What’s Worth Watching: Dance Fever
So You Think You Can Dance, “Auditions #1: Memphis and Dallas” (Monday, June 1, 8/7c, Fox)
The more things change, the more important it is that great dance remains the essential draw for summer TV’s best talent competition, So You Think You Can Dance. Even with a new team format in the show’s 12th season, pitting dancers with so-called “Stage” training against “Street” artists with presumably less formal technique in their raucous showmanship, the first round of auditions reveal that the standards are still high, the dancing still breathtaking.
The two-hour season opener, featuring auditions in Memphis and Dallas, introduces a new judging panel. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is joined by his old American Idol buddy, Paula Abdul, and R&B/pop star Jason Derulo, a crowd favorite who isn’t the least bit shy about playfully busting a move on stage when the occasion calls for it. While Dance‘s ratings have fallen in recent years, its cultural impact is significant—as witnessed by an all-star crew performing on the White House lawn, including this season’s team leaders Travis Wall (“Dance”) and Twitch (“Street”), at this year’s Easter Egg Roll. First Lady Michelle Obama declares herself a big Dance fan, and it’s not hard to see why.
