Wednesday, May 28, 2014

5 Reasons Why You Should Watch So You Think You Can Dance

I'll admit it:  So You Think You Can Dance is my second favorite tv show, right after my beloved Downton Abbey.  A new season starts tonight, and I intend to blog about it weekly here.  This summer it will air Wednesday nights, 8:00 - 10:00 PM EST on Fox.  You'll find a site with more info here:  SYTYCD official site. SYTYCD is such a great show, so I want to give you 5 good reasons to check it out:

1. The variety of dancing is amazing!  In any given episode you may see Broadway, jazz, swing, jive, ballet, Bollywood, hip hop, ballroom, Latin, and more.  Here is a clip of one of my favorite numbers from the show.  This is from season 3, with Sara and Pasha dancing a West Coast Swing, as choreographed by Benjie Schwimmer.  (Benjie won season 2).  By the way, Pasha is my all time favorite dancer from the show!



2.  The music is also wonderful, varied, often surprising, and features recordings of original artists.  I love the way this show marries dance and music.  In a given evening, you may hear current pop music, the Beatles, Sinatra, old school R&B ... and it is all great.

3. Cat Deeley is the best host of any competitive talent show.  She is funny, warm, self deprecating, and has great rapport with both judges and dancers.

4. The judges are wonderful, and all have strong dance backgrounds.  They include showrunner and judge Nigel Lythgoe (tap), Mary Murphy (ballroom), and a rotating third (and sometimes fourth) chair for judges like Adam Shankman (Broadway) or Debbie Allen (yes, that Debbie Allen from Fame, and one of my favorites).

5. In a world where the nightly news is often somber and unsettling, there is something wonderful and uplifting about spending two hours watching dance, seeing dancers who love the art form and take it seriously, with great music, costuming, staging ... I really cannot recommend it highly enough.

Bonus (!) 6.  I would love to chat with YOU about SYTCYD here.

If you're a fan of the show or plan to try it for the first time, I hope you'll leave a comment here.