By Lindsay Pepino
Four years ago dancer Allison Holker became a "So You Think You Can Dance" top 8 finalist in the show's second season. This spring she returned to the stage for the show's seventh season as an all-star. The 22-year-old became one of twelve past contestants brought back as a specialist to perform with the newest competitors.
TheCelebrityCafe.com's Lindsay Pepino spoke with Allison before she and her SYTYCD buddies, which includes Season 7 winner Lauren Froderman, begin their two-month countrywide tour. The tour will begin in New Orleans on September 19 and will finish in Glendale, Arizona on November 17.
Allison, who also played a Wildcat cheerleader in the first two Disney Channel movies "High School Musical," discussed her experiences as a dancer, being a working mother and her future career plans.
TCC: So first off, how is everything coming along for the "So You Think You Can Dance" Tour?
AH: Everything is coming along so great. I've been really excited about this. Obviously they have a lot of the old favorite numbers but they're bringing some new numbers and that's really cool too. We're all really excited about it.
TCC: That's so awesome that you get to travel.
AH: Yeah, it's such a good group. Everyone gets along so well which is always really exciting because if you are in close quarters like we are with people that don't get along it could get real tricky.
TCC: For those who are unfamiliar with the show can you explain what your position is as an all-star?
AH: For Season 7 they decided to bring back a cast of all-stars to dance with the main contestants. There were 12 past contestants from previous seasons brought back. We were all picked to be specialists in our special category or style of dance and we only stay in that category. The contestants draw our names out of a hat in order to determine which type of dance they will perform. We don't get judged so we don't have to worry about the competition. We also can't be voted off by America. All I do is come in and dance with my contestant and hope for the best for them and that they do well.
TCC: That's a really great position to be in.
AH: (laughs) Yes, it's amazing. When it comes to the whole competition side of things I don't have to worry about any of that. I don't have the stress or the "does American like me?" pressure at all. But at the same time, being kept back as an all-star, I'm supposed to be the best in my category so you can't mess up. If you mess up they're going to let you have it! Also for your contestant you have to be the best for them. There isn't a lot of pressure when it comes to competition, but there is a whole other side of pressure now. If I mess up a lift or I miss the count it's my partner who will go home because of my mistake. I'm not only dancing for myself anymore, I'm dancing for someone else.
TCC: I know the show is live and the dances are really challenging. What is a typical rehearsal like and how often do you practice to prepare for the show?
AH: During the show we are usually given six hours with the actual choreographer and that's not a lot of time. If you know the choreographer or know their style then that's plenty of time to learn a number. You're able to get enough corrections from them to know what should be happening, but if you're learning a whole new style of dance six hours is nothing. You feel like you have so much more to learn and that you don't really know the concepts yet. That is really hard sometimes. You're given six hours and then personal time just with your partner. We have limited rehearsal time and then we go on stage. Everything goes by really quick.
TCC: Is it six hours in a row?
AH: No, it's three hours one day and three hours the next. They give us some time to let it marinate.
TCC: You're a very versatile dancer but what is your favorite genre? Do you have a specialty?
AH: My specialty has a wide range. I go anywhere from contemporary to jazz to disco to Broadway and even cultural numbers. Apparently I'm in a specialty position at African dance and Russian and folk dancing as well.
TCC: How has this experience changed your life?
AH: I think the biggest thing about this job is that it has opened my eyes. A lot of people, in any career, limit themselves. They say this is my specialty so I'm going to stay in that realm, which is a great thing to do because you know what you're good at, but doing this job has made me realize that I'm not just a jazz and contemporary dancer. I can branch out to hip-hop and ballroom. I obviously have to work harder at it because it's not my specialty, but I'm not scared to go to auditions anymore. It's helped me realize there is a lot more out there that I need to experience.
TCC: What was your favorite part about being on the show as a contestant and what was your favorite part as an all-star?
AH: I think as a contestant I had probably a little more fun because you are on your toes the whole time. You always wanted to impress everyone around you so that kept things exciting. Also, it was my first time really ever doing a job so anything that was going on was like, "Oh my God I can't believe I'm really here!" I was more like a giddy kid as a contestant.
