Here's were they currently stand in the competition: Chelsie Hightower, 18, of Pleasant Grove, and partner Mark consistently receive high praise and positive feedback from the judges. Thayne Jasperson, 27, of Salt Lake City, was in the bottom two last week and his partner, Chelsea T., was eliminated. Now he will dance with Comfort. Matt Dorame, of Salt Lake, and Kourtni L. finally earned kudos for their contemporary dance last week, after a series of lukewarm comments. And Gev Manoukian, 21, also from Salt Lake, and his partner Courtney G., have drawn praise and criticism but appear to be liked by the judges.
"I really think all four of them could make the top 10. There are probably a few other dancers who could be eliminated before even getting to our guys," said Kim DelGrosso, artistic director of Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, where Chelsie trained and taught classes. The studio has also produced many other prominent dancers for reality TV, including Julianne Hough and Ashly DelGrosso from "Dancing With the Stars."
Marilyn Montgomery, choreographer for West Valley City's Hale Center Theater and who worked with Gev and Thayne in a 2006 production of "Aida," says they're both talented dancers.
"Thayne is just a wonderful person to work with, and he's quite a good little singer. Gev could do anything you gave him, he was really adaptable. Both of them had solo parts and were kind of highlighted because there aren't many people with their talent and abilities," Montgomery said.
Whatever the outcome on "So You Think You Can Dance?", DelGrosso says this could be the start of a legacy, with Utah dancers dominating reality TV.
"I think very soon we'll see [Utah dancers] making up half of the contestants on 'So You Think You Can Dance?'," she said. "For some reason, we're ahead of the game."
