He will probably have to adjust his contract or not sign for the next season. I suspect that his ballet contract is August/September for a year (most seasons start in late summer/early fall)

Was it just me or were the judges particularly gender obsessed today? and what was with Mia? she was really nasty to Brandon. and what was that little pissing match between Mia and Mary?

Kuponohi'ipou! I don't actually know. I'm just cribbing from wikipedia. But yay! Hawai'i represent! Agree. Totally gorgeous. And I loved his hair! But I really respect that he cut it off for the show, which is probably why we didn't see him in the throng.

A beautiful little listmaking dancing local boy! It's like he's my own little Mary Sue. Hope he doesn't turn out to be an ass or something during the show.

Right with you re: Mia, kat. She needs to shut her freaking mouth. I don't know why she feels like she needs to punish him for having a good reputation, but please. Ms. Allen is speaking now!

So sad they broke up the Broadway brothers, and for what I feel was a production decision rather than a talent one (we don't have room for two of that style). However, I agree that I am happy we have a Kasprzak on my screen.

So awful about Alex! I just can't bear it. I know how he feels about the different styles. It's totally why I love this show, and I agree with Debbie Allen that this show has probably done more for dance than any other. I just sigh with sadness that we can't have Alex. Contracts be damned!

I'm sure that I will spell Kapono's name wrong for the whole entire season.

Well, could be worse, until I just saw it printed I thought Asuka was Oscar.

You are not alone in that one, Megan.

I thought Asuka was Oscar.

That's what it sounds like. I only knew it was Asuka because I've been kind of obssessed with her since last season when she made it through the early audition choreography round despite the fact that she was a dehydrated, flu suffering mess. Glad she made the show this season.

I am heartbroken over Alex, though. It was so, so sad to see him cry. I hope he gets to come back in the fall after he gets out of his contract with the evil ballet master Alex Villela. It's the Miami Ballet, you know, not the Kirov. You can make an exception.

Oh, yeah! I meant to talk about Asuka, but I forgot because I was googling her. I couldn't find any information on her ethnic heritage, so I'm going to assume she's Japanese until corrected. Both Asuka and Kondoh are Japanese names, although my family Kondo spell it without the h.

Anyway. I like her a lot. I love that she's dedicated to her genre regardless of her background. I think she's talented and I look forward to learning more about her and seeing her dance.

Yeah, I understand where they are in terms of his contract, but it seems like it would be good press for the Ballet for us to be watching Alex and marveling over what great ballet is coming out of Miami. I mean, we were all already going around saying, "the Miami ballet dancer" when I sure haven't been thinking of it as a particular hotbed for that art form.

This is what I'm saying. They had a golden opportunity for some great free publicity. And now they will just be known as "the evil dance company that made that poor boy cry." Not a good look. And yeah, Alex probably should have checked the terms of his contract before trying out for SYTYCD, but as he didn't, I'm thinking Mr. Villela picked the worst possible way to handle the situation.

It's the Miami Ballet, you know, not the Kirov. You can make an exception.

Well, as a sort of theatre person, I can tell you that it's a real pain in the ass to replace someone in the middle of the season, especially when they're in a principal role (not that I know that about Alex, but I've seen what they go through in my theatre when someone gets ill or craps out)

Alex probably should have checked the terms of his contract before trying out for SYTYCD, but as he didn't, I'm thinking Mr. Villela picked the worst possible way to handle the situation.

I don't think so. Alex made a commitment to the Miami Ballet, and tried out for the show knowing that he would not be able to fulfill that commitment if he got on the show. Mr. Villela is not out of line in expecting Alex to live up to his obligations, especially if Alex didn't discuss the possibility with the ballet before trying out (which it doesn't seem like he did).

Oh, I'm sure you are right, Vortex. Apparently Alex is a principal soloist with MCB, so just this close to becoming a principal dancer. If he were already a principal dancer, he probably would've never even tried out for this show, because that is big hooha in a ballet company. The thing is I just don't think your average viewer knows enough about how theaters/dance companies work to really cut MCB or Mr. Villela any slack. All they know is that because of him and MCB they don't get their shiny Alex toy. Just imagine how magnanimous he would've come off if he'd let him go on the show. MCB could have come on as guest company on a results show night (just as the LA City Ballet did last year) and gotten more free publicity and Alex could've come back next season as "SYTYCD" champ maybe, or at the very least "as seen on SYTYCD" which could have been a mighty spiffy marketing hook.

And of course, this is mainly just me complaining because I didn't get my shiny Alex toy. I'm sure it would've been a bitch for the company to lose him for the season. Eh, something similar happened a couple of seasons ago with one of the dancers (Dallas, I think?) but I hadn't fallen in love with him so it was no skin off my nose.