So You Think You Can Dance?

---

---

---

Shown above are three clips of solo performances from three different versions of So You Think You Can Dance? (Fuller and Lythgoe, 2005) The first clip is of Jason Glover during Season 5 of the original American version of the show. The second shows Talia Fowler from Season 2 of the Australian incarnation, while the last clip comes from the Scandinavian version's contestant Robin Peters.

As can be seen in each of these clips, the format of the show is virtually identical in all three versions -- right down to the set. Contemporary music, particularly American favorites, also tend to provide the sound track for the dance, with some variation. In fact, a critical eye shows that perhaps the only thing unique about each clip is the dancer and his/her unique style (the solo dances in particular, in contrast to the couples' dances, are self-choreographed).

This points to a strong homogenizing force in the franchise; in the absence of close familiarity with any version of the show, or any spoken dialog outside of the performances, a casual observer would not be able to tell that these three clips came from versions of the show in other countries entirely. Conversely, the deployment of this franchise is still fragmentary. You do not find audience members of one show having much context to speak with audiences from the other shows, since neither will be familiar, very probably, with the contestants from the other shows.

Perhaps, though, there is some strength in the show that stems from its cookie cutter programming. This homogeniety -- the format, the set, even the repertoire of music and dance genres -- can function as a sort of blank canvas onto which the contestants can stand out starkly in their individuality. The success model of the show would seem to thrive upon audience members finding at least one contestant to admire and empathize with. This is facilitated -- whether by design or simply by some egalitarian nature that the field of dance possesses -- by the broad spectrum of ethnic, social and formal backgrounds possessed by the contestants who are chosen for the show.

So, while the franchise programming in and of itself does little to bring people together on a global scale, it does create a common context within each market which promotes cultural hybridity in its locality -- that is, the nation. With the world's societies, especially in Europe and the English-speaking world, becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, a form of expression that has naturally evolved to be lend itself to fusion and fluidity across the borders of genres if not nations, might actually be a common ground of the small scale in which cultures meet -- in this case, around the proverbial water cooler as people talk about last night's show.