By Lindsay Strouse

Taking the Stage returns to Cincinnati at the School for Creative and Performing Arts with six new students ready to show the school—and the world—what they have to offer.  After a rigorous audition process, we are introduced to the students who believe they have what it takes to be great.

Emily Silber is a senior coming in as a dance major. Hoping to become a professional performer following graduation, she eagerly takes advantage of all SCPA’s opportunities.  Anna is a junior dance major joining SCPA with severe scoliosis, which has had a great impact on her dancing career. She hopes to push past her limitations to stay at the same level as her fellow dancers.

Sophomore Emily Sones is a vocal major with a troubled past. She was recently hospitalized for an eating disorder and is hoping to move past her struggles and start a new life at SCPA. Another vocal major (and soon to be love interest) joining SCPA is junior Adam. After being home schooled in Tennessee, Adam hopes to expand his horizons by moving to a bigger city. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Adam, his charisma brings a vast amount of girls all vying for his attentions.

Entering SCPA as a drama major is junior Carlton. He hopes to utilize the tools he will learn at the new school to one day make it on the silver screen. The sixth new student of the school year is Ian, a senior theater major. However, he is largely known for his rapping, with a CD already released and battles performed throughout Cincinnati.

Last but not least is returning senior Tyler, a dance major with intent to take SCPA by storm. He comes in with his ego through the roof and feels the school is his for the taking. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how that one turns out.
Emily Silber, Anna, Carlton and Tyler take an urban hip hop class where they show off their skills in a free-style circle. Emily easily catches Tyler’s eye with her sexy moves on the dance floor. When it’s Tyler’s turn to perform, he does a pretty good job of sweeping Emily off her feet.

After checking out Tyler’s obvious talent, Carlton approaches him in hopes of joining his dance crew. Tyler makes it pretty clear they’re not looking for any new members anytime soon. Ouch. Determined to prove him wrong, Carlton decides to form his own group to perform at the back-to-school talent show.

More sparks are flying through the air with vocalists Emily Sones and Adam. They decide to work on a duet for the talent show where they can make a great first impression on their peers. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ll be spending quite a bit of time together.
Next up is a stop at recent graduate Mia’s band’s house. Tyler stops by to dish on all the new drama already being stirred up at SCPA and gets some unwanted feedback. Mia thinks Tyler is threatened by Carlton’s talent, but Tyler dismisses the thought immediately. After Tyler leaves, arguments flare up between Mia and Aaron (another SCPA graduate) concerning the band. Despite their close personal friendship, they continue to butt heads. Mia believes she is the focal point of the group and that she should have the final say on all decisions. Aaron doesn’t exactly agree with that theory and can’t make Mia realize how out of control her ego has gotten. She finally decides to kick Aaron out of the band, putting a big hiatus on their status as “best friends.” Mia tries to keep it all business, but Aaron can’t help but take it personally.

Back at SCPA, Emily and Anna start working with Tyler on a dance for the talent show that he hopes…let me rephrase, states, will win them first place.  Ian shows off his talents by rapping the song for their talent show number.

Adam confides in Carlton that he is worried the duet with Emily isn’t working. He thinks her introversion may prove to be a problem, but doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. Emily confirms his fear by saying she is having second-thoughts about the talent show. She is scared she will mess up and make Adam look bad since he is more experienced. However, Adam refuses to let her chicken out and reassures her that they will do great.

Carlton’s crew is the first of the new students to perform at the talent show. He performs a pseudo-Michael Jackson/Chris Brown/Usher styled number, complete with blazers and white gloves. They get good reactions from the crowd and definitely make their mark.

Meanwhile, while Emily and Tyler practice some tricks backstage, Emily hurts her hip and doesn’t know if she’ll be able to perform. Once back stage, however, the adrenaline pushes the pain to the side and she decides to go on with the dance. The audience is already hyped up over Tyler’s crew, and they eat up every move Tyler does.

The final performance from our new students is duet Adam and Emily. It’s clear that Emily is nervous, but she puts on a good performance and even sneaks a few smiles at Adam. His experience is put to good use and his talent makes a great first impression on the audience. Perhaps more interesting than the song was the chemistry brewing between the two students. Mia’s band closes the show without their drummer, Aaron.

When it came time for the results, everyone was tense with anticipation. Not only did Tyler not win the competition, he didn’t even place! Nor did any of the other six new students. Tyler takes the news badly and claims they still had the best performance out of everyone. Mmhmm, keep on talking.

Don’t miss Taking the Stage next week, Thursday, February 4th at 11 p.m. ET to catch the latest drama at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

(Photo courtesy of MTV)