Dancers Ashley Valerio, 22, and Max Kapitannikov, 26, have expressed that style of dance and choreography are important factors in determining which pairs are voted safe and which are eliminated. And while they regret that their time on the show is now over, both say that their experiences on the show were positive ones that will undoubtedly help to further their careers.
“The pieces that you are given can mean so much,” Ashley told a reporter for The Northwestern. In the first week of competition she and her partner, Kupono Aweau, had performed a mock crash-test dummy routine. Following the performance, they heard high praise from the show’s three judges – and the audience voted them safe.
But in the second week Ashley and Kupono were assigned a hip-hop number that landed them in the bottom three couples. Each individual in the bottom three pairs is required to perform a solo routine, following which the judges eliminate one boy and one girl.
“I re-watched it (our routine) to see where we went wrong, what we could have done better,” Ashley explained. “I felt like (we) performed (our) dance the best that we possibly could. There’s always room for improvement, but I think we looked great. … I got a lot of good feedback from other professional dancers who thought the dance was really good.”
Also eliminated from the show was Max – who performed in the couples competition with Kayla Radomski. After being safe in their first week routine, Max said that in the second week, "It was a pop-jazz and definitely out of my comfort zone. … I kind of predicted that I was going to leave. … I don’t have any regrets. Kupono is a good dancer and Jason (Glover). They deserve to be there.”
Max also echoed judge Nigel Lythgoe who said that it is particularly difficult for ballroom dancers to shine in solo routines.
Ashley and Max also addressed the future.
Ashley, who at the age of three began studying dance in her mother’s dance studio, is hoping for a dancing career. “(The show) was the experience of a lifetime," she enthused. "I couldn’t ask for anything more. I just want to go out and audition a lot.
"I think (my life’s) going to change in a huge way. … I got to work with two of my favorite choreographers in the world, Wade Robson and Mia Michaels. They both pushed me past my limit. I feel like a stronger person, a stronger dancer.”
Max, who also studied dance under his mother, said, “I’m taking classes and may be auditioning for other things, but I haven’t really thought about it.”
At the time of the eliminations, judge Lythgoe revealed that the judges were not unanimous in their decision to eliminate either Ashley or Max. He added that all of the bottom three couples were of such a high level of talent that they (the judges) disliked having to vote anyone off the show – but that the show’s rules required that one boy and one girl be eliminated.
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