SYTYCD travels south in their quest to find America’s next favorite dancer

“So You Think You Can Dance” expanded its audition coverage to two nights as the crew headed down south in their search for America’s favorite dancer.

First up: Hotlanta

Judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy were joined by Lil C, all hoping to find the very best Atlanta, Georgia had to offer.

Day 1 saw Jamal Jackson and Victor Smally go straight through to Vegas, while twin brothers Anthony and Antwaine Hart went through to choreography so the judges could see what else they could do. The 22-year-old twins have been trying for three years to make it to Vegas, but while Anthony breezed through choreography, the news was not so good for Antwaine. He struggled through choreography, so as Anthony got ready to go to Vegas, his brother Antwaine was packing up to go home. The judges told him to keep practicing, to get stronger and to come back next year.

Day 2 proved to be more about the people and their stories than the actual dance. Twenty-five-year-old Jessica Jensen had a rare form of cancer in her hand and a year and a half ago her doctor told her, “you can keep your hand and die or lose your hand and live.” Her response was, “I’m here baby! I am perfectly happy being the one handed lady.” Lil C told her that she represented passion and strength. She moved on to choreography, but unfortunately did not get the ticket to Vegas. Then there was the story of twenty-year-old Thomas Hamilton, whose mother was a drug addict so he was adopted by his aunt while still very young. In his words, “getting to Vegas is a matter life and death, and dancing is all I have.” He said at one time he hated contemporary dance until he took a class from Mia Michaels and has loved contemporary dance ever since. After being sent through to choreography, Thomas was able to impress the judges enough to earn a ticket to Vegas.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE: Cat Deeley hosts Season Six of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on FOX. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Kelsey McNeal/FOX

You can’t be in the South without visiting New Orleans on the banks of the Mississippi River. With the hottest temperatures of the year, the doors were opened early to let the dancers come in out of the heat. Nigel Lythgoe was not present because he was in England to receive an honorary degree, so Mary Murphy took over as spokesperson along with Lil C and Adam Shankman.

What a treat it was when the first dancer on stage introduced the viewers to a new dance that you would only see in New Orleans. Twenty-year-old Shelby “Skip” Skipper danced a style of Hip Hop called, “New Orleans Bounce.” After his performance, Adam Shankman stated that, “the kid is born to dance.” A great dance to watch, but a hard dance to describe. It was straight through to Vegas for Skip. Jonathan Litzer, a tumbler trained in ballet, had no problem either getting his golden ticket. A moving story on Day 1 was that of Hip Hop, “B-boy”, Justin Kenney. Justin had been in a horrific car accident, causing the vehicle to flip four or five times. He had severe head trauma, but after three or four weeks he was pushing himself back to dance. He still cannot do some of the spins on his head, but did good enough that the judges asked him to go through to choreography. He had no problem with the dance steps and he too was going to Vegas.

Day 2 brought another surprise with another new dance introduced to the judges and viewers. Kimalee Piedad trained in ballet and is a Theatre Arts Ballroom Dancer, which she compared to ice skaters and how they glide when they dance. The lifts were unbelievable and were very clean and precise, creating beautiful lines based on balance and a graceful opposing force. Mary Murphy said it was fabulous and her passion showed through. After an onslaught of painful dancers though, Mary Murphy decided to lay down some rules for what they did not want to see on stage, and all were demonstrated by Shankman. Mary’s rules included: 1) no hats down over eyes, 2) no reaching out to nowhere, 3) no rubbing your body incessantly and 4) no bootie shaking for men.

Seventeen lucky dancers on Day 2 were given their tickets to Vegas.

“So You Think You Can Dance” will wrap up their auditions Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, which will air on FOX at 9/8 Central.