so you think you can dance

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Allison invited me to go to a taping of So You Think Can Dance with her last week, which was the perfect last girls night for us before she moved. (What will I do without her here? I could cry just thinking about it.)

We drove up to LA together, then stood in line outside the gate for about two hours. You can get tickets online for free, but then you have to arrive at the gate and be given an actual ticket before you can sit down. Since we arrived close to check-in time (and not hours before), we ended up getting on stand-by. That means that they'll try to get you in as people don't show up to claim their seated tickets. If you don't get in, you're given a priority ticket for another taping. So basically we were waiting for all the other priority people from other days to not show up so we could have their seats. Your party can be divided up to be seat fillers too - they stick you wherever there's an empty seat so that the entire audience is full.

So we sat in the shade and waited to find out where we might be sitting, and just hoped it would be by each other. And we hoped that we would actually get in and not be told to come back another day (which would have meant Allison couldn't go at all since she was moving in a couple days).

We waited until it was nearly show time, and slowly the people in line ahead of disappeared into the building. Then a guy came out with two tickets for us - on the third row from the stage!

So lucky us, we got to sit right in front of the dancers. Live filming is fascinating. Probably the main thing I didn't expect was the low volume on the microphones. Unless everyone was really quiet, we couldn't hear Cat or any of the judges. The music was great though. And Cat was incredibly nice - and is it possible for her to be even more beautiful in person? Yes she was. And the dancers were AMAZING. And just being there was so much fun.

 Cat Deeley (love that yellow dress!)

Nigel, Mary, and guest judge Debbie Reynolds:

 Top 20 Season 8 (we're on the third row to the right . . . a seat or two out of the picture):

Ryan and Ricky (Jazz):

Caitlynn and Mitchell (contemporary):

Missy and Wadi (Cha Cha):

Iveta and Nick (Bollywood):

Miranda and Robert (Hip Hop):

Clarice and Jess (Contemporary):

Jordan and Tadd (Viennese Waltz):

Melanie and Marko (Jazz; my favorite dancers):

Sasha and Alexander (Hip Hop):

Ashley and Chris (Broadway):

An awesome night! 

(The photos all came from the website. Check out the episode here.)

mariah night

I met up with my good friend Mariah for a girls night. When she moved from Utah to California about two years ago, I was so sad. Then she moved to the old neighborhood where I grew up, and we moved just a short hour away. I love being able to see her more!

I love that Mariah is a planner like me. And we can talk about anything, not always agree, and still love each other when we don't. She makes me laugh. And helps me see things differently. And loves a good concert together. And writes about real life in a real-life way. And pretty much is the bomb-diggity friend, which is why I think everyone needs their own Mariah.