Counting the beat

by MATT QUARTERMAINE

HOSTED by the empathetic Natalie Bassingthwaighte, So You Think You Can Dance on Channel Ten 7.30pm on Monday and Sunday, has the now fatigued formula of three judges deciding the future of young hopefuls in search of their 15 minutes of fame.

It features taut young things crying tears of sadness and joy. What distinguishes this show is that it has dancing, which to television is as visceral as a ripping Warnie leg break. Unlike singing, which personal preferences means you might rather listen to Celine Dion, while I'd rather take to my testicles with garden sheers, watching dancing is like scrutinising the Olympics; everyone feels some qualification to judge a physical performance.

I sit back, lounging on my couch, resting my stubby on my stomach shelf and say, "didn't get the leg extension high enough" or "only did two and a half pirouettes with a crooked left arm". My youthful dancing experience was the little known free form style of "Doing a Travolta and splitting my dacks" or the "Stagger to the dunny, I'm about to blow chunks". Never got musicals either; the songs always seem to stop the story and I preferred Fred Astaire dancing with a coat rack, rather than Ginger.

Astonishingly, the judges are well qualified and are not attempting to be the stars of the show - Jason Coleman, Bonnie Lythgoe and Matt Lee make their pronouncements intelligently, with kindness, sincerity, and passion for dance. Often using their byword of "discipline", they give the viewer insight and an appreciation of the hard work done to bring a choreographed piece to life.

Thank the big invisible bloke that young folks are doing the dancing, because they're selecting modern music. Unlike the Broadway melody hell that is Dancing With The Stars or It Takes Two the music for So You Think You Can Dance is rap , pop, electronic and a wide range of styles from artists like Rhiannon, Sia, Kylie, Ray Charles, The Chemical Brothers and a personal favourite, Sir Mix-A-Lot (Baby Got Back). The styles of dance can be tap, swing, krumping (combining elements of clowning and hip hop), jazz, breakdancing, ballet and ballroom (I've never been a fan of ballroom dancing because it looks like tippy-toe buttock clenching.) One couple even did robot dancing, which has me hopeful of some Sharpie dancing in the future.

How influential is So You Think You Can Dance? Every Sunday I'm taking my eight-year-old boy to breakdancing lessons. He'll be a fantastic dancer too, if great dancing is ever distinguished by being half a second behind the beat and watching what the person next to you does first.

It's such a huge phenomenon look out for the spin-offs; the search for Australia's best doctor called So You Think You Can Lance, Australia's smartest person called So You Think You Can Think and Australia's best little red engine called You Think You Can, You're Sure You Can, You Know You Can.

This story first appeared in Big Issue.

8 March 2008

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