J. Lo's 'World of Dance' offers $1 million payoff
Jennifer Lopez remembers her early days as a struggling dancer and wants to
offer hope to the next generation via NBC's World of Dance (Tuesday, 10
ET/PT).
Singer-dancer-actress Lopez and her fellow judges, Dancing With the Stars
six-time champ Derek Hough and singer-songwriter-dancer Ne-Yo, are offering
a path away from financial struggle with a $1 million prize for the winner.
The 10-episode NBC series, with host/mentor Jenna Dewan Tatum, builds off the
global World of Dance, which started as a single event in 2008 and is
now an international dance movement with video performances that boast 30
million online views per month. The competition will feature a broad range of
styles, including hip-hop, ballet and stomping, and dancers from places such as
Russia, Japan and Colombia.
"We have flamenco dancers, salsa groups, contemporary, tap. The variety
you're going to get from this is unlike any other show out there," Hough says.
Lopez, who also stars in the NBC drama Shades of Blue, says the big payout is especially significant in dance, which doesn't offer top performers the kind of money available in other artistic fields, such as singing and acting.
"You don't have lots of opportunities to make money, which is why people
evolve out of it at a certain point. Also, it's like (with) an athlete. There's
a stop date," she says. "So, to create an opportunity where they not only could
make a name for themselves and have an outlet in television but could also make
a million dollars, that's groundbreaking."
With such shows as Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You
Can Dance, dancers now can become stars, something that was much less
likely early in Lopez's career.
"Look at Derek. He tours with his sister Julianne (Hough). They sell out
venues doing dancing shows, because they're on Dancing With the Stars,"
she says.
Hough, who wouldn't rule out returning to Dancing With the Stars at some point, says he felt an immediate chemistry with fellow dancer Lopez.
"We had good banter. We're both very determined people. We share a passion for dance and we're still doing it," he says. "We want to share. We want to give back to the next generation of dancers and give them a real prize."
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