"World of Dance" Week 5 Recap: Who'll Be Dueling?
The pressure is always on in the “World of Dance” universe—you’re always performing for J.Lo, Ne-Yo, and Derek Hough (not to mention a national television audience), after all—but last night’s episode felt especially high-stakes. For the first time, the show added a Callbacks round, an in-between moment to reevaluate 10 acts that impressed during the Qualifiers, but not quite enough to advance automatically to the Duels. And with only four Duels spots left to fill, every act was eager to prove that it had an edge on the other Callbacks contestants.
So, who made it through last night? (And how did our current cover stars, the fabulous dancers of Project 21, fare?) Here are the four acts that’ll be coming back for another round:
The Young Cast
The Junior Division hip-hop crew was the last to perform last night, but the first to discover it’d earned a place in the Duels. Not a surprise, given the judges’ enthusiastic response to its super-clean, super-intricate routine, which had a standout opening.
305
We are always here for a strong Latin ballroom team, and last night, the Junior Division dancers of Miami-based 305 had Derek on his feet. They leveled up from their Qualifiers performance, with more compelling choreography and more precise execution—enough to put them through to the next round.
The Rise
This Upper Division hip-hop group from Arizona was the first to dance last night, performing a suave routine to Usher’s “OMG.” While the number felt a tad low-energy, the crew’s charisma and polish ultimately earned them a spot in the Duels.
GRVMNT
These Junior Division hip-hop dancers seemed like underdogs based on their Qualifiers performance—but their intro package showed just how hard they’ve been working since then. And while we will never hear Lil Jon’s “Outta Your Mind” and not think of this, GRVMNT’s scrappy, in-the-pocket routine to the song last night almost made us forget all about Alex Wong and tWitch’s famous therapy session. We’re excited to see this team continue to grow in the Duels.
We try to remain impartial when it comes to TV dance competitions, but we were sad to see Project 21’s “WOD” run come to an end last night, especially since the limited glimpses we got of their chair-oriented routine looked pretty impressive. We’ll miss you, P21!
