Dance Monsters Season 1: Review, Plot, Trailer, Release Date, Host, Judges And More
The concept of “dancing like nobody’s looking” is given a new meaning on the groundbreaking competition show Dance Monsters, which is the first of its kind.
Daring dances will be shown, but the dancers themselves won’t be onstage to give them.
The performances will be watched by a panel of prominent judges, a live audience, and viewers at home.
The human contestants on the show are each given a monster persona that they are required to dance as.
They will perform their dance movements off-camera with the assistance of cutting-edge computer graphics technology, while their monsters will perform for the globe.
You won’t be able to see the real people behind each CGI beast, but throughout the eight episodes of the series, you’ll get to know their stories and their struggles, and you’ll witness them overcome the physical and mental obstacles that have been preventing them from dancing professionally and living out their dreams.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the uplifting and entertaining Dance Monsters is right here.
Dance Monsters Season 1: Watch It On Netflix
Real people dance offstage as their avatars appear on stage in Dance Monsters CGI. A monster alter ego will be provided for each human contender to dance as.
The true person hiding behind the creatures, however, is invisible to both the judges and the audience. Although none of the dancers will be on stage, everyone will watch them performing risky dance maneuvers.
Some of the participants, who were clad in motion capture suits, could be seen discussing how they struggle with confidence in everyday situations in the video. Some people claimed they lacked confidence, while others claimed the performance had changed their lives and made them think they could be able to make a living as dancers.
Nevertheless, over the course of the eight episodes of the show, viewers will hear about their plight and hardships and witness how they surmount the physical and psychological challenges that have prevented them from pursuing a career in dance.
The series will consist of five rounds. Additionally, 15 monsters will duke it out in duets and individual dance bouts. In the opening round, there will be three heats with five monsters competing.
The two in the unsafe zone must compete against one another and win over the judges in order to advance on their adventure. The judges will then name three safe monsters.
Each heat will have one elimination, with the remaining competitors moving on to round two. Four monsters will be eliminated from each of the two heats, with the remaining monster moving on to the quarterfinals.
The remaining six monsters will advance to the semi-final after the elimination of two monsters from the quarter-final. From that round, only four will be able to participate in the championship. According to Netflix, the judges’ panel will ultimately choose one competitor to win the title of “Ultimate Dance Monster” and a $250,000 award.
Dance Monsters Season 1: How Audience See Them?
The contestants’ Dance Monster alter egos will be displayed to the crowd. While they roam about backstage, their characters will be seen dancing on the stage.
Until they leave the performance, neither the judge nor the audience will see their genuine face. Even the host Ashley Roberts wouldn’t know where they are directing the dances from.
Who will remain on the show and whose adventure will be cut short will be decided by three judges. Ne-Yo, Lele Pons, and Ashley Banjo are the judges on the panel.
Although Ne-Yo is a singer and songwriter, he has danced in music videos and live performances. He competed in Season 2 of The Masked Singer UK as well.
Fans can frequently catch Lele Pons dancing on Tiktok. She has 90 million followers online. Ashley Banjo, the biggest street dancer in the UK, is also a choreographer. He previously participated in and served as a judge for a dancing competition.
The monsters will demonstrate their dance prowess to the globe while discussing how their CGI characters have aided them in performing for the public, with host Roberts directing the audience and judges throughout the show.
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Dance Monsters Season 1: Review
The gameplay in Dance Monsters is simultaneously excessively familiar and pleasantly unique.
There is a really unique selling point here thanks to the skillful application of motion capture (and extensive, extensive editing that was done after filming), as well as some wonderful monster designs.
On the other hand, this comes at the cost of building a Frankenstein’s monster out of previous reality shows that we have seen a million times before.
This show is a hybrid of several different talent competitions, including X-Factor, Alter Ego, Masked Singer, and America’s Got Talent, among others.
The end product is something that can be played in the background without issue but is not likely to be something that brings in significant revenue on its own.
Dance Monsters Season 1: Plot
The concept is straightforward and involves 15 candidates being transformed into computer-generated characters through the use of motion capture technology so that they can perform in front of audiences.
It is, of course, the responsibility of the editing team to match up the dancers backstage with their digital avatars shown on-stage with audiences given how janky motion capture actually is in real life.
However, given how janky motion capture actually is in real life, this task falls primarily on the editing team.
The result is deviously smart for those who are at home, since they get the distinct impression that these monsters are genuinely on the loose.
In point of fact, however, it’s likely that these guys are reacting to nothing more than an empty stage.
As soon as that illusion is shattered, the audience’s responses, which consist of the customary flurry of clapping, gasping, and standing ovations, feel a little bit… staged?
Because, to be fair, some of the dancing is truly pretty remarkable and the idea of giving confidence to those who otherwise would not have the guts to get on stage deserves credit all on its own, I try to avoid using that word when referring to a series like this one.
In spite of this, it would have been interesting to witness genuine responses to these dance routines.
As the level of competition rises, so does the pressure, and all of the dancers continue to perform at the highest possible level until the very end.
Ne-Yo, Ashley Banjo from Diversity, and Lele Pons, who was the most followed Viner on the platform Vine before it was discontinued, are some of the judges that are participating in this competition.
Each of these individuals has extensive experience in the field of dancing.
A show like this is begging to have a “villain” in the mould of Simon Cowell who can be the harsh voice of huge criticism; this is something that has worked very well in a variety of other series that we have watched.
This is just one of the many reasons why Strictly Come Dancing and America’s Got Talent are two of the most popular television shows in the world.
