It has been a life changing experience for the top finishers from season 11 of So You Think You Can Dance who are now touring across North America.
Winner Ricky Ubeda and runner-up Valerie Rockey will join the rest of the top ten finalists on the So You Think You Can Dance Season 11 tour coming to the South Okanagan Events Centre on Feb. 10.
“Never would I ever have imagined I’d be here right now,” Rockey said.
It’s been a wild year for both of the young dancers, and an exciting graduating year for 18-year-old Ubeda.
“I’ve never done anything like this. I just got out of high school last year. I was in high school when I auditioned, so it was all just like a big whirlwind for me,” Ubeda said.
He’s been watching the show since season one and it’s the main reason he started dancing.
“It’s kind of weird how everything works out and comes full circle. Since I was eight years old, since the first season I’ve been dreaming about getting on it, so it’s definitely been a dream come true,” Ubeda said.
Rockey started dancing when she was three, though her routines were a touch less difficult back then.
“When I say I started it was like running around the room crazy, but yeah I started pretty young,” Rockey said.
She was also a fan of the show growing up.
“I loved watching the show, but I really didn’t think of the reality of it. I never thought I would actually end up on it, even though I thought it would be really cool to. I’m really excited that I ended up on the show, I just never thought it was going to happen,” Rockey said.
Rockey, 20, made it further on So You Think You Can Dance than any tap dancer that came before her.
“Growing up it was always what I enjoyed the most in class, I looked forward to the tap half of the class. I think it’s a really cool style and it’s really fun to make my own music. It’s a unique style and something I enjoy,” Rockey said.
Ubeda grew up in Miami, and Rockey is originally from Indianapolis, so the tour’s first trip to the east side of Canada was the first time crossing the northern border for both dancers.
“I loved Canada the last time we went, I even got a Canada jersey,” Ubeda said. “It’s really cool to think because it’s an American show that there’s people in Canada watching as well. You kind of don’t think about those things, you’re like ‘Oh, all of America is watching us’, but you have people in Canada watching as well.”
Ubeda will be performing on Broadway next month in a show called On the Town, one of the prizes from this past season of So You Think You Can Dance. Though he remembers it wasn’t that long ago he was auditioning for reality TV.
“It was pretty different. I had some expectations going into it and all my expectations were shattered. Everything was a lot harder and everything was a lot more fun, so on both ends of the spectrum it was more intense,” Ubeda said.
He was aware that reality TV can have a tendency to sensationalize people or plot lines, but his fears were soon quelled.
“One of the things I was the most scared of was people getting the wrong perception. Reality TV can be a little deceiving sometimes, so I didn’t want things to be weird and they weren’t, so I was grateful for that,” Ubeda said.
When the tour ends Ubeda heads for Broadway and Rockey is moving to Los Angeles to get into acting.
A year after they took the chance on auditioning, neither of their lives will be the same again.
“It’s definitely life changing,” Ubeda said.
Tickets range from $29 to $69 and can be purchased at www.ValleyFirstTix.com or over the phone at 1-877-763-2849. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC or at the Penticton and Wine Country Visitor Centre.