Virgil's Contemporary Dance Hits Home

As if I didn't love the guy so much already, on Monday night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance Season 12, Virgil's contemporary number with All-Star Melanie tore a hole through my heart with its incredibly real and harrowing emotions of a soldier dealing with having PTSD after coming home. It's not just that the routine was heartbreaking thanks to the subject matter (though of course that was part of it), it's that Virgil had such a strong connection to the piece. What made the number so real and moving is the affect it had on Virgil during rehearsal and onstage. Virgil has always had an easy time with showing emotions and personality in his performances, but this was the first time it felt so real I could have broken down myself.

After the choreographer Justin Giles talked about the routine and how it was important to him to tell this story through dance thanks to everything that's going on in this country with soldiers and veterans, Virgil broke down in Day 2 of the rehearsal. He told tWitch that this number meant so much to him because he knew people going through this struggle, he saw it happening. But rather than suppress those feelings, memories and emotions, Virgil let them burst onstage in a dance that can only be described as real and powerful.

The judges clearly saw Virgil's truth in the dance and thanked him for being so vulnerable with it. I think it's safe to say that not only did Virgil completely own the beautiful and painful performance, but he elevated himself so much as a dancer because of it. He gave into the feelings and the truth of the dance so much that it became a part of him. That's what this show is all about right? Seeing dancers come into their own thanks to passion and emotions in the dances and growth in the competition? No matter what happens in next Monday night's finale, there's no doubt in my mind thanks to this routine that Virgil will be a star in dance for years to come.

Images: Screenshot/FOX; Whipclip