Spotlight On: 'So You Think You Can Dance' Yes, they do
If you love watching "So You Think You Can Dance" on your television at home, you can now experience the excitement live, 8 p.m. Nov. 2, Sands Bethlehem Event Center.
"So You Think You Can Dance," a 13-time Primetime Emmy Award-winning show, is on a nationwide tour, making more than 70 stops with season 11's Top 10 dancers.
The tour features the most popular routines from the television season, along with a few original routines.
The Season 11 tour lineup includes Top 10 finalists Ricky Ubeda, Valerie Rockey, Jessica Richens, Zack Everhart, Casey Askew, Jacque LeWarne, Rudy Abreu, Tanisha Belnap, Bridget Whitman and Emilio Dosal.
Richens, a 20 year-old jazz dancer from Yorba Linda, Calif., who placed third place on the show, says the original routines are new and fresh. There is a storyline to the show that is incorporated in the transitions between dances, and the popular routines from the season feature remixed songs, added music, and new dance moves.
Richens says the tour is similar to the show because it features the same dancers, along with many of the same routines, except they now have the opportunity to have fun and perform for fans who come to see them. Because there isn't a competition anymore, there is less pressure on the tour than on the show.
"We're just really looking forward to meeting everyone who's been supporting the show and supporting us throughout the whole entire show," says Richens in a phone interview.
There are approximately 54 dance routines in the tour show, and about two or three of them are original pieces. Richens performs in about 15 routines, while Askew is in about 12.
"Sometimes, things get lost in the TV [show] just because it's a different media than seeing things live, and I feel like people will be able to see all of our passion and how much we love dance when they come to see us live," says Askew in a phone interview.
"I feel like a little bit of that is lost in the TV with all the camera angles. The show is just really us dancing and I think the best part of it is there's no fancy things like how the TV added another layer to it, and this is us dancing more for people who want to see us," says Askew, a 19 year-old contemporary dancer from Seattle, Wash. who placed in the Top Six on the show.
The dancers rehearsed intensively for 12 days before the tour began, according to Richens. Since there is a show every night of the tour, they rehearse right before the show by watching the video from the performance the night before, critiquing it and making necessary corrections, before warming up and practicing.
They haven't done the same show two nights in a row because of fellow dancers being sick or getting injured, says Askew. Essentially, a similar version of it is performed each night.