by JASMINE ELSHAMY
Staff Writer

   The season nine winners of the hit reality dance competition, “So You Think You Can Dance” were announced on Tuesday, September 18.

   The female winner, Eliana Girard, and the male winner, Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, are both ballet dancers, the first ballet dancers to win the show.

   “As a dancer myself, I highly admire both Eliana and Chehon for their stunning technique. Every move they make is effortless, beautiful,” says junior Sam Horsch. “I just wish that the two winners were of varied styles. One ballet winner is enough for me.”

   Girard, 21, is from West Palm, Florida and is now living in New York. She attended the Joffrey Ballet School, the Alvin Ailey School, and worked for Cirque Du Soleil in 2009. Girard specializes in contemporary ballet and has been invited to join Desmond Richardson’s company.

   Wespi-Tschopp, 23, was born in Chicago, Illinois, but was raised in both Sydney, Australia and Zurich, Switzerland. His exquisite technical skills in ballet began to grow when he was 13 years old, and he was invited to train at the very prestigious Royal Ballet School in London. He then performed with the Los Angeles Ballet for two seasons, and was fortunate enough to have been noticed and offered a contract to tour with the hit Broadway show “Come Fly Away”.

   It was a very close tie between the animation and robotics phenomenon, Cyrus Spencer, and Wespi-Tschopp. Spencer was the male runner-up, and he continuously wowed the judges, never dropping into bottom two. He was definitely a fan-favorite of the season.

   “I was so upset when Cyrus did not win male winner of the season. He was amazing and so different; he brought something new to the show,” says sophomore Bree McKenna. “We haven’t seen anyone that talented in the animation, popping, and robotics field since tWitch.”

   Tiffany Maher joined Spencer as the female runner-up to Girard. Maher is a jazz dancer who was another fan-favorite, considering she was never in the bottom two. Maher continuously impressed the audience and the judges with her ability to perform every style given to her while owning the stage.

   The next season of “So You Think You Can Dance” begins in the late spring of 2013.