La. ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ contestant reveals assault as teen; ‘I’m still working through it’

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It can be 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. In Los Angeles, Ralyn Johnson has just completed rehearsals and wardrobe fittings for the day. Back again in Louisiana, Virginia Crouse is catching up with mates and family and settling back into her dance teaching schedule.

On Wednesday night, Television set viewers watched the two Louisiana contestants perform on FOX’s “So You Believe You Can Dance.” It was the season’s sixth episode. The judges superior Johnson on to this week’s clearly show, though Crouse and her dance spouse, James Thomas, had been removed from the competitiveness.

It was a doubly emotional hour for Crouse — not only was she exiting quicker than she would have preferred, she had also just shared this with the planet:

“At 15 decades outdated, I was taken gain of by a dance instructor,” Crouse uncovered all through rehearsal clips for her and Thomas’ functionality of the track “8” from artists Sleeping at Previous.

The music, about dwelling as a result of a thing traumatic and coming out much better, resonated all far too effectively for the now 21-calendar year-old dancer.

“With this piece, the psychological facet that I have to put into it is hard to me,” she claimed. “It truly speaks to me since I’ve reliable so significantly in advance of, and I have lost all the things. … It is, like, pretty tricky due to the fact I have to, like, form of relive those people encounters.”

Thomas relevant his own problems as a baby, such as being homeless.

“I think it is really going to be a healing moment just ’cause we’ve been through items, that would not determine us as broken,” Crouse reported.

Speaking by mobile phone Friday, the youthful dancer stated she selected this time to converse out and convey to her story for the reason that unfortunately, it transpires far too significantly.

“No matter if it really is acting, singing or dance, you can find generally sketchy stuff that goes on guiding the scenes that, regrettably, is also normalized in this industry and a ton of youthful dancers have been slowly and gradually coming out about large names and getting assaulted, but it really is really difficult simply because a whole lot of gurus maintain electrical power around younger dancers,” she claimed. “You know, they use their status to retain us tranquil, and I just had more than enough of that. I want to be a role model and I want to be a voice for those that do not have the bravery or have not however uncovered their voice and how to speak out versus what takes place and I want to be that voice. I want to make the dance world so a lot safer for all dancers involved.”

Opinions on her revelation has been really positive, she stated.

“I’ve had many people today access out to me and convey to me their stories and how restating my tale tends to make them really feel safer mainly because they you should not experience alone any more, which seriously is a massive aspect of why I shared my tale simply because you are by no means alone, even although you could truly feel like it.”

Recovering from the assault is ongoing, she additional.

“I’m nevertheless performing by it just about every single working day. I have good times and I have poor times. Some times, I seem in the mirror and see the 15-year-outdated me, and I’m just disgusted in my very own pores and skin and then other times, I wake up and I’m tremendous confident and happy of the individual I am today. It is really an everyday fight, but I’m content that I am still exactly where I am today, due to the fact I am significantly stronger … every single day will get much better,” she said.

And dance will help, in specific, her time on “So You Believe You Can Dance,” a clearly show she’s watched given that she was 5.

“The complete clearly show practical experience genuinely has just been awesome,” she claimed. “Every person I have worked with, from the workers and all the PAs (production assistants) are all so pretty type and they genuinely care about us dancers and how we are undertaking it was extremely refreshing.”

Now it is really again to focusing on dance instructing.

Crouse is a new teacher at the Conservatory of Arts in Slidell and has also taught for almost two a long time at Human body Expressions Middle for Executing Arts in Mandeville.

She largely instructs technique and up to date classes, jazz, tap, and teaches hip-hop fundamental principles to college students ages 4 and 5, “newborn hip-hop” she referred to as it.

“Remaining a instructor has altered my viewpoint on dance as a whole — just staying in a position to see students mature, and watching them dance their hearts out every single 7 days, it really is a little something that I will never ever acquire for granted, for the reason that those people youngsters that I teach they inspire me every one working day to be superior for myself.”