68 replies to this topic

[ElectricBoogalo]

Fans of FOX's So You Think You Can Dance know Travis Wall as a former competitor turned choreographer on the dancing competition series. Starting July 31, they'll get a chance to know Travis personally, as he stars in the Oxygen reality series, All The Right Moves.

The new series documents the lives of Travis and his close friends Teddy Forance (Dancing With The Stars), Nick Lazzarini (season one SYTYCD winner) and Kyle Robinson (also from DWTS) as they launch their own dance company, Shaping Sound.

"[It's] five to seven hours of rehearsal a day, but you're coming home and trying to figure out what you're going to put in the show," he explained. "[For] SYTYCD, they only give us five hours with the dancers before we actually head to stage, and then we go on stage for 30 minutes, and we do a camera blocking, and we throw them out on television. For Step Up, we only had two weeks of rehearsal to put all the numbers in the movie together. We had four choreographers on it and we threw those numbers out so fast. There's a duet at the end of the movie and I had seriously twelve hours to put it together."

All The Right Moves premieres on Oxygen on July 31.

More info at the source and at the official website at Oxygen, but Travis promises there will be two dances per episode and that in the future he wants to transition to directing. The other interesting tidbit I learned from another article is that Travis choreographed Nastia Liukin's new floor routine. If she makes the Olympic team, we may get to finally see it (she's currently only competing on bars and beam).

Although most of the articles/interviews focus on the four guys, Shaping Sound has a lot of members including several SYTYCD alumni (Allison Holker - YAY!, Melanie Moore, Noelle Marsh, and Jaime Goodwin). There are a total of 26 dancers in the company. There's a lengthy interview with Travis, Nick, Teddy, Kyle, Jaime, and another girl in the company named Taja in last month's issue of Dance Spirit.

I LOVE Nick Lazzarini and SYTYCD so I'm totally excited about this new show. I've been seeing tidbits about it here and there in dance publications since last summer but now that they've finally decided on the premiere date I thought we should have a thread for it (even though it's still over a month away).

[Turkish]

I am obsessed with all things SYTYCD so I'll definitely be checking out the show. Especially if we get the occasional shots of my all-time favorite contestants, Allison Holker and Jaime Goodwin. I've known about Taja Riley for some time. She is one of Travis' best friends from Virginia and the daughter of famous music producer Teddy Riley. I always wondered why she never auditioned for SYTYCD back in the day. At this point, she probably couldn't even if she wanted as she is friends with so many people involved with the show.

[Tigeriff]

I'm ambivalent on Travis' choreography, or at least the things he's done on SYTYCD, but I really like Kyle and Teddy's work. It makes me happy, too, that Travis seems to feature Jaimie G. quite a bit. She was excellent in her All Star appearance and in the recent number they did on DWTS.

I've known about Taja Riley for some time. She is one of Travis' best friends from Virginia and the daughter of famous music producer Teddy Riley. I always wondered why she never auditioned for SYTYCD back in the day. At this point, she probably couldn't even if she wanted as she is friends with so many people involved with the show.

From my perspective,"knowing people" gives one an advantage when auditioning on this show, not the other way around. There was last year's connection between Ryan Ramirez and Mia Michaels. During the year before she auditioned, Melanie Moore was Nick Lazarinni's assistant in some of the conventions, etc., so I can't imagine that she didn't also know Travis as well.

Others with direct connections have been Kayla Radomski, Lauren Gottlieb, William Wingfied, Pasha/Anya, just to name a few. I've heard rumors that Sonya's assistant will be seen on the Green Mile this year. The Aussie ballet boy, Daniel Baker, is close friends with Alex Wong. However, Alex was merely a contestant, so I don't know how much that would factor into things. Nigel does love Alex. It just seems as if they cast from a small circle of friends, siblings, and assistants...people they already have a history with. I don't know if Taja just isn't interested. I've never seen any indication that she's auditioned. She really is a fine dancer, though.

I'll give the show a chance. At this point, it seems as if SYTYCD will never get out of the audition phase!

[Holliday]

Crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, and wishing on a shooting star for a Danny Tidwell cameo.

