SHIPPENSBURG, PA – Emmy-award winning show, So You Think You Can Dance, lit up Luhrs Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 25 with electrifying and emotional performances from season 16’s top 10 finalists, all between the ages of 18 and 21. 

Dance Academy XIV, a dance studio in Shippensburg, opened with a dance to a “Barbie Girl” remix. With their high ponytails and bright pink leotards, the group of girls got the audience hyped up for the evening of dancing.

The dancers from So You Think You Can Dancetook the stage with a bold, hard-hitting jazz routine to, “This is Me,” by Kesha with solo features by each of those in the top 10, ending with a solo from the season winner, Bailey Munoz – the first b-boy to win the dance competition. The mix of white costumes that filled the stage left an angelic glow, even after the dancers ran off and hosts walked on. 

Together, all-stars Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer, season nine male runner-up and Lauren Froderman, season seven winner, hosted the evening of dancing. They explained to the audience that the tour was a combination of favorite dances from the season and specially choreographed routines exclusively for the tour. 

The two encouraged participation from the audience, resulting in a roar from the crowd. One man shouted from the front, center orchestra section, “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE,” in a low, vibrating voice. 

Throughout the night, Spencer and Froderman came on stage and introduced the dancers in between dance breaks. 

From Mariah Russell and Sophie Pittman’s sassy hip-hop routine to “Sally Walker” by Iggy Azalea, to Eddie Hoyt’s emotionally-charged, syncopated tap solo, the show was filled with diverse routines as the set design, a grid of multicolor lines that filled the back of the stage, lit up to match the style and tempo of each performance.  

While the show consisted of mostly solos, duos and small groups, the top 10 dancers came together towards the end of the show to perform as a group in a contemporary routine, choreographed by Travis Wall to Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times.” 

The audience could hear the breath of the dancers as they effortlessly flowed from one lift to the next. As the song concluded, dancers linked arms together as they traveled from the back to the front of the stage. With struggle, they removed their baggy shirts, revealing “enough” painted underneath. The audience reacted with screams and claps. 

With a change in the mood, the group performed an explosive jazz routine to end the night, followed by bows.

Shippensburg was the twelfth stop in the hit dance competition series’ 40- city tour, which opened in Atlantic City, NJ on October 12. Dancers will take their final bow on the tour in Reno, Nevada on Dec. 6

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