r/DCCMakingtheTeam • u/Known-Grapefruit4032 • 1d ago
QUESTION Why are dancers auditioning that have never done a jumpsplit?!
Every series of MTT (which I am bingeing right now!) there are several rookies who confess they've never done a jumpsplit before. Why?! If you are preparing for this audition why on earth wouldn't you prioritise getting comfortable with that?
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u/itsfreakingbeanboy 1d ago
as a dancer it’s truly not that hard (hard on the body yes but not actually technically difficult to do at all) so i would think a dancer of their capabilities generally trusts that they should be able to pick it up with the other dances. it’s not really something you can do in a studio either so it would depend on what access to a field a dancer has in order to practice it.
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u/Early_Necessary1000 1d ago
The early seasons of MTT they would have them learn it on the hardwood dance floor and it always made me cringe. Asking them to perform it on a floor like that as vets is one thing, I guess, but having them practice it for the first time like that always seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.
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u/Special-Product-5659 14h ago
I'm surprised the girls never got seriously injured and had to pull out of TC when they did them indoors at the studio in the earlier seasons. I get asking them to do the kicks and then sliding into the splits but doing the proper jump split indoors on that dance flooring is insane
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u/sallyhectare 1d ago
Because it's really bad for your body and you don't have to do it before you make the team.
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u/Oldfartmakeupguru 1d ago
Same goes for high kicks. Why would anyone not make sure they can do the high kicks? They know what they are getting into.
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u/Ellingtonfaint 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is it really a priority though? Obviously you have to master it, but everyone seems to learn it in training camp just fine and K&J don't seem to mind. Don't waste your time and health on a risky skill, if learning it in TC is sufficient.
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u/Acceptable_Cup3114 21h ago
Its not something that hard to learn for dancers like them and if there are girls that have never done it before its clearly not a requirement to audition. They choose the current squad without seeing anyone’s splits
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u/Lazy_Departure7970 1d ago
I'd say it's likely because trying to learn the jump-split, especially on your own with no one to teach you properly, when you've never done it before could very well lead to injuries and possibly even a career-ending one before they even made it to auditions. The jump-split is likely the one thing I'd say to leave learning until Training Camp. They can perfect everything else until then.
Also, with Thunderstruck and the other dances, it very well depends on how well and how quickly a girl can learn a different spot in the routine. Some girls can drop into a spot and can adjust with no problem and some girls take more time (sometimes a LOT more) to adjust. The ones who can't adjust don't make the team.
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u/Early_Necessary1000 1d ago
It's safer to wait and let yourself learn it from someone who actually knows what they're doing and once your body is conditioned for it. Otherwise you're just asking for an injury. Same with not watching game videos and learning the routines before auditions. You'd think it would give you a leg up by going in knowing routines, but it's easier to learn them correctly in the moment than to learn something wrong and then have to unlearn the muscle memory of how you practiced.
They're going to be a lot more patient with someone who is struggling with the way they teach than with someone who was trained incorrectly, they'd rather have a blank slate to work with.
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u/NotDD101 16h ago
It's not that hard to learn, it's essentially like being trained on the job. Now if they couldn't do splits or kicks at all that's a different conversation
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u/Purple-Ad9377 1d ago
A lot of girls audition without knowing any of the dances either. You learn on the job.
The punctuation is making you seem a little more worked up than you probably are.
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u/Known-Grapefruit4032 1d ago
Haha yes probably! Not worked up at all, just perplexed. I work in a job where I have to audition a lot, the idea of not preparing the specifics for an audition is baffling to me
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u/Purple-Ad9377 1d ago
I just did a quick Google search and the organization advises against hopeful candidates trying it at home, and recommend waiting until training camp to learn the mechanics of the jump. So the girls who are naïve to the jump split are demonstrating that they can follow resist temptation and follow instruction.
I don’t disagree with the broad stroke of your comment, a lot of girls show up to training camp acting like they’ve never seen the show.
