Robert Roldan may have stolen our hearts on Season 7 of “So You Think You Can Dance”—but it seems his heart was stolen long before that by none other than Emmy Award–winning choreographer Mandy Moore.
As his first jazz teacher at Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts in Thousand Oaks, California, Moore taught him everything he knows about dancing. Now, as an all-star on this season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” Roldan’s applying those invaluable lessons with partner Taylor Sieve.
“What Mandy has always taught me is that you need to feel the emotion and intention of the pieces you perform, as a human, before you can apply it to your dancing. The week that Taylor and I performed Mandy’s piece, I used the entire two hours of private rehearsal time to talk about what the piece was about and how we could connect to it. I believe that doing this was ultimately more valuable than any time we could have spent cleaning details and making the piece perfect. Mandy taught me this at a young age, and I try to apply it to Taylor as much as I possibly can when I teach her. People won’t connect to how high your leg is or what crazy tricks you can do. They want to feel something. And when you feel it, they feel it.”
Watch Roldan on “So You Think You Can Dance” tonight on FOX.
