Bravo’s Work of Art and Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance head for the finish line with opposite problems.
The former arrived at the gate packing a fatal flaw: Of the 14 candidates, at least 9 were unsuited to the format. Week after week, we’ve seen weak after weak. Last night Jerry Saltz woke up to the problem and started blaming the victims, hurling insults at the artists. This show does not represent contemporary art, artists or how people talk about art. And yet, yes, I’m watching it. (Tick, tick: the sound of me wasting my life.)
The latter, SYTYCD, opened with 10 terrific dancers and one struggling to keep up, Jose Ruiz. During the season, Ruiz accomplished the impossible. He transformed himself into a professional, not that the judges appear to have noticed. The real problem is the risk to the talent. Three are out with injuries. Of the six left standing, Billy Bell is nursing a knee injury, Ruiz pulled a groin muscle and Lauren Froderman was hospitalized last night with what early reports call dehydration. This year the show’s on speed-up, with dancers being asked for more and more daring-do by choreographers. Will SYTYCD become known as dance’s chain gang?
Appearing last night with Ade Obayomi in a Stacey Tookey piece about two childhood friends who bump into each other as adults, Bell was breathtaking. Watch him on the link.
Work of Art does little for art, but SYTYCD has attracted a new generation of now passionate dance fans. Yes, it’s ham-fisted, but still glorious to watch.
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