So You Think You Can Dance Tour 2008

Three cheers and then some to the So You Think You Can Dance creative team; their behind-the-scenes machinations made for a wrenching, involving 2008 season for contestants and viewers alike. The producers upped the stylistic ante—I mean, damn, krumping routines and Bollywood numbers? All while Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy, and a rotating cast of additional judges nitpicked the dancers' solo and paired performances with fine-toothed combs. These kids were sent through the wringer; even the most positive critiques came with caveats, and the harshest ones were nothing short of withering. The ability of some contestants to accept the most emasculating and cruel of judge responses with a smile was downright Olympian. Now the program is abandoning its sweat-slicked Las Vegas stage to light up one near you. Prepare to be dazzled, nay, made breathless, by Jessica King's tortured modern-dance contortions, by Twitch and Comfort Fedoke's deftly on-point street robotics, by Gev Manoukian's gravity-defying breakdancing stunts, by Katee Shean and Joshua Allen's uncanny ability to master and totally slay just about any frickin' dance medium thrown at them.
Sun., Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m., 2008