Pure World of Dance Season 1 Contestant Profile: D’Angelo & Amanda

Division: Junior
Genre: Ballroom
From: Miami, FL

When I first heard that World of Dance had been greenlit, one of my first thoughts was “I bet we see at least one of the Castros on it.” And no, I’m not talking about about the late Cuban dictator – I’m talking about the dance family from Miami that has more or less made a career out of appearing on (and doing pretty well on) reality tv competition shows. And sure enough, two of the finalists on this inaugural season are from that family – D’Angelo & Amanda in the junior division, and the Miami All-Stars in the team division.

Those already familiar, you can skip these next few paragraphs.  Those not, buckle in, cause these two have a pretty impressive resume so far…

Remember Paula Abdul’s short-lived dance competition series on CBS in 2011? Live to Dance? D’Angelo & Amanda won it.

Then in 2012, Amanda was on the first season of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, and ended up coming in 4th:

Also in 2012, both D’Angelo and Amanda were part of their dance studio’s salsa group, The Untouchables, that tried out for season 7 of America’s Got Talent and made it all the way to 6th place.  Worth noting: D’Angelo’s younger sister, Ruby, was also part of the group – yes, this becomes significant later.

Then the following season, both D’Angelo & Amanda and Ruby and her partner, Jonas, tried out for AGT as individual acts and made it to the live shows – Ruby & Jonas got eliminated in the quarterfinals, but D’Angelo & Amanda made it to the top 12:

Also worth mentioning: D’Angelo’s sister, Ruby, was one of the kids on SYTYCD last year:

And I should also mention that his mom and dad, Lori & Manny, are part of the Miami All-Stars, who are competing on WOD in the group division – more on them another day.

Court’s thoughts: I think D’Angelo & Amanda’s resume kinda speaks for itself – these kids have a STRONG pedigree, and a lot of experience dancing in front of a camera for a large  audience. That makes them a HUGE contender in the junior division, just by virtue of already having done this several times before. I’m really just excited to see them now that they have 3 more years of experience under the belts, since they haven’t done a reality show since 2013. They were great back then – they’re likely PHENOMENAL now. Definitely one to watch this season!

Social media:
D’Angelo & Amanda Twitter
D’Angelo & Amanda Instagram
D’Angelo & Amanda’s Live to Dance Facebook and America’s Got Talent Facebook (neither has been updated in awhile, but including them anyway)
D’Angelo’s Twitter
D’Angelo’s Instagram
Amanda’s Twitter
Amanda’s Instagram