"So You Think You Can Dance" shows breast cancer struggle through art

'SYTYCD' Top 8: Melissa & Ade's Contemporary Performance @ Y! TV

After hearing the buzz about Wednesday's show of "So You Think You Can Dance," a weekly dance competition on Fox, I had to see Melissa and Ade's contemporary dance for myself. And you're right, it moved me to tears. Knowing the background of the piece and seeing the reactions it elicited made it even more moving. Choreographer Tyce DiOrio said he was inspired by a life-long friend currently dealing with breast cancer, and the dancers performed it beautifully, showing the despair, anger, and need for support that many experience with any cancer. Judge Nigel Lythgoe commented afterward that it may have been one of the most memorable routines on the show, which celebrated its 100th episode this week. "I think that has just shown me why I love dance so much," he said during the judging, "and that is because it can express so many emotions without use of words."Using various forms of art to portray the emotions of people affected by cancer--patients, survivors, caregivers--is healing, both to the artist and to those who experience it, whether it be art, music, dance, poetry.Even breast cancer survivor Olivia Newton-John commented, calling Lythgoe after the show to tell him the dance said more than words could. That it does, so I'll let the dance speak for itself.