You know I love me some SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE but I’ve been so busy this summer that I haven’t had time to participate in the weekly eliminated dancer calls. However, that doesn’t mean everyone should miss out on what the fallen have to say!

This past week, Karla Garcia and Vitolio Jeune took questions from the press (and bloggers) about their time on the show, being eliminated and what their plans are for the future.

Here are some of the questions and answers for your enjoyment… hey, we have to kill some time before tonight’s SYTYCD Top 12 Perform!

Question for Karla: I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about your week with Vitolio. I know you guys didn’t have that much time together as a couple, did you feel like that was a hindrance or how did it go for you?

Karla: Yes, it was really hard because after Jonathan got eliminated I was really emotional just because we got really attached over the past few weeks and then all of a sudden I had to be paired up with a brand new partner. We had to find that connection and that chemistry in very little time, plus the added layer of having the hardest dance style ever on the show that we had to work with. So it was a challenge but I think we’re both professionals and I think we both had that motivation to show America that we can attack this kiss of death, and that’s what we shared together and that’s what brought us together, I think. So that made it easier.

Question for Karla: Could you go on a little bit more about that, about the quick step being the kiss of death. I know it looks really hard when we see it in the audience and everyone refers to it as the kiss of death, but tell us more about why it’s so hard.

Karla: Yes, when we opened up that card and it said “quick step” I think I was already practicing my solo, especially when everyone else around us had a genre in their comfort zone. I felt almost defeated but it was that motivation to attack this hard dance style. The real blessing was having Jean-Marc as a choreographer because they can really make or break your experience and you know, he was very involved and invested in us and he knew that it would be a difficult task and he knew that the quick step was very hard to learn. You have to stay close, in contact. Your hips have to stay together the whole time. Your feet have to move really fast and you have to work very intimately with your partner. That was hard because Vitolio and I had never worked together, so that was another challenge.

There were just so many layers in having this kiss of death. So technically I think Jean-Marc guided us a lot. He’s very fun-loving and with all the analogies, like I said in my package, a lot of the analogies he used to help us with frame and with finding that connection physically and the entertainment quality of it. I think he gave us a great routine choreographically to make it easier to learn the style, because there were other things to focus on like the acting part and the conceptual part of the routine, there was a story and there were things to play off of, so that we weren’t too focused in on doing the quick step perfectly.

Continue reading about Karla & Vitolio’s experience on SYTYCD after the jump…

Question for Karla: Were there any styles that you didn’t get to do or choreographers that you wanted to work with that you were hoping to get to do in the coming weeks?

Karla: Oh, I would have loved to work with Napoleon and Tabitha. I would have loved to do one of their hip-hop duets. I think their use of isolations and storytelling and their musicality, they showcase their dancers in a great light and they know how to tell a story and entertain an audience and they’re such positive people to work with. I worked with them during the group number two weeks ago and I think it would have been awesome to work with them one-on-one, and I’m sad that I couldn’t.

Question for Karla: What’s next for you?

Karla: For me, I’m just relaxing and I’m going to spend a lot of time with my family. I got a few offers after my elimination, the day after, to teach here and there and to perform, and I got another offer from Radio City Rockettes Show in New York and I think I’m going to do that this year and start working professionally again, just like I was before the show. Maybe start getting into acting, branching out, like just trying new things, because this was … things to do in life and I’m glad that I got to do that, so I’m just moving on.

Question for Vitolio: You mentioned that Michael Jackson’s video had inspired you. Everybody was obviously struck by the news of his death. How did that news impact you, especially since you were still on the show at the time?

Vitolio: Well actually when I found out that Michael Jackson died I was backstage actually getting ready to go on stage, and it was really a big disappointment for me. I couldn’t stop crying because I had received a text from a friend telling me, “Hey, Michael Jackson just died.” And I’m like did somebody try to prank me or something? And then the TV was on and I saw it on the news and I thought, “Oh my gosh, this is real.” And then I couldn’t stop crying and that affected me really, really hard.

Question for Vitolio: Was it tough to go on stage at that point, try to put yourself together?

Vitolio: It was tough, but at the same time it kind of brought some inspiration into me, kind of made me really go out there and do my thing, you know?

Question for Vitolio: I was just wondering when you find out that you’re in the bottom three and you have to do a solo, what kind of goes through your head and what are some of the things you want to show in your solo that maybe you didn’t get to show in the choreographed routine that you did the night before?

Vitolio: Well the first time wasn’t a surprise for me, because I know that Broadway wasn’t too exciting and I don’t think America really gets Broadway, so I already knew we were going to be in the bottom three but I had already gotten my solo together. The solo “Dance for Your Life” was pretty much to impress the judges in order for them to keep me in the show, so I did my best because I didn’t want to go.

The second time I was in the bottom three it was a little surprise…, so I tried to do my best as well.

But the third time I tried to do even better than the last two times, even though I knew I had a good chance to go home because the week prior to that, I remember Nigel said to me that that was my last week, if I got into the bottom three again, he would …. I was thinking to myself, should I still dance for my life or should I just go home and actually leave? But I just took a chance and went and I think I did my best. Yes, but that’s about it.

Question for Vitolio: What’s next for you?

Vitolio: What’s next for me? Well, I’m back in Miami and at this point I’m looking for an agent back in L.A. So I’m planning on moving back to L.A. and keep on dancing, choreographing, and hopefully getting into acting and modeling, and I’m thinking about as well probably writing a book about my life story.

Next week we’ll have more with the two eliminated dancers… I can’t believe we’re almost at the Top 10!

*Don’t forget, if you’re a fan of SYTYCD and enjoy hearing our take on the show come back tomorrow for the newest TV Talk Podcast: So You Think You Can Dance edition!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Ducky Does TV, So You Think You Can Dance, So You Think You Can Dance Season 5. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.