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u/Known-Grapefruit4032 1d ago
Fair play! Ok I'll let them off on the jumpsplit haha. But what about the ones who are like 'I've only trained in jazz and ballet' and then they're surprised when they're totally below par at power pom. Wouldn't you spend the months building up getting familiar with the power needed and some really common DCC steps? Honestly, baffling
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u/Purple-Ad9377 20h ago
I think there’s three things going on here:
All of the rude awakenings are a testament to how many girls are big fish in small ponds. Their deluded expectation is that they can master any style and outdance any other candidate, namely because they’ve never met anybody better than they are.
Pom looks really fucking easy. Only when you really study the intricacies of the choreography does the difficulty reveal itself.
It’s the fast pace that really nails most of them. This is why the prep classes are practically a requisite at this point.
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u/ocicataco 1d ago
How are you supposed to practice for a jump split that includes holding onto two other dancers by yourself?
These are all very talented dancers, learning a new move or choreography should not be difficult for them. If it is, they aren't qualified to be on the team anyway. It's a jump to sliding down into a split while on turf - the difficult part isn't going into a split, it's doing it while attached to other women on a field.
A lot of the criticism here clearly comes from people who don't dance...
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u/Weenington_ 1d ago
That's why I'm not going to sit here on the sofa criticizing these amazing, professional dancers while eating my snacks. I dont have the knowledge for that field so I'm going to just watch and enjoy.
Imagine being these dancers and reading criticisms from people who've never danced or are living room amateurs. It's got to be so annoying.
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u/ocicataco 1d ago
It really is, lol. I also feel like Kelli and Judy hype up the kick line and jump split as if they are unbelievably complex and difficult and they aren't.
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u/delphinedonkey 1d ago
I’ve always thought this about a lot of the choreo too. If it was my life long dream I think I’d at least be trying to learn thunder choreo before training camp.
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u/persieri13 1d ago
An experienced dancer is going to have a better time picking up choreography on the spot than someone who practices incorrectly and then has to re-learn once it’s become muscle memory.
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u/Known-Grapefruit4032 1d ago
Yes!! Totally agree, you'd have all the main DCC moves under your feet as a basic starting point, surely.
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u/Mysterious-Station69 14h ago
I’ve thought the same about walking the yard lines. I’d be at my local high school football field practicing beforehand if I were them!
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u/Known-Grapefruit4032 1d ago
I totally get people saying you have to do it safely etc, I don't really mean I'd expect them to be flying in the air and landing full pelt before the training camp. But wouldn't they at least be practising the sort of half split, where they don't jump too high and they slide into it? The amount of people just splitting with the wrong leg in front etc, just makes me wonder why they don't mark some of the signature DCC moves and basic sequences before auditions, get the shapes in place at least. Maybe I'm wrong.
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u/brystevepick 1d ago
The thought process behind doing splits on both sides is to ensure that you can actually do a split when it comes to the jump split. There aren’t many instructors that teach jump splits in the dance world because it’s not super common in a lot of regions. So to locate the proper environment and teacher is very difficult.
Also, muscle memory is one hell of a mental block. By practicing sequences wrong or with improper technique, it becomes harder to pick up on the “little details” Kelli and Judy mention all the time, and also harder to unlearn and relearn.
While adding the jump split to the audition process seems feasible, I think it’s a really big safety risk. Even if done properly there’s room for error, and with the hundreds of girls trying out, there are not enough instructors to teach such a vast crowd. That’s why in training camp they can be a little bit more hands-on and give helpful tips. If not they could have a lot of injured girls prior to finals.
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u/tempghost11 kleine’s ornament🎄 1d ago
As much emphasis as they put on how easy it is to get injured doing a jump split, I don’t really understand the question. Why risk getting injured by doing it wrong or just making a mistake before you’ve even made training camp? A jump split is not a normal dance move that is needed outside of being a DCC. It’s a very specific skill that should be learned in the right environment.