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For real? The TV dance competitions that you love to hate--and hate to love.

Article Excerpt
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These days you can't swing a sequined dress without hitting a dance reality TV show. Every major network has its angle on them: from contestants competing weekly in front of a live audience, to behind-the-scenes looks at the lives of commercial dancers trying to make the cut, to "celebrities" paired with professionals fox-trotting their way across the stage.

The trend caught on after Fox premiered So You Think You Can Dance in July 2005, and that same summer ABC launched Dancing With the Stars, the U.S. version of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. Both shows reached huge viewerships, making dance an exciting and accessible art for both dance and nondance audiences.

But dance on TV is not a new thing. In fact, Dance Magazine had a regular column that started in the 1950s called "Looking at Television." It covered a range of cultural programs like Omnibus and The Bell Telephone Hour. These shows brought performers like Natalia Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev, Bambi Linn, Frederic Franklin, and others to the small screen. Then came hugely popular shows like American Bandstand, Soul Train, and Solid Gold, that gave nonprofessional dancers a chance to show off their social dance moves, putting dance in America in the spotlight like it had never been before.

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The current competition aspect was born out of the popularity of American Idol, a show that's also the brainchild of SYTYCD's producer and lead judge Nigel Lythgoe (see "A Man, A Plan, A Wildly Successful TV Show," Aug. 2007). And ever since, networks have been trying to reinvent it with new twists. But where do you draw the line? When is enough, enough? Dance Magazine has rated nine shows on a scale of 1-5 stars, based on their skill level and entertainment value. Here's a look at the dance reality TV series that you love to hate--and hate to love.

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