Harnett, 26, a Latin Ballroom dancer from Calgary, AB
14. Kirsten Wicklund, 20, a Contemporary Ballet dancer from Vancouver, BC
15. Kloé Schultz, 20, a Lyrical-Jazz dancer from North Bay, ON
16. Mackenzie Green, 20, a Contemporary dancer from Regina, SK
17. Nathalie Heath, 23, a Contemporary dancer from Surrey, BC
18. Sebastian Mersch, 21, a Contemporary dancer from Toronto, ON
19. Shavar Blackwood, 25, a Hip-Hop dancer from Toronto, ON
20. Yonni Fournier, 27, a Salsa dancer from Montreal, QC
Bollywood choreographer Longinus Fernandes (Slumdog Millionaire) returns next week to choreograph the group number during the Top 20 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA Results show on Tuesday, August 31 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CTV (visit ctv.ca to confirm local broadcast times).
The Top 20 will also face new dance styles next week as they work with returning choreographers Blake McGrath, Stacey Tookey, Sean Cheesman, Sabrina Matthews, Lil’ C, Sho-Tyme, jaeblaze, Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin, Danny Quilliam and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA alumni Natalli Reznik and Francis Lafrenière.
An encore of the Top 22 Performance and Results episodes as well as the Top 22 reveal episode, will air on MuchMusic Saturday, August 28 beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. The weekly Performance and Results episodes move to their regular timeslot of Saturdays at 5 p.m. ET beginning September 4 on MuchMusic (visit muchmusic.com to confirm local broadcast times).
Highlights from the weekly SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA episodes, including performances, and behind-the-scenes interviews will be available on demand on the CTV Video Player at CTV.ca. For up-to-date information, visit the series’ official website, dance.ctv.ca which gets fans up close and personal with their favourite dancers, judges and choreographers through exclusive photo galleries and blogs, while also providing news, episode recaps, a music guide, quizzes, forums and more.
