If it’s possible to be a polarizing dancer as a result of only the audition episodes on So You Think You Can Dance, Ricky Palomino was it. After the quirky contemporary dancer was eliminated from the show last night, BuddyTV users arrived in droves to express their anger with the judge’s decisions to send Ricky home. Ricky is an extremely talented dancer and one of choreographer/sometimes judge Mia Michaels’ favorites, but it wasn’t enough to keep him around. Ricky stopped by earlier this morning to talk about his experiences on So You Think You Can Dance.
Below you will find both the written transcript and full mp3 audio of the interview.
Can you talk a little bit about how you got into dance?
Yeah, yeah. I had a really unconventional training. Like, I had three mentors. When I was 16, I started with a classical mentor who took me under her wing. And then, when I was 17, I had a guy who was really into kinesiology and anatomy and that stuff and worked with him and then went to work with this mastermind of dance and she whipped me into shape and threw it all together with style and movement and stuff like that.
What made you want to come out and audition for So You Think You Can Dance, were you a fan of the first two seasons?
You know, I had hardly watched them at all. A friend called me and told me that I needed to go, so actually the night before the Atlanta audition I booked a flight at like 7 pm, got on the plane at 10 pm, arrived in Atlanta, went straight to the theater at like 5 in the morning. It was really on a whim, it was really spontaneous and awesome.
Watching all the audition episodes, you probably don’t know how much screen time you’re going to get, right?
Yea, I had no idea.
How was it watching all of your stuff from the Las Vegas week, especially all the praise you were getting from Mia?
It was interesting, it was interesting to see myself on TV like that, because it’s a different type of self-reflection, it was interesting, I was on camera more than I thought I was. So yeah, it was really interesting.
What was your first reaction when you found out that you were partnered with Ashlee?
My first reaction, was I had no idea I was going to get partnered with her, she was the last person I would think about because I thought they would take into consideration more of the height, because there were taller boys, and you know, I was really surprised.
Did you think that was going to be a problem initially, were you worried that it was going to hurt your guys dances?
No, I didn’t feel like it hurt us at all. I mean, right off the bat we just had an instant connection. And we were ready to dance, I knew she was there to get it, and I was there to get it and go full force. I knew she was there to work and so was I.
What did you think of some of the judges’ criticisms of your guys’ tango, did you think they were founded?
I disagreed a lot, of course I agreed with Nigel. He addressed the height issue, but again they picked it so there’s no control over that. But, coming from a contemporary background I feel like we did an amazing job.
Do you think you could have done a better solo routine, what was your mindset going into that dance last night?
Well, you know I had an issue with music, my solo piece music didn’t get cleared, and so I had to dance to Jamiroquai, it’s something I wouldn’t usually dance to but I had to make it work, and in the professional field you would have to make it work. So, I did all I could but I really didn’t get to show my full potential.
Throughout the last few weeks, you’ve been pegged as one of the most talented dancers on the show, Mia Michaels obviously loved you, what do you think made the judges pick you to be eliminated last night?
I think that they found that the other boys could get more out of it, because they have so much potential. They only have one style of dance and I’m pretty versatile when it comes to that stuff, and I think they consider the fact that they could grow from that experience of having contemporary, and more disco or more ballroom coming from just a hip-hop style.
Just looking back at the overall experience of being on So You Think You Can Dance, how was it? Was it worth it? And, what are you going to take away from it in the future?
Oh my god, it was an amazing experience just to see the whole production come together and everything that comes along with it. And the exposure was great, you know I’m getting ready to release a second album coming up here and I think people are going to be looking out for that too and I’m going to be searching for some record deals, see what happens.
(Interview Conducted by Oscar Dahl)
(Image Courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