[ElectricBoogalo]

A few seasons ago on STYCYD, one of Debbie Allen's dancers auditioned so she said that if he made it onto the show, she would not be a judge to keep things fair. The funny thing is that sometimes it works the other way. In the Dance Spirit article above, Travis said that everyone (except the founders) had to audition to be in the company. He said that he knew Noelle and wasn't planning to hire her but she was so good at her audition that she ended up in the company. In general, knowing other dancers/choreographers/teachers is helpful rather than hurtful. On STYCYD, I don't think it's really hindered anyone and in the case of Shaping Sound, it helped since the founders were familiar with what most of their friends were capable of.

I know that they have been talking about this show for almost a year now, but no mentions of when filming actually began. I hope the cameras were around from the very beginning so we can see some of the audition process, which I think will be vastly superior to the joke that the SYTYCD auditions we're subjected to.

ETA: I just re-read the Dance Spirit article and it said that the accompanying photo shoot was the first day of filming for the series (which took place after their December premiere) so no auditions for me! Fine, I'll take behind the scenes at a photo shoot.

[ElectricBoogalo]

Two promo videos from Oxygen:
meet the guys
more footage of the dance routine from the "meet the guys" video

I really hope the editing here isn't indicative of what we're going to see of the two routines per episode. For crying out loud, quit zooming in, showing their feet or faces, and cutting repeatedly during the dancing. Just let me see the dancing!

[misscasey]

The first episode is up on Hulu, for those who don't want to wait until the 31st.

[buckeyegirl]

Watching this On Demand as well! I didn't watch SYTYCD Season 2, so I don't know Nick at all, but he seems hilariously bitchy. This definitely seems like good guilty pleasure TV. I don't know anything about the dance industry but there's a lot of (probably fake) drama, as with any reality show.

Lots of familiar faces and exciting to see those people dancing (including a very interesting face given SYTYCD recently!

[Turkish]

Nick was the winner of SYTYCD season 1 and IMO he's always been quite bitchy but so far he's been fun to watch on this show.

There are SYTYCD alumni all over this show. I'm just glad they gave Jaimie a talking head, because it likely means that we'll be seeing alot of her. I love me some Jaimie. She looks so much better with straight hair. I remember it used to be curly during her season.

[meatball77]

From my perspective,"knowing people" gives one an advantage when auditioning on this show, not the other way around. There was last year's connection between Ryan Ramirez and Mia Michaels. During the year before she auditioned, Melanie Moore was Nick Lazarinni's assistant in some of the conventions, etc., so I can't imagine that she didn't also know Travis as well.

The dance world is very small. These dancers all grew up together and saw each other at the same conventions where they worked with a lot of the choreographers on the show and that's just in high school. The ones that moved to LA to try to make it I'm sure all knew each other and worked with each other also. These choreographers and former dancers from SYTYCD make some of their money teaching at conventions and choreographing at dance studios for competition teams. My daughter took a class from Nick Lazereni when she was seven . . . .

Here's an article about the show that the company did. I remember reading about it because one of the girls at my daughters old studio is in the group.
http://www.theindustryvoiceonline.com/1/post/2012/05/shaping-sound-dance-company-comes-together-in-beverly-hills-with-sold-out-show.html

Cast members included Allison Holker, Melanie Moore, Taja Riley, Ade Obayomi, Ryan Ramirez, Matthew Peacock, Chantel Aguirre, Channing Cooke, Noelle Marsh, Chealsea Thedinga, Amber Williams, Hani Abaza, Alexa Anderson, Albert Blaise Cattafi, Kaitlynn Edgar, Stephen Hernandez, Kayla Kalbfleisch, and Adrian Lee.

[ElectricBoogalo]

I'm going to guess by the lack of posts after last night's premiere that I'm not the only one who was so busy watching women's gymnastics that I completely forgot to watch All the Right Moves. Hopefully they'll rerun the premiere again so I can catch it soon!

[hugafish]

I did watch this, and it was a bit too overly dramatic for my tastes. I'll probably watch another episode, but a lot of it seems to be drama for drama's own sake.

[sandlikeashes]

Not into it, but will watch just for the dancing.

[Turkish]

I'm mostly in it to see glimpses of some of my favorite girls from SYTYCD, Jaimie and Allison. Taja was never on the show but I've seen plenty of YT videos of her and she's an amazing dancer. I did kind of agree with what she said to Travis at that showcase. I don't think she meant any offense by it but that's obviously not the way he took it. Does he really believe that his choreography is above criticism? He needs to get over that real quick. I've long since stopped being a fan of his so I'm not really watching the show for him. Nick has always been hilariously bitchy which I'm sure will get old very fast. Teddy and Kyle I know the least but are very pretty boys and definitely seem to be better dancers than Travis IMO. I hope they get more focus and this isn't going to just be The Travis Show because I am already tired of his drama and it's only the first episode.

