Dance show gets a kick in the pants

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This article was published 14/08/2010 (5866 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Can you feel the beat? The distinctly Canadian, dance-inspiring beat?

Jean Marc Genereux most certainly can.

"It’s impossible not to be excited about this," says the Quebec-born former ballroom dance champion, who’s now part of the celebrity judging panel on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. "There will be new choreographers, new conditions, new competitors — the format of the show is consistent, and we know which challenges are going to be more difficult than others, but we’re always surprised by what we find."

When So You Think You Can Dance Canada steps into its third season (Sunday at 8 p.m. on CTV), Genereux will be in his customary judge’s chair alongside Tré Armstrong, Luther Brown and Blake McGrath, offering blunt assessments and constructive criticism to the next wave of would-be Canadian dance stars.

The series has been a consistently growing success for CTV, growing its average audience from 1.4 million to 1.8 million from Season 1 to Season 2, finishing last fall’s run with a tune-in of 2.35 million for the finale that saw Lethbridge native Tara-Jean Popowich crowned Canada’s favourite dancer.

This year’s open auditions, which took place in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, drew a deeper and more multi-talented field than the previous two tryout tours.

"If people liked Season 1 and Season 2, they’re going to love Season 3," Genereux gushes. "The dancers who’ve showed up this year have been amazing — it’s kind of like we’ve found a new hybrid, dancers who’ve been watching the U.S. show and waiting for the Canadian show to come back, and they come in with a new kind of maturity.

"Traditionally, a ballet dancer will train in ballet and might stay in that discipline for the rest of his life; the same could be said for ballroom and five or six other styles. But now, because of this show, it pays to ‘cross the street’ and take a few lessons in hip-hop or something different. If they prepare themselves properly, it could really pay off in the long run."

Unlike its singing-contest counterpart, Canadian Idol, the auditions for SYTYCD Canada tend not to attract a large number of silly, talent-deprived but attention-starved "novelty" contestants. Genereux says that’s simply a function of the serious physical requirements of being a dancer.

"The dancers who show up are serious dancers," he explains. "Don’t get me wrong, we welcome everybody — we’re not going to refuse a guy in a pink hat and white shoes and whatever — but by tradition, dance is a more serious process. These kids work so hard, and they know how physically demanding it is, so they don’t come in and waste our time.

"We want them to have fun, but obviously (being silly) is not the fashion right now."

By the time SYTYCD‘s original tryout field is pared down to its Top 20 finalists, the skill level among the contestants is nothing less than stellar. But according to Genereux, being the last man/woman dancing on this show requires something more than simply being a great dancer.

"First, you need to be flexible, both physically and artistically," he says. "You need to be able to be versatile. Then you need to be mentally strong, because the challenge of performing week after week after week is so hard.

"And also, you need to be super generous — when you come on our show, we’re going to pair you up with somebody, and if you’re not able to share your emotions and your knowledge with that partner, it’s just not going to work. You can be the most flexible and talented dancer in the world, but if you’re not generous and you’re not willing to be a good partner, your time in the competition will be very short."

As a veteran with more than 200 international ballroom-dance titles to his credit (with longtime partner and wife France Mousseau), Genereux admitted that it’s a bit tough watching just one dancer emerge as SYTYCD Canada‘s favourite.

"I always find that to be the sad part," he said. "As a ballroom dancer, I can’t take a step without a woman; I can’t take a step without my wife. To see them crown only one at the end of the show is a bit difficult for me, but that’s the nature of the beast."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca