Certainly a mistake from a ratings standpoint, it’s still too early to say whether this first-ever fall edition of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance was a good idea or not. In last Monday’s pre-competition introduction to this season’s top 20, the dancers were grouped according to their areas of specialty and, boy, what a show that was, truly some of the best dancing I’ve ever seen. In the two performance shows since then, however, the results have been hit or miss. And with this show being so much about breaking dancers out of their comfort zones, it would appear that many of this season’s contestants have some tough work ahead of them.
Suffering the most so far have been the ballroom routines, particularly last night’s clunky samba, performed by the sunshiny Channing and the now eliminated Phillip, a tap dancer who, in my opinion, didn’t have what it took to make the top 20 in the first place; and a Viennese waltz from Ashleigh and Jakob that was more sleepy than romantic. Things ended on a high note, though, when Ryan and Ellenore took the stage for an Argentine tango, with Ellenore not missing a step even as her dress was caught on her heel for nearly half the dance.
Where SYTYCD always excels is in the worlds of jazz and contemporary dance, which allow for a greater emphasis on artistic expression and less scrutiny of posture and toe pointing. The standout last night was a breathtaking contemporary routine from choreographer Stacey Tookey, danced brilliantly by early frontrunners Kathryn and Legacy, a b-boy completely out of his element; the way these two contorted and entwined their bodies was truly something to behold. Also interesting was a jazz number from the wonderfully warped and imaginative mind of Wade Robson. Dancers Peter and Pauline were given the characters of two people seeking revenge on Van Gogh after being excised from his original version of “Starry Night,” an inventive idea that went further in concept than it did in execution. And I can’t forget to mention another terrific Bollywood routine performed with the utmost confidence and maturity by the show’s youngest pairing, Mollee and Nathan.
The judges took a risk this season and invited three tappers to be in the top 20 (previously none had made it that far). Unfortunately, that risk didn’t pay off, and two of them, the aforementioned Phillip, along with Bianca—who couldn’t get a rise out of the judges with a gospel-inspired Broadway number—were sent home. With any luck, the remaining dancers will find themselves growing and improving their skills. That is the whole point of the show after all; it just may take a little longer than usual to get there. While fewer viewers are devoting their time to the show than they do in the less competitive summer months, So You Think You Can Dance continues to be an exciting showcase for an art form that has seen a truly worthy renaissance.
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