So You Think You Can Dance

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show first premiered in 2005 and hosted by Cat Deeley. It has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big star. The show has won numerous Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography.

A mixture of contestants are chosen for the show, ranging from unknown street dancers to winners of national championships. Salsa, ballroom, hip hop, street dancing, contemporary, jazz, ballet and many other types of dancers can be seen auditioning for a chance to win the grand prize of US$250,000. All contestants have to work their way through a rigorous audition process. By the end of this process, 20 dancers of various styles are chosen to compete on national television.

Over the course of the show, dancers are assigned different dance styles and partners each week to test their versatility. The top 20 keep the same partner until the show has reached ten finalists. Between the top 20 and the top ten, viewers vote based on the couple, rather than the individual. Once the show has reached ten dancers, the dancers randomly pick their partner's name from a hat as well as their style(s) of dance. As well, during the top ten finals, each dancer does a solo, and the viewers have an opportunity to vote on competitors individually, rather than in pairs. When the season finale comes around, everyone dances with everyone else.

Permanent judges are Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Adam Shankman, all of whom have a very strong background in dancing, choreography and judging dance competitions. Mary Murphy herself is a former U.S. and Austrian champion ballroom dancer.

Dance styles

•        Classical ballet: the most rigorous and precise form of dance and includes techniques such as pointe work (i.e. balancing on the tip of the toe), turn-out of the legs (i.e. body rotation), and high extensions.

•        Contemporary: a genre of concert dance that depart from classical dance techniques by altogether omitting structured form and movement.

•        Ballroom: partner dances in both social and competitive contexts.

•        Salsa: a syncretic dance from Cuba, involving 3 basic steps in each 4 beat measure. The beat on which one does not step might contain a tap or kick or a pause.

•        Hip-hop: is often freestyle (improvizational). Hip-hop dancers frequently engage in battles or freestyle dance competitions. Dance sessions are usually performed in a cipher, a circular dance space that forms naturally once the dancing begins.

•        Animation: includes various robot-like movements and poses and the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body (a.k.a. popping)