Step It Up & Dance: Baring It All (Episode 2)

The dancers appear at King King in their most provocative outfits, having been instructed in a note from Elizabeth that they should dress as such for a tour of the underworld. Or something. So they're going to hell? More like France, as they take in a performance of L'effleur des Sens, the invention of director, choreographer, and guest judge Cati Jean.

The performance, comprised of three acts, gets the contestants all hot and bothered. Seriously, James did this weird things with his hands while he was watching -- maybe he's not as gay as I thought?

The Audition

After the performance, they meet Cati and cast member Carolina Cerisola (previously of "Forty Deuce"). The dancers partner up to learn choreographed moves from the third act they saw, the apache, a traditional dance which often shows a passionate, often violent interaction between a man and a woman. As there are more men than women, two women (it ends up being Janelle and Michelle) will dance twice, though will only be judged on their first appearances. Dancers will be divided into a winning team, from which one dancer will be picked as the single winner, and the losing team, where one dancer will be sent home.

The couples perform, with varying degrees of success. Judge Cati is looking for more than just tricks, she wants beautiful lines, emotional performance, and some character. Miguel talks about how he never partners so he hopes his partner audition with Michelle is okay. James believes in the combination of partner Janelle's sexiness and his own "manly physique". Jessica? Looks like she's trying to wrestle Cody to the ground.

The first group consists of Oscar, Cody, Nick, Michelle, and Tovah. The second group is Michael, Miguel, James, Jessica, and Janelle. So who's the winning group? That's for tomorrow -- argh! That night, they've got rehearsal with Cati and Carolina.

Jessica want to quit as she feels like the other dancers are disappointed in her. Self-centered much? Jerry actually gives her a pep talk to keep going. I think if someone says they don't want to be there, then they should just get going. I guess Jerry felt differently.

The Challenge

Group 1 comes in for the challenge: 90 minutes to choreograph their own apache, which they will perform at the callback. Cati instructs them to start with developing their characters, and choreographing based on what they come up with. Cody steps in quickly with an idea of an evil pimp (is there really any other kind?) who fights with an honorable john over an abused, beautiful prostitute. Naturally, Cody is the john while Oscar is the pimp. Nick, I think, is another john who doesn't do much and kinda bitches to the camera about how Cody's hogging the attention. Tovah is the prostitute, while Michelle plays a prostitute as well. Though Michelle says things didn't come together dance-wise until their last 20 minutes, it looked pretty cohesive to me. Jerry's note is simple: just remember who their characters are.

Group 2's take on the challenge is to base the characters on themselves. So Jessica wants love (read: needy) and is willing to pay for it, while Michael is confused (read: bisexual) and Miguel butches it up for pretty much the first time ever. Jessica's naive character draws some criticism from Miguel, and Jessica interviews that he should focus on his own character instead of hating on hers. Rowr! James says he is an "amazing choreographer" with a straight face (zing!), taking on the role of teacher. But their dances never come together, and before they know it, their time is up.

Afterwards, Jessica wants to rehearse while Miguel and James want to drank. Don't know if they ever got around to it, as all of a sudden it's morning. Miguel is confident, still, that he's on the winning team with his sistah James.

Callback Performance

Jerry gathers the groups to tell them which is the winning team -- like I thought, it's group 1. Of course, Jessica is worried about her performance. And what her team thinks about her. Because it's all about her -- sigh. An hour in hair and makeup, where Tovah talks about how she hates her body because of her amazing, large boobs, and finally it's show time. I take a minute to hate on Tovah, then have another Diet Coke.

Elizabeth introduces the judges, Vincent, Nancy, Cati, and Carolina, before recapping the challenge. As the winning team, group 1 goes before. Tovah and Michelle are on a platform upstage left while the boys arm wrestle downstage right. It's not long before Oscar and Cody mix it up while Nick is pretty much left to, dunno, clean up? It's a gorgeous performance, and the judges love it pretty much unanimously. A few notes from Nancy, one for Michelle about not being present for like, a second, and another for Nick about not stepping up. Everybody told Tovah not to be ashamed of her body and to open up when partnering with Oscar. Carolina brings up that she was impressed by their focus throughout, not just in peformance but also during the rehearsal the night before. The judges convo, and Oscar is the winner.

Group 2 called their performance "A Love Affair", where Jessica wants to buy into what is supposed to be some kind of orgy. Michael and Miguel go head to head (or ass to ass, whatever) before Jessica and Michael pair up. Janelle and James do some kind of pas de deux before they all come together in a wheel (a sexy wheel?) and end the dance. The judges don't love it, except for Jessica of all people, who looked great on stage. Nancy is gratified that Miguel butched it up for her, though doesn't want to hear Miguel talk back after she pays him something of a compliment. Michael had no personality and James was sort of nowhere. If Janelle didn't have immunity, she would have been sent home. Which we all totally knew. Janelle, who looks like Jessica Simpson when all made up and crying, and Jessica are safe. The boys are brought forward for their final notes, but it's James whose is sent off for his last dance.