This morning I had the pleasure of chatting with Noelle Marsh, the latest dancer to be eliminated from
So You Think You Can Dance.
The bubbly, preternaturally positive Noelle was everything in her interview that we saw and enjoyed about her on the show. She was gracious, grateful, and giddy to share her love of dance. Noelle chatted about her BFF Mollee, dancing with Russell and Ryan, and her excitement for the season 6
So You Think You Can Dance tour.
On her friendship with Mollee Gray:"When Mollee and I first met in Vegas we were roomies. We're both so
energetic and bubbly and it was basically a match made in heaven. After Las Vegas
there were two months until the Green Mile was taped, but I flew out
from North Carolina to LA and basically lived with her. In
that time we got much closer. Throughout the show we remained best friends
and it was awesome to have this experience with her."
On dancing with her first partner Russell:"I was actually really excited I got someone who was the complete
opposite of me. I think it helped out in things like African Jazz and
Hip Hop and he'd even done ballroom before. We were complete opposites
but together we were the perfect match."
On dancing with her new partner, the married Ryan Di Lello:"It definitely did bring out a different side of me. We definitely clicked. [Since he is married] I was so nervous to do the hip hop routine. IT was all smokey and
hot. I was like oh man "what is Ashleigh going to think of this?" But we're
all so close and she is so supportive of Ryan and all of us, so it wasn't too awkward."
On her season starting injury:"That was definitely the lowest point of my journey. For that split second I
was almost taken out of the competition. It was like everything I'd
worked for was almost taken for me. But it gave me a lot more to work
for because I had to prove why I was in the top 20."
On the judge's critique that her personality didn't come through enough:"I think I always try to do the best I could. I was never
nervous, just excited to dance for everyone. I think my personality not coming through, maybe just was being stuck with such a star for a partner. Russell is such an amazing dancer and personality, so that may have
been a step back for me, but I was still so blessed to dance with him."
On her favorite routine of the season, the Sean Cheesman African Jazz piece: "I don't think they'd ever had the genre on the show, so Russell and I had no idea
what to expect. We felt we had to set the standard for the show. I
think it was probably my favorite piece of the season and I'm so glad
that we got to introduce the genre and Sean Chessman to America."
Who did you learn the most from?"I definitely learned a lot from everyone. I can't really pinpoint one person.
Even the people we didn't work with we all share such a bond and a
relationship that everyone helps something grow. So each person brought
out a piece of me that I never knew I had."
Were you surprised to be in the bottom two last night?"I was just so glad to make it that far. It's all about America's
Favorite Dancer, and if I'm not, that's fine. I'm just blessed to be part of the top 10 and to go on tour and spend 3 more months with this new family of friends. So I was
totally okay with it."
Her final thoughts on So You Think You Can Dance:"The experience was the most rewarding of my life. To think I've
inspired or impacted one persons life. All I want to do is share my
love of this art, so it was just completely amazing. I couldn't ask for
more."