In light of this, it is perhaps a little strange that Dance Monsters does not feature that, although to be fair, I can understand that this was probably done intentionally to keep this more upbeat and pleasant in tone.
The concept in and of itself is fairly strong, and the mixture of various elements is likely to be appealing to individuals who enjoy watching reality television shows.
The stage design, camera work, and overall judge set-up (with the female(s) in the middle and men on the outside) are almost painfully similar to what we’ve seen since the 1990s.
This includes everything from the stage design to the general judge set-up.
It was a stroke of genius on Netflix’s side to release this over the weekend and then drip-feed it over the next three weeks.
You can tell that they are counting on this bringing in a sizeable portion of audience members all around the world so that they can get into the groove.
Even if Dance Monsters does not march to the beat of its own drum, the dancing is sufficiently in harmony with what has come before to make it a series that is entertaining in a way that is both familiar and enjoyable.
This mixture of influences may not be flawless, and there is some roughness around the edges, but there is sufficient here to enjoy it in spite of these flaws.
Also Read: Is the Series The Watcher on Netflix Based on a Real-Life Event?
Dance Monsters Season 1: Release Date
This reality television show about a dancing competition will release new episodes every three weeks.
The premiere of the first three episodes will take place on December 16th.
The second collection of three episodes is scheduled to be released on December 23. On December 30, both of the series’ concluding episodes will be made available online for streaming.
Dance Monsters Season 1: Host
The host of the show is a human dancer who is best known for being a member of the band The Pussycat Dolls.
Although the monsters may take centre stage, the show is presented by the human dancer.
Throughout the entirety of the competition, Ashley Roberts acts as a tour guide for the contestants, the judges, and the audience.
Dance Monsters Season 1: Judges
Even while Roberts is present to host the event, she is not in charge of deciding which monsters move on to the next round and which are eliminated… A panel of three judges, consisting of Ne-Yo, Lele Pons, and Ashley Banjo, will be responsible for making this decision.
Ne-Yo is a dancer who has been in music videos and performed in front of audiences all over the world.
In addition to his work as a singer, songwriter, and record producer, he is also an actor.
Ne-Yo has experience competing under the guise of others because, in addition to his role as a judge on World of Dance, he participated in Season 2 of The Masked Singer UK as a participant.
As a result, he is familiar with the challenges that come with performing under a disguise.
Vine was the platform where Venezuelan-American internet superstar Lele Pons got her start in the entertainment industry.
Since then, she has been given a docuseries that is exclusive to YouTube, a podcast that is hosted on Spotify, and over 50 million followers on Instagram.
In addition to that, she posts dance videos on TikTok on a very consistent basis.
Ashley Banjo is not just the most popular street dancer in the United Kingdom (UK), but he is also a choreographer and an actor.
Competition programmes are nothing new for him, just like they are for Ne-Yo.
His dancing company, Diversity, was crowned the champions of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, and he has served as a judge on both Dancing on Ice and Got to Dance.
On Dance Monsters, there are 15 real people competing, but the audience won’t find out who they are until after one of them has been removed from the competition.
Therefore, you should expect to observe computer-generated creatures performing all of the dance.
Some of them, like the yeti and the mummy, are monsters in the traditional meaning of the word.
Dance Monsters Season 1: Trailer
However, some of them are completely original creations, such as a human made of marshmallows or a woman made of jellyfish.
Although it is a fun gimmick, the fact that these amateur dancers are competing while dressed as computer-generated animals makes this reality programme stand out more than it would otherwise.
As the audience members will find out, each genuine person hiding behind one of these monsters has a tale to tell about how and why their high-tech disguise has finally given them the courage to perform in front of an audience.
The fifteen monsters compete against one another through solo dances, duet dances, and one-on-one dance battles over the course of a series of five rounds.
At the conclusion of the competition, one of the participants will be awarded the title of Ultimate Dance Monster as well as a prize of $250,000.
Dance Monsters Season 1: More Details
We will begin with round 1, which will consist of three heats, each of which will have five monsters participating.
After each dancer has completed their individual routine, the judges will select three dancers to be safe monsters.
A dance-off then takes place between the two monsters that the judges consider to have had the least spectacular solo acts.
From that point on, one of the monsters is destroyed, while the other’s true identity is uncovered.
Twelve of the original fifteen monsters earn a spot in round 2, which consists of two heats with each including a competition between six monsters. This season, each of the heats will see the elimination of two dancers.
A sudden elimination takes place just after the solo performances, and one of the contestants is eliminated.
After that, the judges choose the two monsters who performed the least impressive dances to compete in another dance-off, this time against a professional dancer in addition to one another.
Once more, the loser is removed from the competition, and the identity of the person behind the monster is revealed.
The quarterfinal round will consist of two-on-two competition between the remaining eight monsters.
The four monsters who have received the most negative feedback from the judges are given the opportunity to redeem themselves by doing a 30-second solo freestyle.
Two of the monsters are knocked out, leaving six to compete in the semifinals.
In the semifinal round, the competitors are scored only on their individual performances, and the winner and two other monsters are determined based on these scores.
After that, in the championship round, four dancers compete against one another by performing unique solo dances.
Two are taken out of the competition right after the performances, and the two that are left compete against one another in the final dance-off.
Following the match, the judges will make their decision regarding who the victor will be.
Check out our handy guide to see who is eliminated after each set of episodes, and then hear from the contestants themselves (yes, the actual ones) about their experiences dancing in front of an audience when you are ready.