[BensBritches]

I hope they get more focus and this isn't going to just be The Travis Show because I am already tired of his drama and it's only the first episode.

Pretty much sums up my feelings too. I loved Travis in his day as a dancer, but I haven't much enjoyed his choreography on SYTYCD. He seems to have gotten too full of himself and guzzled the judge’s Kool Aide regarding his talent.

This show wallowed in too much drama for me- most of it seemed staged and contrived. I did not watch SYTYCD in season 1, so I’ve no familiarity with Nick, but I am liking him. I also like the kid who moved out to LA just to be the 4th wheel of this endeavor (forgot his name already).

The actual choreography of the last dance they did seemed lovely, and not chalk full of Travis’ signature moves, so I’m guessing the other 2 guys did get a lot of input. I’ll keep watching if for nothing but the dancing.

I continued to be bothered and not understand overly tattooed dancers. I think it takes away from their lines (making their arms and such look shorter) and it distracts away from the full body movement. Travis seemed so much longer and leaner when he wasn’t tatted up, and the main guys have too many tattoo’s for my enjoyment.

Funny to see Alexa and Adrian from this seasons SYTYCD in the cast. Hope to see more of Adrian and less of Alexa…

[anothermi]

I don't know if I'll get to see this (no Oxygen and can't access Hulu either) but I was pleased to see Hani Abaza was hired. He is another SYTYCD connection, but from the Canadian version. Even if you've watched it you may not remember him. He was on Season three and was my favourite. So, of course, he was the 1st to go. His partner injured herself and he danced with the previous year's winner - danced VERY well, but.... he's not a cute young boy. He's just a great dancer. I read somewhere that he assisted Mia for a group routine mid season.

[corvus13]

Wow, Taja is a piece of work, isn't she? Ugh.

[Turkish]

I feel like Taja is maybe playing a character here for the show because she and Travis have been very close since they were really young and I have never heard about them having this tumultuous of a relationship before. He has always spoke about her glowingly prior to this show airing.

[soulkissage]

These reality shows see something minor and decide to make it large to up the drama. They have them redo scenes to up the drama of whatever happened. Taja was probably a little annoyed that she had to audition since she was a part of the talks about the company. Kyle only came in late. Misha was originally connected to shaping sound and the talks of the reality show. I think because they were doing the drama of Kyle auditioning so Taja had to audition too and Jaimie had to be there even though she couldn't audition.

[ElectricBoogalo]

From the Dance Spirit interview linked on the previous page:

DS: How real is your reality? Is anything scripted?
Travis: It’s all real. And we don’t need scripts—the four of us guys in one room is enough! We fight like brothers because we are like brothers. We also love each other like brothers. You’re watching longtime relationships. We’re not a bunch of strangers who were thrown in a house together.

Nick: It’s hard work. You’ll have an amazing conversation with someone and think you’re ready to move on and a producer will come in and say, “That was great, now make that answer shorter and don’t forget about where the cameras are.” Now I know how the Kardashians feel!

[corvus13]

I was a Nick fan after the first season of SYTYCD, but a lot of his Twitter posts were rather disgusting, so I unfollowed him.

[CatsWithAxes]

I though it was ironic how Teddy and Nick strongly objected to the agent wanting to call the company "Travis Wall's Shaping Sound", instead of just "Shaping Sound" (which BTW I think is a pretty bad name for a dance company), considering that most of the promotion for the show itself been making it seem like its Travis' baby first and foremost.

[liese]

All the kids on this show are great dancers but the truth of the matter is this show only made it on air because of Travis. Nick, Taja, and the other 2 need to get off their high horses and realize that it is Travis' name that is going to bring in the investors.

Travis is a much nicer person than I. I would tell them all where to go and find a whole other group of dancers. I am pretty sure he could find 1000 to replace each one without too much trouble. And if that little bratty girl Taja signed a contract and then continues to not show up for rehearsals and performances I hope Travis sues her ass.

