Step Up or Step Out is a South African street dance reality competition television series produced by Endemol which showcases eight street dance crews and pits them against each other for a variety of prizes and the title of "South Africa's Best Dance Crew".
The series premiered on e.tv on Sunday 8 May 2011, at 18h05. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 3 premiered on e.tv on Sunday 23 June 2013, at 18h05. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 13 hour-long episodes in the third season, as well as 13 half-hour episodes of the companion/results show, Step Up or Step Out Flipside, broadcast on Saturdays at 13h30, from 29 June.
Synopsis
Thrills, spills and drama is inevitable as Step Up or Step Out showcases some of the hottest dance crews and pits them against each other for awesome prizes and the title of "South Africa's Best Dance Crew".
Step Up or Step Out follows the journey of eight street dance crews from across South Africa as they take on the greatest challenge: to execute thrilling dance routines to avoid elimination and dance their way to the top.
The various dance styles included in the show are hip-hop (including krumping, voguing, popping, locking, etc.), sbujwa, kwaito, pantsula and many more.
After a successful auditions phase, the judges are ready to crown South Africa's best street dance crew.
Viewers can enjoy action-packed dancing and performances and will be taken on a rollercoaster of emotions from the nerve-wrecking audition phase all the way through the intense workshop week (Sweat Week), where the dancers need to adapt to a variety of different dance styles.
Can an outstanding Mzansi street dance crew be equally good at gumboot or even Bollywood moves? Sweat Week will push these crews to their limits and their mettle will be tested like never before.
The process is simple: if the crews can't handle the pressure, they'll be eliminated.
The show was hosted by Dalen Lance for the first two seasons. He was replaced in Season 3 by Slikour and Tumi Voster.
Arthur Mafokate, Emile Jansen and Penelope Thloloe were the judges for the first season. Thloloe was replaced by Khabonina Qubeka from Season 2 and Arthur Mafokate was replaced by DJ Euphonik for Season 3.
The series producer is Josh Feldman and the series director is Neo M. Matsunyane. Phumla Mkhize is a producer and the executive producers are Charles Povey and Sivan Pillay. The title sequence music was composed by Lalela Music.
Format
After the auditions phase, the Top 10 groups are given a specific dance challenge each week, for which they must prepare a dance routine. The judges decide which groups will step up and proceed to the next week's challenge.
Each week, the bottom two groups battle it out in a freestyle dance battle. Based on their performance in the battle, the judges will decide which crew will step up and live to fight another round of the competition.
During the audition phase and the challenges phase, the judges decide which crew "step up" or which crew "step out". The television viewers vote for their winner from the final three crews.
The finale is a one-hour live show. This is where the three final crews perform and vie to be crowned the ultimate South African dance crew, and to win the grand prize.
The winners are crowned Mzansi's hottest dance group and win a grand cash prize as well as a host of other attractive prizes.
Winners
Season 1: The Stunners
Season 2: Tembisa Revolution
Season 3: Cyber-Links
Step Up or Step Out Flipside
With so much going on, there had to be another show to showcase some behind-the-scenes footage. Step Up or Step Out Flipside is the supplementary show that airs (every Tuesday at 20h30 from Tuesday 10 May in Season 1; on Saturdays at 13h30 from 5 May in Season 2; on Saturdays at 13h30 from 29 June in Season 3).
Step Up or Step Out Flipside primarily serves as the results show of each leg/round of the competition (based on the previous Sunday's performances).
The show also features exclusive footage not seen in the Sunday show, that chronicles the tears, tension and high drama of a competition of this nature.
These crews are going to tighten the screws and show the world that they've got what it takes to get to the top. A typical "Flipside" episode features the following:
Audition/Performance Show highlights
Dancer reactions: backstage reflections about how the crews think they did
A montage feature of some of the auditions not seen on the Sunday show
Shocker of the week
Star moments
The Reveal: which crews have stepped up to the shortlist?
Related Articles
Season 1
Got a dance crew? Step Up or Step Out!
Meet the Step Up or Step Out judges
CPT Auditions: Step Up or Step Out
Stunners grab Best Dance Crew title
Season 2
Call for dance crews to Step Up for Season 2
Step Up or Step Out Jozi Auditions
Step Up or Step Out: bigger budget, more depth
Can Dalen Lance dance?
Tembisa Revolution step up as hottest crew
Season 3
Step Up or Step Out calls for Season 3 crews
Seasons
Series exclusive to e.tv
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Premiere: 8 May 2011 | Finale: 31 July 2011 | Sundays, 18h05
Season 2 (13 episodes)
Premiere: 29 April 2012 | Finale: 22 July 2012 | Sundays, 18h05
Season 3 (13 episodes)
Premiere: 23 June 2013 | Finale: 15 September 2013 | Sundays, 18h05