Montreal choreographer Jean Marc Genereux says there were fewer "club dancers" at this year's auditions for So You Think You Can Dance Canada. "The clowns are not so tempted to come and shop at our store," he says, tossing off a typically colourful expression to describe the high calibre of dancers in the show's second season (CTV, 8 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday). Genereux, who works as a judge on the Canadian show and a choreographer on the U.S. series, adds that Canada can now boast it produces more than just great hockey players: "Canadian dancers have really proved that they belong to the world dance society." He's even pushing the series' producers to put on an international SYTYCD competition. "That would be a dream for me!"
When you watch the show on TV, how does it compare to what you saw from dancers on the stage?
Sometimes you look at it and say, 'Wow, I was impressed in the studio but I'm not so impressed when I watch it on TV.' Sometimes, in the studio I'm not impressed as much, and on TV, now that they've packaged it, I'm like, 'Wow, that's amazing.'
So when you judge the dancers, are you watching them perform onstage or on a TV screen?
You gotta watch the monitor because the audience at home will see things and if you comment about something they're not seeing, it doesn't make sense. So it needs to be fair.
Do you critique your own performance on TV?
Oh, I'm my worst judge! [laughs]And to follow up on that, my
wife is my worst critic. And I want it that way ... I'm very curious and
motivated at getting better at what I do.