Being an all-star, I'm still very young, but it was different because I was like a mother to the other contestants. I loved that they came to me with questions and came to me for guidance. I was able to give them advice and they still do. I think that was fun to be the seasoned one that was able to give advice. It gave me a whole new way of experiencing things.
TCC: Do people recognize in public?
AH: Yes, now that I was on the show again. My look has changed a lot since I was a contestant on Season 2. It was a four or five year time frame so there were a good couple of years in between. It you were a dancer you knew who I was and that was fine, but it's always fun when you're at a restaurant and the waiter knows who you are. That's really fun.
TCC: You were a dancer in High School Musical 1 &2. Can you talk about your experience dancing on a movie set? Who was the most fun to hang out with on set?
AH: It was actually cool to be in the first movie because we were working with people like Zac Efron, Vanessa [Hudgens] and Ashley [Tisdale]. It was their start so in a way we were a part of that, which I think is really cool. We all used to hang out. I was a head cheerleader so I would do the counting for the group. We get together with all those actors to go to the movies and shopping. They were all really cool. Even in the second movie, not that they changed anything, but they were all really cool both times.
Kenny Ortega was the director and choreographer for both movies and he still is one of my most favorite people to work with. He has such a great energy and he really knows how to pull a group together to be a little unit. When we were on that job we were like a family and that was because of our director, which is really rare. He always had a really good energy in the room and it was fun.
TCC: What are some obstacles that you have faced as a dancer?
AH: I think one thing I've noticed is that we're all so hard on ourselves. Whether it comes to our body or our actual work we're all perfectionists. We're never happy, we always want more and we want to do better. We always have to do it again so I've had to learn that sometimes you have to be proud of yourself and that's not the easiest job to do.
TCC: You have a two-year-old daughter and obviously she a major component in your life. Is it difficult to juggle your career and your family life especially now that you are going on tour for two months?
AH: I wouldn't say difficult, because if it were difficult I wouldn't want to do it, but it definitely is tricky. It creates a lot of questions. I have to be a very organized person and it requires a lot more planning in advance. When I got the call to even be an all-star I couldn't immediately say, "Yes, I accept!" I had to get a day-by-day schedule. You have to make sure it all works out in the best interest of my daughter, but at the same time I have a very, very supportive family and her father is very supportive of me still working. I've had so much help. If it weren't for my mother or her father I wouldn't be able to do this job. They were willing to take her while I was at work and agreed it was totally fine because I needed to do this. I had a lot of support, which is always a good thing.
My biggest challenge I've faced concerning my daughter is because of the long hours I have at work when I was actually with her I didn't want to just be with her. I wanted to give her my full attention so I'm always planning activities for us. No matter how tired I was I knew that this was her time and I needed to give as much energy as I use at work to her. It's exhausting but you have to do that.
TCC: Would you like your daughter to follow in your footsteps and become a dancer like you?
AH: Yeah, I would love if she got into dancing, but at the same time I'm one of those people that doesn't care what it is as long as she's fully committed. I'm going to help her find whatever her hobby is and I'm going to completely make sure she sticks to it. The only way to really get great at something is if you stay true to that thing. You obviously have to love it but you can't be the best at forty different things. You have to pick and choice your battles almost, it might be strange to use that quote, but it works. Honestly if my little girl was a motor cross chick I'd be totally down for that, totally cool (laughs).
TCC: Out of all the routines that you will perform on tour which is your favorite?
AH: I think it's totally obvious I'm going to be performing Fix You, the Travis Wahl number I performed with Robert. It changed my life and it changed Robert's life. It was such a beautiful story. Every time I do it, even in rehearsal, I get goose bumps. So I'm very excited to perform that every night.
TCC: Do you have any future plans in terms of your career after you finish touring?
AH: There is a few things I have lined up that I'm hoping will happen. As of right now I'm new to LA so I'm just doing the LA scene. I'm going to be going to auditions again, hopefully doing some movies and music videos. I would love to do some little cameos on a couple of shows and I'm just trying to make all those things happen. I'm also having a clothing line come out so everything is going really well.