So You Think You Can Dance is a franchise of reality television shows in
which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created
by producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has
broadcast twelve seasons since. Adaptations of the show began airing in
other countries in late 2005 and to date 25 shows have been produced representing
as many countries and comprising over 70 individual seasons. The most recent
series to enter production, So You Think You Can Dance Arabia, is set to air in
an as-yet undetermined number of additional nations.
Format Although each varies in the particulars
of its format and presentation, all shows in the So You Think You Can Dance
franchise share a premise of placing dancers—who come from a wide variety of
dance backgrounds and are often, but not exclusively, amateur or
semi-professional in experience—in a competition which requires them to adapt
to multiple styles of dance. As the competition progresses, a combination of
judge decisions and at-home-viewer votes determine which dancers will advance in
the competition from week to week, until ultimately one dancer is voted champion
of that particular season and receives a prize package that may consist of money,
work or training opportunities, additional material prizes and typically
the title of the respective country's "Favorite Dancer".
A show in the franchise is typically composed of three phases of competition:
initial open auditions, callbacks/finalist selection, and
finals/live performance shows. A given series or season may air only one show
per week during its initial airing or two, but rarely more; when two episodes
appear on a weekly basis, one is usually a "Performance Show", where the bulk of
the competitive routines are performed, and the other a "Results Show", in which
the outcome of the at-home-viewer votes are revealed and dancers are typically
eliminated from the competition. The initial open auditions are typically
held at various locations throughout the relevant country and are open to dancers
of varied backgrounds and experience levels, though generally there is an age
cap. Although usually unseen in the final aired edit of the show, some
productions may also hold producer auditions, in which the initial talent
pool is screened, before the televised auditions. The open auditions are
overseen by a panel of judges, typically experts in dance or the entertainment
field, who will select a portion of auditioners to advance in the
competition. The following stage, sometimes called the "callbacks" or
"boot camp," will further reduce this remaining pool of dancers down to the
season's "finalists", usually by putting the dancers through a series of short
dance workshops and routines while the judges evaluate their capabilities and
potential for the competition. The callback phase ends when the judge's
panel selects a number of season finalists.
Collectively the auditions and callbacks, being edited down
considerably, represent only a minority of episodes and are televised during the
first few weeks of a season. Following these episodes are the finals, in which
the remaining contestants are matched into male/female couples and are
assigned new dance styles—typically, but not always, assigned by a
luck-of-the-draw system—each week. These episodes combine stage performances,
short "behind-the-scenes" video packets of the dancers working with their
choreographers and each other to master the routines, and judge evaluations of
the performances to form the bulk of their run-time, occasionally
supplemented by guest performances. These episodes are also the point at
which at-home-viewers begin their involvement in the show - their votes
will decide which dancers remain in the competition as eliminations reduce the
number of contestants weekly until a finale episode in which the winner is
revealed. While most of the above are elements shared by all shows in the
franchise, entries vary considerably in the details; the number of finalists,
the number of shows per week, the manner in which judge decisions are weighted
against home-viewer votes, the styles of dance assigned, presentation style,
production values and even the number of winners are all examples of elements of
the format that have fluctuated throughout the run of the franchise.
Dance styles The following is a non-exhaustive list
of dance styles which have been featured on shows within the So You Think You Can
Dance franchise, with notes on nomenclature between versions. Only
styles featured in choreographed duet or group routines during the competition
phase of the show are listed here; styles featured only in solos or
auditions are not listed. Franchise index
Color Keys: Ongoing Discontinued Forthcoming
International competition In March of 2014, CCTV broadcast a
promotional episode in which notable dancers from the U.S. and Chinese
versions of So You Think You Can Dance competed directly against one-another as
teams. Titled Zhōngměi Wǔ Lín Guànjūn Duìkàngsài - Super Dancer Born Tonight,
the show was shot in Las Vegas but has yet to see a release or announcement in
the U.S.. The episode featured head-to-head competition between
"all-stars" in the form of solos and duets and was judged by an international
panel. See also
Dance on television = Similar shows =
The Ultimate Dance Battle Live to Dance/Got to Dance
America's Best Dance Crew Superstars of Dance
Dance India Dance Se Ela Dança, Eu Danço