For those who don't know,
So You Think You Can Dance is a dance competition show on FOX that challenges dancers to perform in styles outside of their element -- break dancers try ballroom, salsa dancers try hip hop, contemporary dancers even try bollywood dancing, etc. It is one of my and
Katie's favorite shows, so when the SYTYCD Tour came to the DFW area in Grand Prairie's
Nokia Theatre, we were very excited to see our favorite dancers live in person.
Now I've been to my share of concerts but never really to a dance competition tour... Not too surprisingly, they're very similar. The overcrowded parking, the long bathroom lines, and the high-pitched screams from middle-school girls were all there. Another staple is the ridiculously overpriced tour merchandise. One thing I noticed though is that the
SYTYCD merchandise embraced the show's dance roots and made it almost into a lifestyle brand for dancers and dancer wannabes. Of course there were the ubiquitous t-shirts, buttons, and posters, but the leg warmers, dance bags, and dance leggings were what stuck out. What drove it home for a lot of the fans, I'm sure, was seeing the dancers themselves wearing the merchandise onstage in between their performances as they introduced the next one. This kind of promotion makes the audience want to associate themselves with the talented role models onstage and makes the brand into a badge brand.
At first I thought SYTYCD had played it too safe by not going all the way and embracing the dancer lifestyle through branded dancewear, leotards, dance shoes, etc. But thinking about it again, the SYTYCD brand isn't necessarily about professional dancers only. What makes it unique and authentic is that the dancers come from all backgrounds, whether professional dance academies or the streets. Street dancers don't wear leotards. Furthermore, the SYTYCD audience doesn't wear leotards. Keeping the merchandise accessible and within reach to all dancers alike as well as keeping their actual audience in mind, the SYTYCD merchandise is a great reflection on their brand.
Here's an example of a SYTYCD dance performed live on tour. Mark Kanemura, a contemporary dancer, and Chelsie Hightower, a salsa dancer, perform a hip hop routine to 'Bleeding Love.'