So You Think You Can Dance Continues to Soar

I must be a frustrated dancer at heart because I love movies and television shows about dancing. I'm an avid fan of Dancing with the Stars and try never to miss an episode of So You Think You Can Dance. So when the latter had its third season premier a few weeks back, I was there.

Just as is the case with singing wanna be's on American Idol, many of the dancing wanna be's on So You Think You Can Dance are extremely talented while others are, at best, delusional. It's a good thing I wasn't the one making decisions about who made it through to Las Vegas since some of my choices were vastly different from the judges. But then, I didn't say I "knew" anything about dancing, just that I like to watch it.

I have to admit, however, that the top 20 dancers this year have proven to be pretty impressive so far. I can't spot a really bad one in the bunch, which includes:

Anya Garnis specializes in Latin and Ballroom dance. She is a former U.S. Latin Ballroom finalist (2004) who studied dance in Russia for eight years. Therefore, it makes sense that her favorite dancer is Mikhail Baryisnikov.

Ashlee Langas started dancing at the age of two and studied dance at several different academies. Specializing in contemporary dance, it's no surprise that her favorite dancer is Mia Michaels, a well known figure in that field.

Cedric Gardner began dancing at the tender age of seven after watching old Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies. He now specializes in hip-hop and hopes to own his own studio some day.

Daniel Tidwell is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical dance. His first dance teacher was his adopted mother, Denise Walls who runs Dance Energy. His adopted brother, Travis, was a finalist in last year's competition.

Dominic Sandoval, or D-Trix, is a b-boy at heart with roots deep into hip-hop. He actually only started formal dance training in January of this year. His goal, however, is to ultimately be known as an overall dancer and not just a b-boy.

Faina Savich began her training in Russian folk dance at age 9. She now focuses her efforts more toward Latin and ballroom. Her brother, Stas, also made it into the top 20 of So You Think You Can Dance last year.