It's hard to sum up in words what Bailey Muñoz did out there on So You Think You Can Dance in Season 16. Every week, he was getting on that stage and moving people through dance.
For those who witnessed the first five weeks of Saturday tapings, they saw the magic in ways the television audience didn't. They saw the minutes upon minutes of standing ovations, the chanting of his name and the screaming for a b-boy who is small in stature, but mighty in heart.
In all of my years of covering SYTYCD — and it's a lot — I've never seen anything like it. He brought together a few hundred people in the studio audience at Television City in ways any world leader would kill to do. Whether it was a breaking trick or a Broadway duet, everyone wanted to see more of Bailey.
What's even more amazing is that the Top 4 were all worthy of winning the show. He had tough competition in Sophie Pittman, Mariah Russell and Gino Cosculluela, yet there was an extra spark of magic that we all saw in Bailey. You can't put your finger on it what it actually was, but you see it the moment he stepped on that stage.
Judge Nigel Lythgoe sometimes downplayed his technique, but the technique was always there. A dancer can't do a flare or an elbow hop without any type of technique and Bailey’s body slid right into that technique when he had a style that was outside his comfort zone.
Every dance was performed like it was the last dance we were going to see from him. The continuous praise never got to his head and the hard work continued each week. What you saw on your television screens was matched by that same humble and grateful personality behind the scenes. Bailey is the real deal.
With Season 16 firmly behind us, this season reminded us of the magic of dance and Bailey reminded us of the magic within us.
Congratulations to the entire Season 16 cast of So You Think You Can Dance!
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