Dance 100

It's mind-boggling how wrongly this show was directed.

Zoom ins and zoom outs, fast cuts to nowhere. Showing the audience at key moments instead of the dancers (ie Brandi's reveal in the second to last episode happened off camera).

Directing a dance show is not about getting the action from multiple angles. It's about focusing on what's important and letting the viewers see the whole picture.

Ironically, the best way to direct a dance show is by doing it in the simplest possible way. A camera, in the middle, at a zoom level that shows everything and is as close as possible.

It's like being in the theater. What's the best seat? Smack in the middle of the room. Directing a dance show is about being brutally minimalistic with your directing choices.

Netflix produced a show that looked great if you attended the live show but looks terrible on the screen.

Plus, not letting the choreographers choose their own songs and at the same time giving them songs that fall more or less into the same genre made it even worse. Oh, and those cheesy, uninspired story themes? Who chose these?

The show doesn't work for 1 simple reason, it's not clear what criteria the dancers are judging the choreographers on other than they don't like them/their personality, or the way they communicate their vision, however that does not mean the dancers are voting for the best routines at all. It's disappointing as a viewer to see fun or artistic performances be judged so harshly, and to see choreographers that are pushing the dancers and delivering great performances be voted off for being "tough," in any industry leaders push us out of our comfort zones to reach greater levels. The show could have worked if there was a clearer judging criteria like points, or additional judges, or if there was an added element like the public could vote in addition to the dancers. At the end of the day, a performance is as good as the choreography, the execution, and how it is received by the audience. The dancers have 1 perspective, but they are biased because they are voting based on interpersonal relationships and not just purely on the execution of the dances.

I love the concept but the editing leaves a lot to be desired. I am only giving it a high score for the sake of some of the routines which were amazing and the dancers are very talented. I hope to see a better edited, scripted, judged 2nd season. The concept of the dancers judging the contestants is very cool but please don't just show 3 of them... The camera angles should be rearranged and the challenges could be better explained so that we can also get more engaged in the creative process. It gets better by the final but at that point you might just stop watching as the first episodes are a mess.

I would love to see this done with the choreographers getting to choose their own music and being able to switch out dancers that are being a pain. One of the "100" (Johnny) seems to be chosen almost every episode to give his (usually snarky, often negative) feedback on the dances. I suppose for "drama." Also, in earlier episodes especially, the camerawork doesn't allow us to enjoy the dances, with frequent angle and distance changes and cuts to the audience, sometimes every few seconds. At least that seems to get better after the first few episodes. Definitely has potential, but not there yet.

This show is supposed the be featuring dancers - and there are so many really talented ones. And the competition is to select the best out of 8 choreographers. But instead of letting the viewers appreciate the dance, we get constant, and way, way too many, cuts away to audience reactions. Plus cameras zooming around and OUT from the stage so it's impossible to watch and appreciate these talented dancers. C'mon directors - I've tuned in to watch dance!! Not audience and not swooping cameras!! There is a really missed opportunity here for an entertaining show. If there is another season, I'm hoping they will take on board suggestions to feature dancers please. And calm down that camera.