Rayven Armijo barely arrived in Los Angeles for So You Think You Can Dance before she was packing her bags and heading back home. On last night’s live elimination episode, Rayven was kicked off the show, along with her partner Jamie Bayard. The two performed a hip hop routine, choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D’Uno, that just wasn’t memorable enough for the fans or the judges. Today, Rayven spoke to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview about why she didn’t dance on pointe, what she thinks of Jamie, and what lies ahead for her.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hey this is Gina from BuddyTV and today I’m talking to Rayven from So You Think You Can Dance. So tell me how you’re doing today, because I’m really bummed that you were the first one to go out, especially since you’re a ballet dancer and it kind of separates you out from everybody else. How are you doing today?
I’m doing well. I’m definitely disappointed, I enjoyed the whole experience and I wanted to keep moving forward and keep showing my potential and what I have to America. But there’s no regrets, we just had so much fun and I only see better things from here.
What do you think happened with last night’s solo? Why did you decide to go on demi-pointe instead of pointe, as Nigel said?
The floor was really, really slippery and I didn’t want to injure myself. At a point like that, in a state like that, when you get a little bit nervous and you’re not sure if you’re going to have to do your solo or not, you have to do a balance. I think it was a perfect balance, I think my jumps were better. When you’re in pointe shoes you’re not able to extend your toes and I really wanted to show the strength of my jumps. So I just change it up a little bit, like ballroom dancers, you know? They do the jive or they do the samba. It’s the same thing just a little bit different.s
What do you think was one of the major reasons why you and Jamie ended up in the bottom three? Do you have theories about it?
I really don’t, I was really surprised. I for sure thought we had it, I definitely thought we had. I know that I felt a connection with the whole audience, everybody screaming for me and they were yelling for me. I felt a really good connection with the audience and I thought we did a really good job, so definitely surprised.
How was Jamie as a partner to work with?
Excellent. He kept me grounded. There’s that point when you’re oh my gosh, we practiced so much and we have it, and you only have so many hours to actually get it, and he really kept me grounded. He’s like we have to do this, we’re focused, we’ve been practicing all night, we’re hard workers. He’s an excellent, excellent partner.
Had you ever done hip hop before the other night?
No. I mean, I said before I’m engrossed in the hip hop culture because it’s my generation, but I’ve never taken classes or anything like that. I love hip hop, so it’s kind of a weird balance when you actually learn stuff and “hit this” and “one, two, three, four,” it’s a little bit different than just going out there and dancing freestyle.
Is there any choreographer that you wish that you got to work with before you left the show?
I wanted to work with Tyce awfully, awfully bad. And Mia Michaels, of course. I think that I have the skill to really pull off a great piece for her, and so I’m definitely disappointed that I don’t get to do that.
What are your plans now, what are your goals now that you’ve been on So You Think You Can Dance and you’ve done something professional, what do you want to do now?
I want to keep doing it, I want to be successful at this. I know I will, I really do, so I’m just going to keep pushing forward and find something else to get into. Will I be disappointed and stop and just feel like my dreams are crushed? No, I feel like dreams just started. I’m definitely going to keep pushing forward. This is not the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a whole new world.
Thanks so much Rayven, I just want to wish you good luck.
Thank you Gina, I appreciate it.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
