InterContinental Miami holds auditions for digital dancer

Contestants belly dance, perform ballet, hip hop

MIAMI – Auditions were held on Thursday to find a new dancer's silhouette to be displayed on the side of the InterContinental Miami.

The hotel did a $30 million renovation a year ago, which included a 200-foot tall digital dancer to light up the city's skyline.

"The vision at the time was having King Kong climb up the side of the building," said Robert Hill, General Manager of InterContinental Miami.

The InterContinental Miami managers now want to replace the Russian woman whose silhouette appeared there with a local dancer.

"She is a dancer. She is from Russia," said Hill.

Three judges let the dancers do about a minute and half of their routine to a Pitbull song. Several different styles of dancing were presented, including belly dancing, hip hop, and ballet.

"People are not seeing your face they are seeing your movement, so it doesn't matter to me if it someone that has got hips or someone who doesn't as long as they can draw the audience in," said Miami Heat dancer choreographer and judge Clara Stroude-Vasquez.

"Miami is culturally growing and artistically so if it could be something, a form of dance that's specific and can show that Miami is growing in that way and not just a place to come party at the clubs," said Jeanette Delgado, Miami ballet dancer and judge.

Those who tried out seemed to be extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity.

"Any time I drive by that girl dancing up there, I think, you know, what that's where I need to be. Just because I love Miami, I love the skyline, two generations from this city. I just want to be apart of it. I want to represent it," said Elizabeth Vino, a contestant.

"Imagine going from five feet to two hundred feet," said Brooke Clark, a contestant. "Why not?"

"I love Miami. I love the city so I would love to be able to represent it," said Odaymis Perez-Roura.

The winner will get a weekend stay in one of the suites at the hotel.

Nine women and two men received callbacks. A final decision will be made over the weekend.