After seeing their performance during the qualifying rounds of this season’s “World of Dance,” it was hard to imagine teens Josh and Taylor could come up with anything to top it. After all, sequels are rarely as good as the originals.
But that definitely didn’t hold true when the duo took the stage for their latest routine; 17-year-old Josh Beauchamp and 14-year-old Taylor Hatala blew the audience and judges away with their flawless modern, hip-hop fusion dance set to Alicia Keys’s 2001 breakthrough hit, “Fallin.’”
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Their performance had an almost interpretive feel to it as they acted out the love-hate dynamics in the song, one second holding each other in a warm and loving embrace…
Then transitioning almost instantaneously to movements suggesting indifference, if not outright hatred (on his part) and pure desperation (on hers).
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And they were gutsy enough to include moves like this:
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Jennifer Lopez loved every second of their performance, jumping to her feet at the end.
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The judges gave the Edmonton, Alberta, teens a whopping score of 92.3, beating out rivals “Second to None” and allowing them to move on to “The Cut” round in the junior division.
“That was like when dance becomes a movie. You are talking. There was dialogue when you guys were head-to-head like that,” Jennifer Lopez enthused, before asking what, exactly, they were “talking” about.
I love him in this routine, he doesn’t love me back, so I was saying things like, “I love you, don’t leave,” I was trying to be as authentic as possible, and he was telling me no.
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Derek Hough added his own praise, saying he appreciated the intricacy and pure intelligence in the choreography. “Beautiful, beautiful routine,” he added. “I loved it.”
And what did Ne-Yo love about it? Everything. But especially that the choreography told a story, one that was “crystal clear” throughout the spine-tingling performance. The emotion was so raw and authentic that he felt he was there witnessing the drama unfold before his very eyes.
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“I loved it, great job guys.”
Sorry, we have to disagree there. It wasn’t just great, it was completely amazing! Check it out below, and share to spread good luck to this talented duo in the next round.