Dance 100 sees hundred of the world’s best dancers being choreographed by eight choreographers who compete against each other to prove who among them is the “superstar choreographer” and worthy of the $100,000 grand prize.

Story

Dance 100 begins with a hundred dancers and eight choreographers who will compete with each other on the basis of how well they choreograph different quantities of dancers.

The eight competitors are Keenan, Brandi, Rudy, Rex, Janick, Akira, Max, and Celine. They must create mind-blowing dance routines to prove they are a superstar choreographer and take home the grand prize of $100,000.

Host Ally welcomes the choreographers and the hundred dancers picked from across the world, who will also judge the choreographers on their routines. The competition commences and the first round involves the choreographing of a seven-person group.

At the end of the first round, Akira gains zero votes and her journey in the show concludes. The second round sees the choreographers creating dance routines for teams of 14 dancers each. Rex and Rudy end up with the lowest votes and have to go home.

The next round involves choreographing 20 dancers while the routines include an “elevated” component. Celine and Janick get the least votes but they have to duke it out with a dance battle, winning which would allow the victor to stay in the competition.

Janick loses the dance battle and calls it off on her Dance 100 journey while Celine advances ahead. The next round involves the choreographers handling 25 dancers each and creating routines inspired by the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’00s.

Before the eliminations, the round persists and the choreographers are tasked with creating routines that have a narrative. Max and Celine garner the least amount of votes and are eliminated. Keenan and Brandi advance to the finale.

The final rounds see Keenan and Brandi choreographing 50 dancers and then a total of 100 dancers. The votes are in and Brandi comes out as the victor of Dance 100, taking home the grand prize as well.

Positives

The song selection for the various routines in Dance 100 often offers some bangers and modern pop classics that at least make up for the deficit of entertainment that the corresponding choreographies entail.

Every now and then, there are glimpses of an uncluttered and articulate dance choreography, where the routine doesn’t just look like the stuff destined to be in the background of whatever media project it’s made for.

Negatives

For a reality show about dance and the creative outlet that it offers for individual and collective expression, Dance 100 has a biting lack of creativity.

The dance routines themselves all blend together after a while, and the same moves can be seen time and again. The dire state of cinematography doesn’t help make the routines look any better either.

From the way the audience reacts in woos and boos, to the dancers/judges giving their confusing remarks and critiques, it all looks like an affair made by and for NPCs.

The repetition of the same format, right down to the piece-to-camera, and the goofy bits of not-believable-at-all drama become a headache really quickly.

All the performances take place at the same venue, with the same noisy lights and effects, often obscuring what’s going on with the humans shaking their legs with so much confidence on their faces and selling absolutely none of it.

Verdict

Dance 100 makes for a truly exhausting binge and falls short of even the standard of a general reality TV trash affair. In spite of talented dancers and choreographers, it’s neither the dance nor the presentation that manages to be engaging in any meaningful way.