{"id":15601,"date":"2021-02-19T18:18:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T23:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=15601"},"modified":"2021-02-19T18:18:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T23:18:20","slug":"art-biz-with-liz-the-masked-dancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2021\/02\/19\/art-biz-with-liz-the-masked-dancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Biz with Liz: The Masked Dancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I found myself spiraling down a YouTube binge. One video turned into another until two hours had passed in the blink of an eye. Instead of the usual vine compilations, however, I watched clips from Fox\u2019s new show,\u00a0The Masked Dancer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While I only stumbled across\u00a0The Masked Dancer <\/em>this morning, I’ve previously watched a few episodes of The Masked Singer<\/em>, a singing competition television series based on the Masked Singer<\/em><\/a> franchise that originated in South Korea. In the show, celebrity contestants sing songs in elaborate, head-to-toe costumes that conceal their identities. Clues are provided throughout the season, and panelists attempt to guess the celebrities\u2019 identities. The panelists and audience members vote for their favorite singer, and the celebrity with the lowest number of votes is voted out and unmasked.<\/p>\n

The Masked Dancer<\/em> is fairly similar to its predecessor, though celebrities dance instead of sing. Dance genres include tap, salsa, and more, which is interesting given the differences in dance backgrounds among celebrities (some have extensive training whereas others have none). Like The Masked Singer<\/em>, the over-the-top costumes worn represent a range of characters, including Tulip, Moth, and Ice Cube in the show’s first season. Ken Jeong acts as a returning panelist from The Masked Singer<\/em>, with Brian Austin Green, Ashley Tisdale, and Paula Abdul appearing as new panelists.<\/p>\n

Luckily for me, I discovered The Masked Dancer<\/em>\u00a0mere days after the show\u2019s first-ever finale<\/a>, which meant that I didn\u2019t have to endure an excruciating wait to discover the identities of my favorite characters (spoiler alert if you click on the hyperlink). Of course, the hidden identities are part of the fun. There\u2019s one moment in the show where the contestants\u2019 voices are unmodulated for a segment called \u201cWord Up,\u201d and even then it\u2019s just one word. It\u2019s enjoyable to make guesses based on the celebrities’ dance moves and clues sprinkled in throughout the show.<\/p>\n

\"Image
“The Masked Dancer” Promo, Courtesy of Fox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dancing, humor, and mystery element all contribute to the show\u2019s entertainment factor. Of course, the show wouldn\u2019t exist without the arts and outside influences, either. The costumes in the show are intricate and zany, showcasing a variety of colors and textures. Ingenuity and imagination are necessary to create the artwork and actual pieces for the costumes within limited time frames. The dance performances, true to the show\u2019s name, reflect dance as a form of art. The mechanical side of the performing arts form is important, as are the sense of rhythm and expression of emotion. The show is also associated with music, important to both The Masked Singer<\/em> and The Masked Dancer.<\/em>\u00a0Overall, The Masked Dancer<\/em> seems like an engaging show that I’d be interested in binge-watching again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, I found myself spiraling down a YouTube binge. One video turned into another until two hours had passed in the blink of an eye. Instead of the usual vine compilations, however, I watched clips from Fox\u2019s new show,\u00a0The Masked Dancer. While I only stumbled across\u00a0The Masked Dancer this morning, I’ve previously watched a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2196,"featured_media":13804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1663,685,647],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15601"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15605,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15601\/revisions\/15605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}