It was a good week for Sanford's Noelle Marsh. The "So You Think You Can Dance" contestant won raves for her Afro-jazz number, and sailed through to the next round.
It was a nice change from her shaky start. It began with an injury that almost put her out of the competition and then a hip-hop number that the judges very much disliked.
Still, she says, she wouldn't have missed her time on the show thus far. "More than anything, it's been rewarding. To see everything I've worked for pay off, I feel blessed. I'm trying to live every last minute."
The injury, Noelle says, was a combination of strained muscles and a pulled hamstring. 'I couldn't straighten my knee for a while, but I pushed through it. It doesn't hurt so much anymore."
What does sting a bit, she says, is the judging. When she watched the show in past seasons, Noelle says she always wondered why the dancers were crying, why they got so emotional. Now she knows.
"It's completely different than when I viewed it," she says. 'You feel the pressure. It's your dream on the line. And they work us day and night."
One of the biggest challenges of the show is that it requires you to dance out of your comfort zone. Noelle's specialty is contemporary. She says her biggest fears, in terms of dance style, are hip hop ("I glad I got that out of the way. It didn't go so well.") and ballroom. "I've never danced any form of ballroom so it will be a struggle. But I'm a hard worker."
Good thing. Judge Nigel Lythgoe was particular harsh in his criticisms on the last show, unsatisfied, it seemed, by the groups' efforts.
"He was a little tough," Noelle says. "[Last season] was the most diverse group of dancers. He knows what we have to live up to. And with us being the first group during a fall season, it adds that much more pressure. He was doing it for our benefit and I think you'll see people stepping up."
Another tough break was the departure of Noelle's friend Ariana Debose. The two studied for two years together at the CC & Co. Dance Complex in Raleigh, and became good friends, says Noelle. "It was really hard to see her go. But she's so strong and she always makes the best out of everything."
Meanwhile, the Sanford native has gained strength from hometown support.
"It's so crazy. All my friends are texting me and sending me emails. The whole town is backing me up. It's great to have that love, to see that people really do care. It's unlike anything I've felt before."
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon. 
