On light fantastic toes she has tripped her way to the final rounds of the Fox Television reality show “So You Think You Can Dance,” and now all that stands between Heidi Groskreutz of Newport Beach, California and Cliffside Park, New Jersey and stardom and a pot full of prizes and cash is one more stunning performance and a couple of million votes.

But fame and fortune are not what Heidi says she was chasing when she auditioned for the show.  It’s the learning experience — the challenge — that counts. 

“I won’t be satisfied until I am the dancer I know I can be,” she says.  True, the prize money could be an answer to a prayer for a way to pay for coaching help she needs, and to cover travel, costumes and entrance fees for important international competitions.

An early picture of Heidi, shown here dancing with younger cousin Benji Schwimmer. Benji is Heidi's competitor on "So You Think You Can Dance."

She has been dancing since she was five and early on learned to set goals in the Young Women program at her home ward, the Newport Beach II Ward.  Her mother,  Victoria Groskreutz, says prayer has guided Heidi’s every decision, especially the one that prompted her to withdraw from college and move to New Jersey, where she could be nearer to the kind of professional training she needed as well as a Russian dancing partner she wanted to work with.

It wouldn’t be an easy decision for any 24-year-old like Heidi to make, let alone the youngest, the baby of four children (two boys and two girls), from a close-knit, devout Latter-day Saint family.

When the opportunity emerged to audition for the dance show, Heidi tackled it enthusiastically as a way to grow professionally by subjecting herself to the demanding, unforgiving venue of network television. 

Before she moved from the left to the right coast, Heidi was a communications major at Orange Coast College, then Cal State San Bernardino, then the University of Redlands.  Of course her parents hoped she would earn a degree, but they recognized, like parents of professional athletes often do, that occasionally it’s necessary to delay school in order to seriously chase dreams and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that demand the athletic abilities and physical stamina found only in young performers.

Although Heidi was rehearsing for the show recently, she made time to talk to Meridian.  She admitted that, “Most of us are nursing injuries as a result of the intense (8 hours) rehearsal schedule and demanding choreography. At the same time these demands also help us to become stronger and better dancers."

According to Heidi, the differences between the reality show and most international competitions are:

Although the eight rotating judges on the show critique the dancers, they have no say on who wins the competition.  It is America’s votes that determine the winner. Last week, more than 12 million people voted.

So that she and her one of her regular partners, Dmitri Chaplin, could compete in National Amateur Ballroom Dance Championships hosted by Brigham Young University (they placed fourth), he and Heidi missed out on the East Coast audition for “So You Think You Can Dance.” They opted for the audition in South Carolina. Then, with 148 other semi-finalists, they endured a grueling round of cuts that reduced the field to 20 dancers.  Both Heidi and Dmitri were among the top 20 dancers, but Dmitri was voted off the show in July. 

Other than Heidi and her cousin Benji, two other Church members were in the top 20 competitors for the show.  Orem native Jaymz Tuaileva was eliminated fairly early in the competition.  Allison Holker, also from Orem, had been declared an early favorite to win, but was voted out on July 28 in what Entertainment Weekly called “the cruelest cut” of all.

And now there are but four. Heidi and Benji are the two favorites.  Benji’s partner for most of the competition, Donyelle Jones, is the third finalist, and Travis Wall from Virginia is the fourth. 

If nothing else, the contestants and the 12 million votes they drew in last week’s voting alone, demonstrate the popularity of competitive dancing. Seeing the success of the show — and dominance of Church members among the finalists — has prompted more than one Latter-day Saint to wonder if perhaps it is time for dance festivals to be reinstated.

That thinking seems to reflect the mind of Nigel Lythgoe, the show’s executive producer, who has announced that the top 10 “So You Think You Can Dance” finalists will tour the county live, starting September 12 in Seattle. Tickets go on sale August 12. Check www.fox.com/dance for additional information and updates.

Kickin’ Cousins

One of the highlights of this season’s show came on the week that she drew the name of her cousin Benji to be the week’s partner.  The two had been dancing together all their lives, and it showed.  Stephen Pennington of RealityTVCalendar.com wrote:

Dancing with partner of the week Travis Wall, Heidi shows some of the moves that have gotten her this far in the competition.

Heidi says her lifetime of dancing with Benji gives them an incredible edge as partners.   “There is no substitute for time,” Heidi says. “Only with time can the dialogue of the dance begin to gel and appear automatic and effortless.”

Hanging by Her Threads

Heidi is such a convincing performer that some LDS viewers have had to remind themselves she is performing, in costume.  Like a gymnast or swimmer, she is required to wear appropriate attire — much of which wouldn’t normally be worn on the street by church members.

There is a purpose for this.  Dance judges need to see the human form in order to determine how well the body is moving.  Heidi’s costumes show her musculature, and the way those muscles are moving as she dances.

Heidi works extensively with children, and is humbled by the possibility of being looked to as a role model.  Her students and their parents have learned that dance is like swimming, diving or gymnastics, combined with elements of art.  Heidi is committed to the gospel and the standards as taught by "The Strength of the Youth."  She joins her LDS sisters in the performing arts, in thanking the members for their understanding of the art of dance and their non-judgmental support when it becomes necessary to compete in the required costuming.  It is her hope that she can help young dancers see that modesty can be celebrated on a spiritual level, even during competition.

Fate in the Balance

Heidi’s fate hangs on the viewers’ votes.  The show’s finale is  this Wednesday, August 9, on FOX television.  See local listing for times and stations.  Viewers must wait until the end of the show to vote, after which they have two hours to vote as many times as they want to — or as many times as crowded phone lines will let them.  Votes are made via toll-free telephone numbers that will be announced   Voting via text messaging is not available. 

Heidi’s mother, Victoria, says Heidi has been “incredibly focused on her goal of developing her talent as a dancer, and made wrenching sacrifices in pursuit of her goal; but she is also grateful for the opportunity to have performed over the years at convalescent centers and at fundraisers that benefit children. Heidi loves teaching children how to dance!"

Will America choose an LDS woman as the top dancer of the 2006 season of “So You Think You Can Dance?”  Stay tuned.