Local dancer hits 'So You Think You Can Dance'

The show is called So You Think You Can Dance, but Virgil Gadson, who on Monday made its top 10, doesn't need proof.

Gadson, 28, from Philadelphia, has already been on Broadway, in the 2013 musical After Midnight. He was nominated for an Astaire Award for outstanding male dancer in a Broadway show. He was in commercials for the NFL.

Nor is this his first stint on reality TV. Gadson, who grew up in Mount Airy, attended Overbrook High School, and graduated from Martin Luther King High School, made it to "the green mile," the final audition phase, on Season 8 of SYTYCD. And he and his Philly crew, Phresh Select, danced on the second season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008, finishing seventh.

With all that experience, why did he still want to try again for SYTYCD?

"I've gotten the chance to experience the theater aspect of dance and performance. I'd like to know what it's like to be part of being a big production - television, film," said Gadson, a hip-hop dancer who sometimes goes by "Lil O." "It's a whole other experience."

Being on the show - especially if he should be named America's Favorite Dancer, the ultimate SYTYCD title - would help him get more work as a dancer and move him closer to his dreams.

"After the show," he said, "I hope to get started on the process of opening a theater in Philadelphia as the Gadson Theater."

He also wants to create dance, specializing in what he calls "hip-hop theater," along with other styles.

His second try at SYTYCD is also a chance for a do-over, something dancers performing live don't always get.

"I think the first time, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. It was a lot of pressure, and I was nervous. Now, I'm back again with more knowledge of what I really need to do to stand out."

This year's format was also appealing. SYTYCD changed it up this season, separating the stage and street dancers into teams, led by coaches Travis Wall (stage) and tWitch (street). This gave the sometimes-less-experienced street dancers a leg up at auditions, although now they all compete in various styles. Each week, the votes are tallied to see which team is leading. "I knew that I had to represent street," he said, "because I'm a street dancer at heart."

Gadson is charming on the show, adept in many styles, and usually appears relaxed and in good humor. Two weeks ago, he and fellow contestant Hailee Payne performed a delightful hip-hop dance, memorably keeping up their robot personas during the judge's critique.

That dance was especially fun, Gadson said, because he got to work with some of his favorite choreographers, Phoenix and Pharside.

"They're newer choreographers on the show, and I really like their energy," Gadson said. "It's like working with family almost. I worked with Pharside on America's Best Dance Crew," although they were on competing crews.

As for his own family, most are still in Mount Airy and South Philadelphia. Many of them danced, if not professionally.

"I was dancing since I was a baby, since I was 3 years old," he said, "doing hip-hop before I even knew what hip-hop was, imitating Michael Jackson and MC Hammer."

By age 12 or 13, Gadson was signed up for lessons at Philadelphia's Freedom Theatre. He continued studying many dance forms in college at the University of the Arts.

On the show, he's dancing about six hours a day, learning an opening number, a duet, and a piece for the street team.

"It's not easy at all," he said. "The hardest part is really just staying focused and really understanding what I need to do in order to stay on, in order to make people happy.

"Everything is a challenge," he said. But "I like challenges."

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So You Think You Can Dance at 8 p.m. on Fox

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