Acrobatics dancers

There is something about shows like Dancing with the Stars/Jhalak Dikhlaja that really bothers me. On the one hand, I love seeing people dance! And I absolutely love seeing new forms of dances! When done well, these dances can really inspire one to learn dancing, explore cultures, and have fun with art.

But very too often, people come on these shows to do an extravagant dance with acrobatic lifts, jumps, and so forth. The audience feels a sense of wonder... the first time it happens. After a while, it just seems like one acrobatic trick after another. Great exercise, good circus, but is it dance?

Dance, like any other form of art, involves using a skill to express human emotion. A dance can be incredibly simple and yet express emotions wonderfully. Examples: 

And below 4:15 onwards:

Acrobatics can make a dance better, but only if it used sparingly to actually make the audience feel wonder towards some goal. When dancers use one acrobatic trick after another, the audience just feels desensitized to each subsequent trick. 

And at the end of the act, while one can concede that the dancers had good skills, there is no empathy or emotional connection formed between the dancer and the audience. Sometimes a simpler dance can be more effective!