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Monday night’s So You Think You Can Dance began like every other episode this season, with the remaining 8 dancers joining the 10 All-Stars for a big, splashy group routine. But from the first lyrics of the song, you knew you were in for something special. Set to RuPaul‘s hard-driving club hit “Call Me Mother” and choreographed by SYTYCD alum (and former Lady Gaga lead dancer) Mark Kanemura, the routine was two and a half minutes of drag-inspired fabulousness and insanely intricate movement, and if it didn’t completely blow you away, I’m not sure what to do with you.
The “Call Me Mother” routine is only the latest highlight of a season that has been a huge creative rebound for So You Think You Can Dance, which, in its 14th season, is operating at its highest level in years, at least in terms of dance output. For what feels like the fourth or fifth straight year, this could be the final season of Dance, which keeps returning to the FOX summer schedule despite increasingly grim chances of renewal. (It would be pristine though terrible irony if the plug were officially pulled with the show riding so high creatively.) The last two summers featured a more gimmicky Dance, with a Hip-Hop versus Contemporary season two years ago followed by a Juniors season last year. Neither did much to move the needle (though the Hip-Hop v. Contemporary season featured some great dancers).
But this year it was back to basics, with the familiar wrinkle of ten All-Stars from the show’s illustrious past chosen to select and then partner with the top 10 contestants. The problem with the last six or so seasons of So You Think You Can Dance has never been the talent level of the contestants. This is a show that consistently selects wildly talented young people whose bodies can do things the rest of us could only dream about. But for whatever reason, the routines themselves felt lackluster. Perhaps it’s just the law of long-running reality shows, but while Dance fans could probably recite a list of 25 or more favorite routines from the first 6-8 seasons, you’d be hard-pressed to find that same level of recall from more recent seasons. Add to that the fact that the judging panel that has essentially decided to give up critique in favor of wild enthusiasm and celebrity guests, and you’ve got a recipe for undifferentiated sameness. This, by the way, is one aspect of the show that remains frustrating this season, with third judge Vanessa Hudgens an enthusiastic but generally unhelpful third wheel to judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.
But in all other areas, the Season 14 routines have been positively inspired. I’m not sure whether the choreographers got a kick in the ass between seasons or they’re just naturally energized for what might be the show’s final season, but for whatever reason, everyone from Mandy Moore (fresh off her La La Land triumph) to Luther Brown to longtime returning faves like Brian Friedman and Wade Robson, the routines have been thrilling and memorable.
Consider this routine by pop choreographer Brian Friedman, who has been part of the show since all the way back in season 1. Essentially a futuristic blind date, dancers Alison Holker (an All-Star from season 2) and 18-year-old phenom Logan Hernandez blow the doors off the place with their performance level.
Or this Broadway routine between All-Star Robert Roldan and contemporary dance Taylor Sieve:
So You Think You Can Dance has always been a unique star in the reality galaxy. Perhaps the most talent-forward show on television, Dance has made great strides in prizing strength through beauty, particularly the beauty of male dancers engaging with more feminized dance styles like contemporary and jazz.
Even more encouraging is that after many years of struggling to reconcile the essential queerness of dance with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe’s evolving attitudes about what male dancers should and should not be, So You Think You Can Dance has emerged as one of network television’s more fearless destinations for queer content. There was a time when Lythgoe would routinely be under fire for regressive attitudes about gender roles. There was the time he lectured a pair of male ballroom dancers for trying to audition together. He would constantly talk about the importance of male dancers portraying strength and masculinity. Male dancers who were clearly gay were never asked to talk about things like boyfriends the way straight girls were. These attitudes were certainly borne of a dance establishment (particularly ballroom styles) that had always clung to gender roles as an essential organizational tool, but Lythgoe always seemed extra rigid about making sure the boys stayed boys.
Over the years, though, these attitudes began to soften. In season 7, we got our first male/male contemporary routine that felt honestly emotional. And while it still featured some of the dance-fighting vestiges of old seasons, when any time two males partnered it had to be a comedy bit or a duel, it was hard not to see the Travis Wall-choreographed “How It Ends” for its romantic undertones:
If nothing else, last night’s RuPaul group routine, in all its high-drag attitude, was a triumph of So You Think You Can Dance‘s evolved queer attitudes. Just the choice of a RuPaul song spoke volumes about how far this show and the queer aesthetic have come. For years, any RuPaul song that wasn’t “Supermodel” felt like a secret code among drag aesthetes and other very cool queers. Now, with RuPaul’s Drag Race mainstreaming and RuPaul as popular and visible as she’s been in her whole career, her music is no longer just a shibboleth in the underground. And with queer choregraphers like Kanemura at the helm, it was only a matter of time before the flawless movement of the So You Think You Can Dance cast members met the fiercely confident musical oeuvre of RuPaul. This was a pop-culture crossover whose time has finally come.
