Publié : sam. oct. 25, 2008 7:00 am
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Citation :YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
TheStar.com |
Canadians impress dance show diva
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Toronto’s Natalli Reznik.
Oct 29, 2008
When Mary Murphy raves about our Canadian dancers, she's not just blowing smoke up our tutus.
The vocally volatile So You Think You Can Dance diva – her banshee screech has been clocked at a decibel level roughly equivalent to a small jet engine – is back in Toronto this week to rejoin the judging panel of the choreographic competition's hit Canadian incarnation.
And "hit" is in this case almost an understatement. CTV has just announced that So You Think You Can Dance Canada is now the No. 1 rated show in the country, an unprecedented accomplishment in this season of highly hyped, back-to-back network premieres, averaging 1.36 million for the Wednesday-night performance shows.
"The talent you have in this country ... I just can't believe it!" Murphy gushed between autograph and photo requests following the Monday-night taping of tonight's show.
"Even at the auditions, the level was so incredibly high. I'm amazed at what they've been able to do here, and it's only the first year."
It was, she reveals, a different story four seasons ago, when the American show announced its own inaugural auditions.
Of course, they did not have the benefit then of their own eventual international success.
"We did have trouble finding dancers," acknowledges Murphy. "There was this perception that we were just another one of those `reality' shows and not a legitimate talent competition."
"It was pretty rough going that first year. It took us a while to figure out what worked and what didn't."
The Canadian show, she enthuses, already had all this and more going for it "right out of the box."
The challenge, then, for CTV's freshman franchise was to somehow approach or match it, and yet make the show their own.
Much as it may be a cultural cliché, there does seem to be a uniquely, politely passionate vibe that infuses and defines the Canadian contest. The communal connection between judges and dancers, and the dancers with the audience, equals and often exceeds that of its American equivalent.
And Murphy is genuinely thrilled to participate. "People are so incredibly friendly here in Canada," she marvels.
"I really am honoured and delighted to be here."
Murphy had a chance to directly compare the two, having spent the previous evening at the Air Canada Centre for the Toronto stop of the live American Dance tour.
To be fair, the ACC was not the best venue for what was, given our emotional investment in the individual performers, an incongruously intimate event.
Much as the instantly sold-out road show was tailored to recreate the living-room experience, with our favourite routines and best-loved dancers, and even with two large projection screens flanking the stage, unless you were seated in the first dozen rows, it came across more like Disney on Ice.
"It was maybe the wrong place to do it," Murphy concedes. "It really was just too large a venue, the biggest I have seen on this tour. They might have been smarter to split it up over two nights and hold it some place smaller."
Considerably smaller, with a seating/standing capacity of only 500, the Toronto studio home of the Canadian show is abuzz with anticipation as much as three hours early.
Those lucky few with high-placed connections, or who scored tickets in the ongoing online lottery, are assembled in an empty studio space, where they are encouraged to show off their own dancing skills on the "Cloverleaf Energy Zone" stage, occasionally accompanied by Snuggle fabric softener's life-sized teddy-bear mascot.
Later on, they will cheer the "LG Recap" – if nothing else, the Canadian show has learned the lesson of sponsored product placement from its American predecessor.
(It was, however, somewhat disturbing to note that literally every single one of these impromptu amateur performances – including one adorable young girl – devolved into a kind of awkward pelvis-pumping hoochie dance. What does that say about the youth of today?)
The audience was primarily composed of giggly, gaga teens – I'm telling you, there were enough braces in that room to lay track all the way to Moose Jaw.
But their unbridled enthusiasm was indeed well-founded, split between favoured dancers and teams, and the latest addition to the rotating roster of judges, ballet star Rex Harrington, who came up with his own equivalent to Murphy's infamous "Hot Tamale Train": "Sexy Rexy's Rocket to the Stars."
With another 30 countries airing their own SYTYCD, and 70 watching the original, it seems inevitable that they will one day all compete in an all-star international edition.
"Wouldn't that be something?," enthuses Murphy. "So You Think You Can Dance World. I think it'll happen. It is being talked about."
When and if it does happen, I'm betting we ace it.
MAD AS HELL Kudos again to CTV for their unflagging support for and relentless promotion of Dance. But a big slap on the wrist to their associated A channels for bouncing Sunday's Mad Men finale.
My email overflows with outraged inquiries from readers who do not get originating AMC. They will now have to move into caves or bury their heads under pillows for the week to avoid having it spoiled.
It was A channel that made the unpopular call – and to be fair, it was quite clearly listed in advance – when they secured the simulcast rights to the TV premiere of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Bad call, folks. A channel gets a D-minus.
source:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/526421