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Not very sexful
The best reason to watch the So You Think You Can Dance audition shows is the variety of performances by dancers who will never again be showcased as well as they are when they’re trying to impress the judges. Those who are their own best choreographers shine at this stage of the competition. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will do well later on, when they have to show versatility and the ability to learn choreography from the best in different genres. But right now it’s a different show than it will be then, and tonight’s season premiere was entertaining from start to finish. Especially the finish.

The b-boys, breakers and hip-hop dancers are the center of attention now, whether they can do ballroom, Latin, contemporary, jazz or lyrical dances or not. That weeding out process will come later, but for now I’ll take performers like popper Robert Muraine, who closed tonight’s show with a routine that I didn’t want to end. Neither did the judges, obviously, because they were riveted by his every move and let him go on and on. I was surprised that they put him straight through to Vegas without asking him to do some choreography first, but I’m glad he’ll have a chance to show he can do it.

This is also the time for novelty acts (like “Sex,” and three years in a row is enough) and heartwarming stories of courage, such as Laura Garcia, the visually-impaired dancer who was treated with the respect she deserved, both for her attempt and for the fact that she wasn’t quite good enough to move on. We could have done without Rijiy Ames, who might have been good, but we’ll never know, since the fact that he danced in his jockey shorts distracted the judges too much to evaluate him.

They showed enough good performances on this episode to give us hope for the season. This is better than the audition shows of American Idol, where bad is just bad. On a dance show, bad can also be fun, and good can be transporting.

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