Lauren Froderman during the audition process.

So You Think You Can Dance

       The extremely popular dance competition show, SYTYCD is the “American Idol” of dance shows. While I do think Dancing with the Stars brings a broader audience because of the celebrity aspect, So You Think You Can Dance brings an amazing amount of talent. For someone like myself, who has grown up dancing, I much prefer the set up of this show. Like AI, auditions are held in major cities across the country, and the judges pick their favorites. Through several phases of auditions, they narrow down to the top 20. Then it’s America’s turn to vote. The top twenty tends to be a mix of styles and talent categories. Some of the dancers have amazing technique and others have amazing performance quality. The true test for the show though, is who can do it all. Can the ballet dancer pull off hip hop? Can the tap dancers do a samba? The basic concept of the show from my interpretation is that the best possible dancer is limitless. In order to pull through to the end, the contestant must have an immense amount of confidence, and must be able to handle the type of pressure that comes along with it. The show has allowed America to understand more about what makes a “good dancer” like AI has helped America understand what makes a “good singer.” Of course, anytime America is involved in picking a winner, they are going to be subjective. In many cases, the person that wins is not necessarily the BEST dancer, but they give America what they want to see. (The issue of negativity to the dance world due to reality TV is a subject that deserves a deeper look. This is something I plan on blogging about in the future.)

       It seems to me that SYTYCD over all has had many positive affects on the dance industry. They have given ballet, jazz, modern, and hip hop dancers the opportunity to have careers of a much higher magnitude than in the past. The show has brought many choreographers that are incredibly trendy and popular into the light. Sonya Tayeh, Stacy Tookey, and Shane Sparks are a few of the popular choreographers that appear on the show. The choreographers are dancers themselves, and they all bring a different flavor to the show. The dances that are performed also typically carry a certain amount of acting, with many different types of emotions. This gives America the opportunity to see that dance is truly a remarkable art form that is mind, body, and soul.  The show has also formed a tour, bringing the top dancers from each season to cities around the country to perform. The fact that a show purely based on dance talent has turned into a national tour is absolutely amazing to me. Overall, this show has had a positive impact on the dance industry, and along with Dancing with the Stars has helped transform dance into a mainstream art form. My next post will discuss Julianne Hough and Travis Wall, two dancers who have turned into mega-stars thanks to their appearances on DWTS and SYTYCD.

 

The only proper way to end this post is to ask one question: So you think you can dance?

 

<3 Samantha