[bourbon]

Wow, is that it? One post on Ep 2? Yeesh, I guess that doesn't bode well for ratings or the future of this show.

I don't like the drama -- whether it is manufactured or not. It just cheapens the artistic merit of what they are trying to do with the company. It's like sitting down to watch a documentary about Jane Goodall's chimps, and then having them focus the whole thing on Jane's fight with her research assistants. I think there would be real enough drama involved in setting up a dance company without them focusing on Taja's ponytail.

And let's get this straight...this is a series about 4 guys trying to stand up a dance company...and one of them decides in *episode two* that he's going to focus on his acting career instead?? I like Kyle. He seems like a lovely kid. Plus he brings the pretty and then some, but watching him do sense memory exercises all season is going to get old and dull fast.

I just want to see more dancing.

[Gardencrown]

Wow, is that it? One post on Ep 2? Yeesh, I guess that doesn't bode well for ratings or the future of this show.

I didn't catch the first episode, but watched this one, and to be honest, I found it almost unwatchable in its out-and-out terribleness. So much manufactured DRAHHHma and such a snide vibe. I agree that Travis is the biggest name here, and the others shouldn't have been surprised about that. But I find Travis, Nick, and Teddy (and Taja for that matter, though I think that she is trying to balance some valid financial constraints) so insufferably full of themselves -- whether it's true in real life, they come across like entitled douchebags.

AND I thought that the choreo that Teddy did with Allison and tWitch SUCKED, as did the potential Madonna choreo.

Not going to put myself through this one again!

Edited by Gardencrown, Aug 22, 2012 @ 12:38 PM.

[Stalkmylife82]

And let's get this straight...this is a series about 4 guys trying to stand up a dance company...and one of them decides in *episode two* that he's going to focus on his acting career instead?? I like Kyle. He seems like a lovely kid. Plus he brings the pretty and then some, but watching him do sense memory exercises all season is going to get old and dull fast.

They told Kyle in the first episode that he would not be a founding member of the company like he thought. It's there dancing company. He has to audition to even be a part of the company like everyone else. So, he decided to focus more on acting sense he has to pay the bills and he will not be making money like the others might be potentially.

I also didn't have a problem with the guys this week. Taja may have her issues but she called pulled for speeding. She didn't pull a no show. With the other guys, they all had made plans before the the day, while being unaware that Travis needed him. Also, Nick and Teddy (mostly Nick) just doesn't want the company to be the Travis show because they are all going to put in the work to make it a success. It doesn't seem like they are actually mad at him about it. Just the situation they are in right now.

[bourbon]

They told Kyle in the first episode that he would not be a founding member of the company like he thought. It's there dancing company. He has to audition to even be a part of the company like everyone else. So, he decided to focus more on acting sense he has to pay the bills and he will not be making money like the others might be potentially.

Yes, I know *why* he did it, but it doesn't make for a very cohesive or interesting show when one of the leads in a show about starting a dance company is off doing something else.

[meatball77]

Is Travis really such a wimp that he can't choreograph without his friends?

[corvus13]

How long ago was this filmed, since Jaimie danced on SYTYCD tonight, her leg got better somewhere along the way. And I guess Teddy didn't get picked up by SYTYCD, since the show was long ago enough that Jaimie got better, but Teddy hasn't been choreographing yet.

Nick Teddy and Travis are all nominated for an Emmy for choreographing a routine on DWTS. I don't know which routine it was, since I don't watch that drek that passes itself off as a dance show.

[ElectricBoogalo]

I know that they have been talking about this show for almost a year now, but no mentions of when filming actually began. I hope the cameras were around from the very beginning so we can see some of the audition process, which I think will be vastly superior to the joke that the SYTYCD auditions we're subjected to.

ETA: I just re-read the Dance Spirit article and it said that the accompanying photo shoot was the first day of filming for the series (which took place after their December premiere) so no auditions for me! Fine, I'll take behind the scenes at a photo shoot.

Well, now I know for sure that this show is totally fake because the time line was:
1. Shaping Sound auditions in fall 2011
2. Shaping Sound company premiere in December 2011
3. Dance Spirit photo shoot & first day of filming All the Right Moves
4. fake auditions for Shaping Sound staged for All the Right Moves

I watched the first episode last week and then forgot to watch the second episode this week. Now that I know Nick and Allison are All Stars this season on SYTYCD, that may satisfy me more than watching this show.