Joe Slaughter of Itasca spent 10 days in Los Angeles recently, but he wasn't on vacation. He was auditioning for stardom.
Slaughter, 20, auditioned for the Fox reality show "So You Think You Can Dance."
The judges for the show chose dancers from Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, who will compete in a "dance-off" for 12 weeks. Viewers ultimately choose the winner.
Slaughter earned the trip to the West Coast after passing an audition at the Chicago Theatre. He tried out with other dancers from his dance company, Xtreme Dance Force, based out of Shelly Mack's Dance Experience in Naperville. He was among about 30 other Chicago-area dancers to make it to L.A. but was cut after 10 days. "We danced like seven hours a day," he said. "But it was some of the best dancing I've ever gotten, and I learned there's a lot of awesome talent and choreography out there."
Although Slaughter teaches dance at three studios and will be attending College of DuPage in the fall to study business and real estate, he said he will be going back to Los Angeles next summer to get some professional dance experience.
"Being in L.A. gave me a taste of what's to come, and I want it more," he said. The show premiered July 20 and airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on Fox.