Slaughter on “So You Think You Can Dance”
Back in the Corps (that’s the Marine Corps, I can’t believe you actually had to ask) our Drill Instructors had a motto: Attrition is the mission. That is, their job was not to actually help us graduate boot camp – their job was to make sure we didn’t, by making it as hard as possible, trying to make us turn on each other, giving us tasks that forced us to either reach inside and pull out the strengths needed to help each other out, or just go home.
65 young men were processed in with me on April 8, 1988. 32 stood with me on the parade ground on July 1, ready to wear the eagle, globe, and anchor.
Reading about the results of "So You Think You Can Dance" from last night (on the very fun-to-read synopsis by Sabrina Rojas Weiss) I’ve got to think that they’ve got some drill instructors on the staff. I mean, she literally says, "…by the end of that round, almost half were sent home. After those odds, it’s a wonder anyone survived…" And the final trick, of breaking the dancers into groups and forcing them to come up with their own choreography, making them deal with each others skills (and lack thereof) and putting the burden of creativity, not just performance, on them…classic Boot Camp techniques.
It shows who can work together and who can’t, and who can stretch their skillset and who really are locked into their own world of dance. Honestly, I’m really sorry I missed it. Hopefully I can find a TiVo and catch tonight’s episode…
Tags: so you think you can dance, tv guide
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