One of my favorite parts of the summer is the large selection of TV dance shows. While I’m not a So You Think You Can Dance fan, it’s one of the many popular dance shows that came back on this summer. I meant to try to get into it, but I just haven’t had the time. I also don’t have cable (although I do have an antenna that allows me to get most network channels, it doesn’t really like Fox). There’s two other dance shows taking over this summer though: Dance Academy and Breaking Pointe. To me, they’re great for when there’s not as many ballet performances to go see and when I’m too busy doing other things to make it into the studio (although I’ll be there tomorrow night, finally!)
Breaking Pointe
Breaking Pointe first premiered last summer on the CW and featured company members of Ballet West in Salt Lake City. Although the show tries to amp up a lot of the supposed drama (especially through portraying Allison DeBona as a prima ballerina), there’s a lot of good content in the show. The show gives you key insight into what ballet company life is really like. While one of my favorite dancers, Katie Martin, will no longer be featured after her contract wasn’t renewed with Ballet West last year, I’m excited to see Beckanne Sisk again. Sisk studied at the Rock School in Philadelphia and is one of the company’s younger members. I’m also excited to see them show us the lives of the members of the second company, which wasn’t included last year. Breaking Pointe Premieres July 22nd.
Dance Academy
Dance Academy is an Australian teen show, but don’t let that mislead you. There’s lots of dancing: modern, hip hop, and of course, ballet and pointe work. Although there’s some teenie bopper drama, of course, I like Dance Academy even more than I like Bunheads, because it portrays teenagers struggling through a dance academy preparing them for a possible company role in Australia’s première dance company. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available on Netflix and season 3 just premiered on Monday. While the episodes are available in the US quite yet, the first one has already popped up on YouTube.
PS: If you like Dance Academy, many of the actors (Dena Kaplan, Tom Green, and Tim Pocock will be on Camp on NBC, which premieres tonight at 10.
Do you watch dance shows on TV? What’s your favorite show?
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