Troy Native Will Thomas Thinks He Can Dance

Troy native Will Thomas will be showing off his dance moves and looking for your vote as he competes on the popular FOX TV show So You Think You Can Dance on Wednesday.

The top 20 So You Think You Can Dance contestants – including Thomas – will take the stage for their first night of the show’s competition Wednesday night, hoping to capture the hearts and votes of Americans.

“Being on this show is a dream of mine,” said Thomas, 19, who moved from Troy to Los Angeles after graduating from Avondale High School in 2011. “I’ve known I wanted to be a contestant since I flew out to California to see the live tapings of Season 4 in 2008.”

Thomas began dancing at Adagio Dance Studio in Rochester Hills when he was 12 years old, but he said that he didn’t take it seriously until he was 14.

“It was rough being a male dancer growing up,” Thomas said about other boys’ reactions to his dancing endeavors during his elementary and middle school years. “But once I got to high school it was a blast because the girls all wanted to be my date for the dances, and the guys were all jealous that the girls wanted to dance with me.” 

It wasn’t until after high school when Thomas arrived in LA that he said his dancing career really took off.

“I started auditioning right away and booking gigs,” Thomas said. He also began taking lessons from one of his role models and former So You Think You Can Dance contestant Matt Dorame. “I even got a chance to dance with Rihanna on the show the X-Factor, which was really cool.” 

This season of So You Think You Can Dance is the first year Thomas has been eligible to try out for the show, since all contestants have to be at least 18.

“The try-outs were very long and very hard,” he said. “There were thousands of dancers, so it was a lot of waiting, then hurrying up and performing your solo and then waiting and waiting and waiting until it was your turn to dance again.”

Due to that, Thomas even admitted that he thought about walking out of the 12-hour-long try-out day. “But thank God I didn’t!” he exclaimed.

At 6 feet and 3 inches tall, Thomas said the judges looked at him like a giant teddy bear because of his height, and that it was his performance ability and personality they enjoyed the most about his routines.

“I started dancing a lot later than many of the other contestants, so I don’t have all the tricks they have,” he said, “but they loved my personality and said that I’m always shining no matter who else is on stage.”

Thomas said one of his favorite parts of the competition has been getting to know the other contestants, though he said seeing friends he's made be sent home during the earlier elimination rounds was hard.

“It’s crazy because I’ve only known the other finalists a couple of weeks, yet we’re such good friends and really support each other,” he said. “We all are in jeopardy of getting sent home after the first show because we all are so unique and so different.”

All the contestants will be dancing one piece with a partner and one group performance on Wednesday night. Like in years past on the show, each pair’s routine will be in a different style of dance. Thomas said he’s pretty confident in contemporary and hip-hop, but he fears what he will do if he has to dance the Indian-styled Bollywood.

“I’m really tall, and it’s a lot of up and downs,” he explained.

Thomas said his parents have been his greatest supporters throughout his dancing career, but his friends were the most excited when he told them he was on the show.

“They all screamed and are now texting me everyday making sure I’m alright and asking if I need anything,” Thomas explained. “I don’t get to come back to Michigan that much, but when I do I get stressed out because I want to see everyone.”

Even though being a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance has been a dream of his, Thomas said his greatest dancing accomplishments have been his participation in fundraising events like a benefit for one of his former Avondale High teacher who was diagnosed with ALS last fall, and MTV’s O Music Awards dance marathon, which raised money for anti-bullying and gay rights organizations.

“I’m just so thankful for my life and how I grew up,” Thomas said. “I can’t believe this is my life and I’m doing the things I am.”

Be sure to watch the Troy-native perform on So You Think You Can Dance Wednesday at 8 p.m. on FOX. Then, vote for him after the show to keep him out of the bottom three, who will be up for elimination next week.