So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 3 is well on it’s way. A big hit with both Canadian and American audiences the Canadian franchise of the Emmy winning show started as soon as the U.S. one ended. So You think You Can Dance Canada or SYTYCDC for short started on August 15th on CTV.

SYTYCDC show consists of  four permanent judges: Tre Armstrong, Jean Marc Generoux, Blake McGrath and Luther Brown. Numerous guest judges also join the panel throught the show, such as Mary ( the screamer) and on tonight’s show one of Canada’s principal ballet dancers, Rex Harrington. Leah Miller is the host of the show.

We glanced at the preliminary Canada wide dance auditions, but really focused in on the SYTYCD Canada with the finals which started tonight and continue on Sunday. This is where the show gets INTENSE! By the end of tonight’s episode the judges were down to 50 dancers.

To recap the finals episode: first thing off the bat, we give the producers and the judges huge credit for having a lot of heart and supporting a handicapable dancer by the name of Luca “Lazy Legs” from Montreal. The dancer who was paralized from the waist down walks with crutches but when it comes to hip hop dancing he is right there with some of the top dancers! Luca really showed some incredible hip hop moves. He also improvised some very difficult theatre and hip hop routine choreography. There was not a dry eye in the audience and amongst the judges. And yes he was really inspiring! You can see some videos of him breakdancing here.

Next came the ballroom competition. Judge Jean Marc Generoux and his fiery haired and tempered dance partner and wife, France put on a wonderful dance routine of fast paced jive. They also entertained with their little jabs and bantering between each other.

The last choreographed audition came from judge Blake McGrath with a gorgeous contemporary routine.The routine even brought one dancer to tears. Even though he was eliminated,the young hip hop dancer said that he was really inpired by this’ the most beautiful choreography’ and that he will train hard to come back to the show next year!

Now it’s down to 50 dancers. We have our eye on at least 5 that look really strong. This Dance competition is tough because you can be a virtuoso in your own genre and be completely out of your element in another. We saw this with a young ballet/jazz dancer. Blake said she was one of the most talented and well trained in the competition but she kept sliding in just under the wire because she was having trouble mastering the routines for hip hop and ballroom.

In any case the show will get even more intense as the dancers get narrowed down to top 20. This is where the competition for Canada’s Top Dancer really begins. We’ll be watching and bringing you all the recaps!