Budget for your ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Audition

Millions of fans tuned in last night to see Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss, Katee Shean, Courtney Galiano, and Joshua Allen compete in the first part of the So You Think You Can Dance finale on Fox (NWS). Tonight, as the second night of the finale premieres on Fox at 8 p.m., one of those dancing hopefuls will be crowned America’s best dancer.

Think you can dance? You may have your chance; a fifth season is in the works.

“We have not yet announced the dates for the upcoming auditions,” says Michael Roach, the show’s publicist. “Auditions usually come around the winter.”

That's only a few months away! Here's what you might want to budget for, if you are serious about fancy footing your way to fame:

Pilates:
To increase your flexibility, consider taking yoga. Turn to Amazon (AMZN) for DVDs such as Yoga for Beginners ($9.99 at www.amazon.com) or even Pilates for Dancers: Get the Dancer’s Body ($26.99 on www.amazon.com). “If you’re not a dancer, jumping into a dance routine can be difficult for the body to take,” says Mika Street, a Pilates instructor at Uptown Pilates, based in New York City. “Pilates are modified for each person’s body and are a safe and effective type of exercise that can help you prepare for any type of sport.”
COST: $341.99 for three Pilates Classes (at Uptown Pilates) plus “Pilates” DVD.

Dance Lessons:
Free online hip-hop courses are available at www.hip-hop-dance.net. However, the lessons are not personalized and will require a little creativity on your part to design an original routine. Or you can find a real live teacher. Try Google (GOOG), search for dance studios in your city and then go ask for a referral. Or search dance-specific sites such as Dance.net, for leads and always ask for references. Then be prepared to practice, a lot. “The dancers you see on T.V. are not just naturally gifted dancers,” says Jeremy Finney, a dance instructor and member of Tiger Style Crew, a Kansas City, Mo. hip-hop dance group. “[They] put in hours upon hours of practice to get to the point they’re at.” (Finney says he puts in a minimum of 30 hours of practice a week.)
COST: $30-60 for a dance lesson with Finney.

The Outift:
While you may want to wow the judges with flashy clothes like the show’s host, Cat Deeley, certain outfits may be impractical for the occasion. This does not limit you to leotards and unitards, though. “Come dressed to impress,” advises Roach. This is up for interpretation, but as for necessities, start with a pair of good dance shoes. A pair of unisex Blitz-3 Dance shoes by Sansha are $29.95 at www.dancewearsolutions.com. Based on your style of dance, you may want to avoid jeans and/or oversized tee shirts. Dancewear Solutions offers crop hip-hop pants by Urban Groove for $29.95 for men, and dance sweatpants for women for $21.95. As for tops: a tissue-weight tee by Urban Groove for women is $16.95 and a men’s v-neck shirt by Balera runs for $18.95.
COST: $78.85 for men (around $68.85 for women).

Total Estimated Cost: at least $480.

AND DON'T FORGET Check Your Health Insurance!
There can be a hidden expense for your dancing, too. Dance can be rigorous on your body, and may lead to injury. It’s happened already on the show: Jessica King had to leave this season after facing an injury last month, and more recently, Mary Murphy, one of the show’s judges confirmed to People (TWX) at the Teen Choice Awards that two of the remaining four contestants, whose names were not released, were hospitalized last week (they’re back though).

So before you take the stage, consider what would happen if you were to be injured on the job. Health insurance is an issue to be taken seriously by independent contractors, a category which includes many aspiring entertainers. Check out MainStreet's stories on getting health insurance coverage and worker's compensation benefits.