Alexander Fost
Style: Contemporary
Age: 21
Hometown: Pasadena, Calif.
Alexander is scared of ballroom dancing. "Ballroom is going to be extremely hard for me. I feel like it's very different from ballet. I'm used to partnering but not in that way. That is going toe a huge challenge for me." Alexander has danced with the Media City Ballet, San Pedro Ballet and the Festival Ballet Theatre companies.
Ashley Rich
Style: Contemporary
Age: 22
Hometown: Emeryville, Calif.
Ashley wasn't planning on trying out at all for the show! "I decided to come to the audition because my best friend was auditioning and I thought, 'I have nothing to lose, I don't have to work, I'll go.' It turned out good so I'm really excited!"
Caitlynn Lawson
Style: Contemporary
Age: 18
Hometown: Moses Lake, Wash.
She's not just a pretty face and talented dancer. "I'm kind of a tomboy. I do a lot of swimming, fishing and four-wheeling. It's kind of unexpected for me because I seem like a girlie-girl because I like to dress pretty."
Christopher Koehl
Style: Hip-hop
Age: 21
Hometown: Garland, Texas
Chris is an industry novice. "This is my first time in L.A., in California. I'm not plugged in to the industry, and it's a small industry where everyone knows everybody. I don't know anybody! That's one thing I'm looking forward to, starting to be plugged into the world of dance."
Clarice Ordaz
Style: Jazz
Age: 19
Hometown: Whittier, Calif.
When it comes to wardrobe, Clarice is ready for anything! "They can do whatever they want to me. I trust them."
Iveta Lukosiute
Style: Ballroom
Age: 30
Hometown: New York City
Iveta has been a competitive ballroom dancer since the age of six. A native of Eastern Europe, Iveta moved to the U.S. in 1997 when she was a teenager.
Jess LeProtto
Style: Musical theater
Age: 18
Hometown: Little Falls, N.J.
Post-SYTYCD, Jess is looking forward to getting his college degree and working in New York's Theater District. He's a senior in high school and has been dancing since he was three.
Jordan Casanova
Style: Jazz
Age: 18
Hometown: Chino Hills, Calif.
Jordan's biggest hope is to become a role model for young girls. "I started dancing when I was 8, which is kind of old to get started in dance. I hope they will look up to me and say, I can do that!"
Marko Germar
Style: Jazz
Age: 22
Hometown: Canoga Park, Calif.
When it comes to online gossip, don't expect Marko to be reading anything about the show. "I'll read it when it's not going to affect me in the moment of the show." Originally from Guam, Marko moved to L.A. in 2008.
Melanie Moore
Style: Contemporary
Age: 19
Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Although she was initially introduced as an art student who danced as a hobby, it's quite the opposite! "I love art, but if I could be dancing and I could be a professional dancer, that's what I definitely would want to be doing. Art is sort of what I have to really fall back on because I really want to be a professional dancer."
Miranda Maleski
Style: Contemporary
Age: 19
Hometown: North Hollywood, Calif.
If you were one of the 60,000 people watching Kanye West at Coachella this year, you saw Miranda! She was the solo ballerina in his performance and has nothing but amazing things to say about the rapper. "It was beyond amazing. It was everything I wished it to be an more. Kanye was like, 'We are a team,' and also gave us credit for that, which was amazing."
Missy Morelli
Style: Jazz
Age: 19
Hometown: Studio City, Calif.
Missy says, "I'm a sexy jazz dancer, but I don't want people to look at me as that because I have been trained professionally my whole life. I've been dancing sexy since I was little. People used to make fun of me for it and I didn't even know what I was doing."
Mitchell Kelly
Style: Contemporary
Age: 20
Hometown: Atlanta
Mitchell says, "After the show I want to get a car. I also want to do a benefit concert for children so they can show off their talent and also give away scholarships so they have the experience to train under various directors...music, drama singing, acting, then have a studio in Atlanta."
Nick Young
Style: Tap
Age: 19
Hometown: Franklin, Wisc.
Besides dance, Nick is a huge sports fan. He says, "I follow all my teams in Wisconsin. As a dancer I'm more of a performer than a competitor, but in the sports world, I'm so competitive."
Ricky Jaime
Style: Contemporary
Age: 18
Hometown: Tampa
Nigel didn't like Ricky's fingers! "When I was in Salt Lake City, he told me to fix the way I dance with my fingers...in Vegas that's all I kept thinking about. Even in hip-hop I was making sure my fingers weren't too long looking. I tried to shorten them."
Robert Taylor Jr.
Style: Hip-hop
Age: 30
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
He's known as the "Woo-hoo! Man," because he began imitating Michael Jackson's moves at 10. By 15, he was mimicking all different kinds of dance, from hip-hop to ballet, and got serious about hip-hop when he was 23.
Ryan Ramirez
Style: Contemporary
Age: 19
Hometown: Morgan Hill, Calif.
Ryan lives by Mikhail Baryshnikov's words "I don't try to dance better than anyone else, I only try to dance better than myself."
Sasha Mallory
Style: Contemporary
Age: 23
Hometown: Bakersfield, Calif.
Sasha has some seriously fierce hair. What's her secret? She cuts it herself! "I cut it before the show. My brother actually does the edge up a little bit, but I don't take myself too seriously so I just shave the side of my head, and it works!"
Tadd Gadduang
Style: Street
Age: 25
Hometown: West Valley, Utah
You're not Tadd's fan...you're his friend. "I'm never going to look at people who follow me or look at me as fans. I'm going to look at them as friends. We're all people. If you're going to connect with me through dance, then cool, you're my friend. I don't want to feel like I'm putting myself above others."
Wadi Jones
Style: Breaking
Age: 24
Hometown: Ossining, N.Y.
The first celebrity to ever inspire Wadi was Jackie Chan. "He was the first one that I saw doing all the crazy stunts, like flipping off trees, and that's what got me into break-dancing."