Heads up Vikings a new, exciting competition is on the air. Dance Monsters, a televised competition for intermediate dancers, may have just taken competition shows to the next level. Using CGI  and motion capture technology, this show completely disguises its competitors as monsters in order for them to be judged by ability alone. Dance Monsters, first aired on Netflix on December 16, 2022, is a competition where a group of dancers compete against each other in front of a live audience for a grand prize of 250,000 dollars. The purpose of the show seemed to be an attempt to convey that dancers should be able to compete and be judged purely off of their skill rather than their appearance, which the show never fails to mention. In the first episode, we are introduced to the 15 dancers who will be competing in the competition. Each dancer undergoes a series of various challenges given to them by the judges. Initially the concept of dance monsters was groundbreaking, but once you overlook the cool tech of the show and the CGI magic, it does leave more to be expected.  

The show seemed like a copy of every single competition show ever. Though, it is important to point out that it wasn’t the dynamic or concept of the show that made it unimaginative, in fact they were both shiny new, but rather the people, or more specifically, the judges. The judging panel consisted of Ne-Yo, an American dancer and producer, Ashley Banjo, an english street dancer/ choreographer  and Le Le Pons a venezuelan actress, singer and youtuber, who has absolutely no technical experience with dance whatsoever. I mean that totally makes sense right? A dance competition that’s supposed to solely be about dancing ability being judged by a person who doesn’t dance? In competitions such as these where you are essentially deciding whether or not someone is good at what they do, one would generally hope, and expect, that the judges have experience to be able to provide ample reasoning for their judgements. Instead, we get Le Le, who for the duration of the show either fangirled over the performers or told them she’s just not seeing enough “personality.”  

  Not to mention we saw people like Jellifer who danced with Britney Spears competing against a group of people that was largely made up of some who never had professional experience before. That’s pretty unusual for an “amature” dance show. Though I do think it’s interesting how she didn’t advance far at all considering her background. Jellifer, as well as other competitors, was given the note that she needed more personality. That’s a pretty strange note to give considering that they are supposed to be judged on skill. Honestly the whole show contradicts itself. Rather than focusing purely on skill the judges still seem to let the characters, personalities and style of the competitors affect their decisions as if skill was an afterthought.

Which brings me to my next point. For a show entirely formatted around the fantasy of dancers not being judged on their physical appearance they sure do spend a lot of time focusing on the design of the monsters. There are even times when the dancers are told to add characteristics of their monster to the dance. This would be totally fine, except for the fact that playing the character was not part of the show description. This of course is a problem. However, the problem isn’t the concept of dancers being able to dance without being judged on their bodies, but rather the way it was executed. In order to really drive that point home, they should have fully committed to it. 

Overall, Dance Monsters was a pretty mediocre show. It was fun and new. But it also brought light to a bigger issue within competition shows and dance shows themselves. The concept was cool, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of execution and the inability to uphold its expectations. I’d give dance monsters a solid 2.5/5 since it is a quick fun watch but it definitely does not live up the hype competition wise. All this said, I think that it does inspire those who are new to dance to continue dancing and I think it is a good watch for ages 10 and up. The show hasn’t released a second season yet but it is possible they may do so in the future. So while this season may not have upheld the hopes I had for it, I am interested to see what is to come of the second season, if there is one.