My favorite part of summer, other than $1 ice cream cones from McDonalds, is So You Think You Can Dance. I’ve been a fan since the first season, when I was first acquainted with the concept of very attractive Eastern European ballroom dancers.
So You Think You Can Dance is a little ridiculous, in all the best ways. We’ve got moving hard-luck stories, we’ve got great music, we’ve got attractive Eastern European ballroom dancers, and we have dancers who can spin on their heads.
It’s nearly perfect.
I usually skip the auditions, I always feel bad for the less-than good dancers the audience is supposed to laugh at. I watched them for you, readers. While I was expecting to grimace and watch through my fingers, I was pleasantly surprised at how they chose to televise the process this year. The focus was mostly on the really fantastic performers (maybe even some we’ll see in the top 20!) with only a handful of rhythm-challenged oddballs. Like every year, there seems to be an inordinate amount of cute blonde 20-something girls in tiny shorts. I am usually pretty impressed with the diversity of the final cast on this show, but I’m beginning to think every pretty blonde girl in America is a contemporary dancer just waiting to hug herself on the edge of a stage.
Full disclosure: I can’t stand most contemporary dance. These recaps will be a lot of fun. I’ve liked a handful of Mia, Sonja and Wade’s stuff, but I’ve fast forwarded through every single thing Mandy Moore has choreographed.
The auditions were light on my two favorite styles, ballroom and tap. I’m hoping we’ll see a few more of each style when we get to Vegas next week. So far, it looks like they’ve got a great pool of talent to choose from, but that always changes as the season goes on. Dancers who look great all through auditions can crash and burn once the competition starts.
I’m looking forward to the season, and I hope you’ll join me here each week to discuss it, tiny shorts and all. To get us all in the spirit, here’s one of my favorite SYTYCD pairs ever, Pasha and Anya.
12 replies on “New Show Recap: So You Think You Can Dance, Season 9 Auditions”
It’s on hulu it’s on hulu!!!
Non-cable-having girl can watch SYTYCD. :D
I love the auditions. Seeing the diversity of the dancers out there is amazing and exciting. And there’s always a few phenomenal dancers who get sent through to Vegas and never are scene again. I’m always curious about their stories.
The other great thing about SYTYCD is that you always seem to see the contestants working afterwards, more so than other reality shows. One of them is on Dancing With the Stars, Marc is with Lady Gaga, Heather is on Glee, etc.
you sent me down a SYTYCD You Tube watching hole last night. Fun!
This is one of the few shoes that makes me really wish I had cable.
Ooo. Pasha and Anya, best season EVER. Is this available on Fox’s website, does anyone know?
Found it! I <3 TunnelBear. Halfway through… the woman from Dallas with the two kids is phenomenal!
I too was hoping for more ballroom and tap dancers. I love seeing them do their thing, but the show always seems to focus more on the contemporary dancers. Oh and I love watching hip hop dancers who can transition into other styles.
Oh, yes. The hip hop, ballroom, and other styles are so FUN. Even the cheesier Broadway dances are fun. Contemporary is…pretty, but not many of the contemporary dancers have been as versatile. Some have, some get lucky with a very strong partner, but they’re still not as versatile as those who come in trained in other styles.
I love SYTYCD – and I think it’s the best reality show on tv. Â I started watching the season with Benji and Donyelle, who still have a place in my heart. Â I also watch ABDC, and it’s been nice to see some SYTYCD alums over there (Hok and Dominic [D-trix], Donyelle, Phillip Shbeeb (sp?), and a couple of those bone-breaking guys from the auditions).
This year I went to see Newsies with my sister, and saw Jess, Alex Wong, Evan Kasprzak, and Thayne. Â And since I’ve loved Alex ever since his first audition, it was a happy surprise which made me love it even more. Â Last year I went to see Burn the Floor with my mom, so it turns out, I’ve seen a fair amount of SYTYCD alums without ever going to see their tour. Â Maybe next year…
I like contemporary, and even though I wasn’t as much of a fan of Travis’ dancing, I do like his choreo.  I’m not so much a fan of ballroom though.  It used to be quite rare that I ever got any emotion from it – it was simply technical.  But the choreographers have begun choosing better music and story, IMO, to make it more accessible – at least to me.  I’m still not a fan of the quickstep.  Twitch was almost my husband in that  see-him-on-tv-and-decide-you-must-marry-that-man kind of way.  I got over him.  But I still love his dancing and his style.
I can’t wait to keep up with the recaps every week. YAY!
I love SYTYCD. It’s basically the only reality show I watch, but I too usually skip the auditions though I’ll catch up with highlights if anyone is extraordinary.
I do however, like contemporary, though it can get a bit boring at times, depending on the choreographer and the dancers. I’ve always liked Travis Wall’s choreography, but more for the emotion he encourages in thew dancers rather than anything spectacular and revolutionary in the dance. I also love it when dancers can excel at ANY style, especially when some of the hip hop dancers rock contemporary or ballroom.
I like contemporary when they don’t have to tell us the story. When beforehand they’re like “This dance is about a son losing his mom!” I’m like “Uuuuum if we can’t tell from the dancing that this is about someone losing someone important to them, it’s a problem.”
I always forget who’s done what, but I really liked a few of the story dances (the one with the fighting couple that included Twitch, the one with the office argument that included “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”). But most of the contemporary dances are more pretty than memorable.