See the Bad Boys of Ballet perform Tuesday at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Credit: Virginia Sherwood
The world of “America’s Got Talent” is a competitive one. Contestants can bring almost any skill to the stage, from magic to opera singing, and a team of celebrity judges chooses who gets to progress to the next round. Of course, like any reality show, fortunes can change in a moment. Such was the case for the Bad Boys of Ballet, an (almost) all-male troupe of classically trained ballet dancers led by choreographer Adrienne Canterna. The group was eliminated last week, only to earn a last minute reprieve from former Spice Girl Mel B. We talked to Canterna about the exhilaration of getting to compete another day.
How did it feel to go from going home to getting that last minute save?
Honestly? It was pretty insane. It was such an emotional roller coaster, only because we were so high the night before after our performance. Our spirits were so high, and we were pretty proud of what we did, and we were confident going into the results, and then we were super bummed when we got cut, and then all of a sudden we were saved and ecstatic. So it was kind of up down, up down, up down.
What do you think Mel B saw in you guys that made her bring you back?
I think Mel Be really appreciates dance. It’s part of her background. I’m pretty sure she won Dancing with the Stars (edit: She came close – she was the runner-up). I know she’s been a fan of ours from our first audition. She’s been pulling for us from the beginning and so I think she just wants to push us harder and that’s why she gave us another chance. I think she wants to show everyone that we’re versatile and we can do so much more. You only need one person to believe in you, and the fact that it’s Mel B, that’s pretty awesome.
Has the show experience been positive?
I’m used to pushing my body, but this is on a whole other level only because of the amount of people watching, basically. It’s just such a huge number of people watching. There comes that responsibility and that pressure and the nerves and the time restrictions, where you only get so much time to rehearse and then you have to have this brand new piece that has to be perfectly blocked for every camera. It’s just very very challenging, but I feel like, no matter what happens, I will be a better choreographer and dancer because of it.
What will we see on Tuesday?
We’re planning to give you guys a bit of a rock concert. I mean, I can’t say what we’re doing, but yeah, we hope that it feels like a 90 second rock concert with a crazy crazy crazy “Bad Boys” feel.
Which other acts have you enjoyed seeing?
We absolutely adore Emil and Dariel, the rock cellists. We want to collaborate with them. We want to dance to their music. They are fantastic and I’m pretty sure that will happen in the future.
So the show is also kind of a networking experience?
Absolutely. Isn’t that what art is about? Collaborating, experimenting, creating. That’s what it should be about.
