15 of the best dance routines ever from So You Think You Can Dance

“The Bench Dance” (Travis & Heidi, season 2) – Contemporary

Choreographer: Mia Michaels

The rest of this list doesn’t really have any order to it, but if there is one routine that deserves the top spot, it’s definitely this gem from season 2.

In yet another Mia Michaels piece, Heidi and Travis performed to Celine Dion’s “Calling You” on a bench. The dance has been coined “the bench dance” for years, and it has been talked about for many seasons now.

Heidi and Travis start out sitting on the bench, when Heidi offers Travis a sunflower. The two seem to be lovers struggling, coming together, then going their own separate ways. The most iconic part of this routine is when Travis is laying on the bench and Heidi is underneath it, when they reach for each other’s hands. Beautiful! At one point, they sit on the edge of the bench, and Travis scoots away from Heidi. He gives her the sunflower, and then walks off stage, leaving her alone.

Nigel was touched by Mia Michaels’ routine, and that’s hard to do! The fact that it was set to a Celine Dion ballad probably helped a lot. Heidi, who is a trained Latin-swing dancer (just like her cousins, Benji and Lacey Schwimmer), was worried about this performance going into it, because she couldn’t get her body to do what Mia wanted. But she finally let loose, and gave a beautiful performance.

This routine won an Emmy Award in 2007 for Outstanding Choreography, shared with Wade Robson for his “Ramalama Bang Bang” piece from the beginning of this list. Both of those numbers have gone down in SYTYCD history, and thankfully they’ve gotten the recognition they deserve.

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Did we leave out your favorite SYTYCD routine? Let us know in the comments below!