Contemporary dancers, Alexander Fost and Ryan Ramirez took questions from reporters today after being eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance last night. Here are highlights from today’s satellite conference call.
The think I found most surprising? Alexander was listed as a contemporary dancer, but he’s a ballet performer. His hardest dance style was…contemporary! Poor guy.
Was Ryan really “down and out” as Nigel suggested during her elimination? “When he said that, I was actually not surprised—but I definitely didn’t feel that way at all. Yesterday when I got the comments on the duets—you could say I kind of thought I might be in the bottom, but I never was down or out about the competition. I was still fighting. I still thought that I had a chance to stay. I was excited to do my solo so that I could dance on the stage again. It’s weird that they felt that way, but I never felt that way.”
Alexander on the judges constantly comparing him to his partner, Sasha, “They kind of forgot a little bit that being a couple is being a teamwork. Every single week I know for sure that Sasha and I worked extremely hard. During rehearsals and the way we ran the show—all the choreographers—nobody ever said ‘so and so is better’. It was only when we went live and the show actually started to air that I started to get those comments. It was really confusing because you hear one thing during rehearsals and during the dress run. And then when the show aired, it’s something completely different. It is what it is. Some things you have to make the best of it.”
Although Alexander is listed as a contemporary dancer, he’s really a ballet dancer. What were his toughest dance styles? “I think for the most part, the hardest style had to have been contemporary. I know I was listed as a contemporary dancer. But Hip Hop was hard as well because there’s a certain type of attitude and a style of what we call swag that you need in order to perform it to a certain level. But most importantly, I think contemporary was a challenge because as a ballet dancer, we don’t roll ourselves on the floor. It just felt like every time I touched floor I got a bruise or something. I’m not used to it. I didn’t know how to really maneuver my body in that way. Everytime I got contemporary it was a very big challenge and because I was listed as a contemporary dancer, there was high expectations. The choreography was harder, the critique was hard. That was probably one of the most challenging dances yet.”
What about the competition did the duo find most difficult or surprising? “ Alex: “Not just working with a group of people that you’ve never danced with before, not just learning the dance in 2 days and going live the day after. But I think the hardest part is having to perform it on live television and getting critiqued. Whether it is a dance competition—it’s a popularity contest as well. Yes, it’s very entertaining. But people at home will simply not vote you because they don’t like your costume, or because you said something in the package that found odd. Being on the show, you have to just keep remembering how much you love dance and why you keep doing it. This was just a chance to perform on one of the biggest stages a dancer can perform on.” Ryan: “The hardest thing was being in the public eye so much. I didn’t realize how much people really analyze your ever move on the show. I realized that you have to keep your mind focused on why you’re there, and not get caught up in what people are saying about you good or bad. And that you have to keep a level head and do it just because you love dance and want to grow as a dancer.”
