PureAGT Season 8 Vegas Week Predictions – Dancers/Dance Groups/Acrobats

I continue my series of predictions for Vegas week with the dancers & acrobats categories.  If you missed my assessment of the singers & bands, go here.

Dancers:

Ron & Liza: Could go either way. My gut tells me that we’re probably only going to see one ballroom act in the live shows – and that it’s more likely to be one of the ballroom kids than the adults.  But Ron & Liza were fun to watch, and they seem like an act that might get picked for the live show if there’s room after some of the more popular acts get through.

Kenichi Ebina: A sure thing. As Howie said, he’s the strongest act in the dancers category right now – and I think his style is perfect for the live shows.  I think of him as this season’s Turf – but with more polish.

Bones & the Machine: Could go either way. Audiences usually have a pretty mixed reaction to the “bone-breaking” hip hop style: they either love it or are appalled by it.  I think their fate in Vegas could really just depend on the climate at the judges table – do they love it or hate it?

Dylan Wilson: A long shot. I’m rooting for Dylan, since he’s from my home state, but I think he’s unfortunately going to pale in comparison to Kenichi in Vegas – everything Dylan does, Kenichi can do…and can do it better, and with more polish.  I don’t know that the live shows really need both of them.

Dance groups:

Catapult Entertainment: Looking likely.  They’re the only act of their kind this season, and the judges seemed to respond very positively to what they did.  My only concern is that the whole “silhouetted dance” concept may be getting a little old…if the judges start to feel that way, they could get displaced for another act.

The Academy: Could go either way. We only got to see a brief clip of them, but they seem to dance well enough.  The problem? They do Irish step dancing – and so does Hammerstep, and Hammerstep also does hip-hop.  Advantage Hammerstep – they’re a more unique act.  Another situation where it makes me wonder if they really need 2 Irish step dancing acts this season.

Hype: A sure thing. They’ve got a good command of several different hip-hop styles, and have proven that they can very cleverly do hip-hop to unexpected songs.  They also have reality show experience – Josh was on America’s Best Dance Crew, and A.J. was actually part of Academy of Villains on season 7 of AGT.  I think they’ve got what it takes to put on a good show, and I think the judges will see that.

B-Extreme: Could go either way. It’s 3 guys who do hip-hop and stunts – just like Hype, except Hype seems to be more well-rounded in their level of experience.  It’s another situation where I think it comes down to “Do we really need more than one act like this in the live shows?”

Hammerstep: A sure thing. I think the fact that their act is so unique bodes well for them making it to the live shows.  They’re cool, they’re clean, and they’re interesting to watch – and there’s no other act this season that fuses two very unrelated dance styles like they do.

The Rock Dance Project: Could go either way. Some of the ballet/jazz/modern groups we saw all started to kind of blend together for me – however, I remember this one because they were doing some gorgeous pas-de-deux-type lifts, which I can’t recall any of the other dance groups in their style doing.  Once again, I think it just comes down to the question: “How many dance groups are we going to take, and which ones are worth taking?”

Studio 19 Dance Complex: Could go either way. I only vaguely remember this group, and I can’t recall anything particularly special about them other than some rainbow-colored costumes.  Not sure that bodes well for them – however, they may be awesome and we just didn’t get to see it.

Tellavision: A long shot. They seemed to suffer from a lack of dance content, and I just found the whole television screen thing to be cheesy and detracted from the performance.  I think their choreography alone is going to make the pale in comparison to some of the stronger dance acts this season.

Mitsi Dancing School: Could go either way. I don’t know that their act is going to be dynamic and entertaining enough to really be effective in the live shows – but they’re also the only folk dancing group we have this season, and I think they might get put through for the pure sake of variety.

SensEtion: A long shot.  The judges seemed pretty lukewarm about them in their initial audition, and pointed to a lack of dance content as part of the problem.  I could see them being a standby act, and only making it through to the live shows if they drastically improve from their audition performance.

Acrobats:

Tristan Jih: A long shot.  This season the acrobatic category is particularly competitive – and with acrobatic duos, acrobatic teams, acrobats on poles, acrobats jumping rope, and acrobats on skates…is a solo aerialist really all that exciting? I’m afraid he might get lost in the shuffle of much more unique, flashy acts.

Duo Resonance: Looking likely. I’d say they probably have the highest skill level of any of the acrobatic acts this season, as acrobalance is one of the hardest disciplines to master.  The only probably I forsee is that they don’t seem to have huge personalities – I think it may be the cool, collected Russian demeanor at work.  Hopefully they can inject a bit more personality into their performances, so they don’t come across flat & mechanical.

Kyle & Darby: Could go either way.  This is another act that I think could be lumped in with the acrobats or the kid acts – and they may play a big part in whether they make it through or not.  If it’s just these two doing a series of cheerleading stunts, I’m not sure it’s exciting enough to make it to the live shows.  But if they can find a way to expand her repertoire, I think she could be quite good.

Kristef Brothers: Could go either way.  With Duo Resonance at such a high skill level, I would normally count these two out – but the fact that they’ve got such big personalities and stage presence seems to bode well for them.

Chicago Boyz: A sure thing.  They’re unique, they’re talented, they’re adorable, and they’ve got a great energy.  Need I say more?

Innovative Force:  Looking likely.  Not sure whether it would make more sense to lump them in with the dancers or the acrobats, since they do both – but I think the fact that they do both will probably make them more of an asset to the live shows.

Aerial Ice: A sure thing. If there was one act this season that I think probably the most unique, it would be this one – there has never been an ice act before, so they’re breaking ground there; on top of that, they can do everything the aerial acts do.  I would be really surprised if they didn’t make it Vegas…hell, I’d even go so far as to say they could be one of the “instant decision” acts that gets put through without even having to perform in Vegas.

Aerosphere: Could go either way.  Yeah, it’s kind of cool that she does aerial tricks while suspended from a floating balloon…but is she really doing anything terribly different than any of the other aerialists? And how much more is she able to change up her act to keep it fresh?

Tavi & Antonio:  Looking likely.  A male aerial duo in and of itself is kind of a rarity – plus they’re nice to look at, and they’re good at what they do.

Timber Brown: Looking likely.  He’s like a more masculine, more daring Steven Retchless – he does pole tricks, but with an element of danger added that makes things really interesting.  I definitely want to see more.

Who are your favorites from the dance & acrobat categories? And who do you think will make it to Vegas?