Shut Up and Dance

Of Fancy Footwork and Straightforward Strides

A Media Shmedia column

by Scott Patrick Wagner

(The column that got bumped for space from the May 22, 2008 edition)

The funny thing is, my deadline for this column means I don't know which "celebrity" won Dancing with the Stars two nights ago. The funnier thing is, I don't give a flying jeté and you probably don't either. Granted, Kristi Yamaguchi has shown some deft technique, Jason Football-guy has shown some height, and Cristian de la Fuente has garnered spunky sympatico by dancing intrepidly onward with an injured bicep that still looks ready for porn work. But it's all a big tempest in a tutu, particularly compared with the series that premieres this very evening. With uncontrollable euphoria and abject apology to those who don't share my obsession, it's time for So You Think You Can Dance?! (It is unsettling to put the exclamation point of my excitement after the question mark of the show title, but my glee demands it.)

Biding my time in anticipation of this momentous week, I have vacuously occupied myself with another reality series about dancers, Bravo's Step It Up and Dance. Like the family pet who has been found chewing on the sofa, I feel mildly sheepish over the admission. Step It Up is a desperate mix of dance-competition program and interpersonal loser-drama; though the dancers have some talent, it is clear that most were cast because they would put on a spectacle offstage. In latter episodes, at least the producers have deigned to show us complete performances, instead of just snippets of dance and overblown reaction shots. But it's still manipulative crap, and I'm deeply ashamed. My dance jones got the best of me.

I don't mean to imply that So You Think You Can Dance? is not without its faults. In its early weeks, it can be almost as annoying as that other thing, going through the try-outs in a parallel to American Idol's audition weeks. And in season three, an injudicious amount of time was spent on up-close-and-personal backstories to the exclusion of some of the wild talent that walked through the doors (season two did a significantly better job of presenting mind-blowing dance stunts at the auditions, and hopefully season four will regain that skill). But when this show hits its stride, hang on. The combination of explosively talented kids and inventive choreographers makes for some of the most honest artistic expression on television.

The salient differences between Step It Up and SYTYCD led me to ponder a certain Presidential campaign going on these days. Maybe you've heard of it? Perhaps you've also noticed how our weekly newsmagazines have been spinning things. Newsweek presumes we want to hear how Karl Rove thinks the Democrats are doing; I'm sure Luke Skywalker wanted some fathering tips from Darth Vader also. Looking at the campaigns themselves, though, there is one aspect that exemplifies the differences between the two dance programs. (Yes, I'm comparing our Presidential election to dance reality programs. Shut up.)

Two of the candidates are mostly going about business-as-usual, slingin' the mud and stooping to the lowest-common-denominator sound byte. The third candidate (the Kennedy-esque one with the extra melanin) has been consistently doing something different. Like the honest smack of talent I get from watching the concentrated creativity of So You Think You Can Dance?, there is invigoration in the dignified moves of Barack Obama, as he insists on elevating the discussion to the adult level and treating us as thinking beings. Time quoted Mr. Obama with this: "I didn't get into this race thinking I could avoid this knd of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it." The hooplah over Reverend Wright inspired him to make a brave and thoughtful speech about racism in this country. Mr. McCain's comments about Obama being the favorite candidate of Hamas — as well as Bush Junior's speechifying in Israel that alluded to Hitler — were all met with precise and eloquent repudiation by Obama, with an undertone of "grow up." And while Hillary Clinton goes even more profoundly into debt with the Campaign That Wouldn't Die, Mr. Obama's coffers are flush from the support of coalescing Americans. I realize that Ronald Reagan felt there was virtue in leading us into huge debt, but I'd say there's a maturity in working within one's means.

I have tolerated Step It Up and Dance for the moments of dancing, and tried to inure myself as much as possible to the debasement. I think we have all been doing a lot of inuring over the past few decades, trying listen for the real issues in spite of the onslaught of spin and sensationalism. For those of us who earnestly crave the actual debate, the authentic conversation, there seems to be someone championing it. And he's not just a commentator or analyst — he's running for President. It's enough to make me want to get up and, um, DANCE.