# Street Dance of China (这就是街舞)

**Street Dance of China** (这！就是街舞) is a Chinese street dance audition reality competition series produced by the streaming platform Youku with the production company Canxing Culture, in which celebrity captains select and train competing dance troupes and a final champion is decided through individual auditions and team battles. The first season premiered on 24 February 2018, and six seasons had aired by January 2024.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://thetvdb.com/series/street-dance-of-china)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | "Celebrity mentors + professional dancers" reality show; four captains each build a team that competes in group dance battles until a champion is decided<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup> |
| First aired | 24 February 2018 on Youku; season 1 ran 12 episodes to 13 May 2018<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://thetvdb.com/series/street-dance-of-china)</sup> |
| Seasons and winners | S1 Han Yu (2018); S2 Ye Yin (2019); S3 Yang Kai (2020); S4 Ye Yin (2021); S5 Zyko (2022); S6 poppin C (2024)<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup> |
| Early reception | Season 1 earned a 9.5/10 rating on Youku and over 100 million views within its first days<sup>[3](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001870)</sup> |
| International reach | Season 4 drew 41,706 valid YouTube reviews, 71.0% of them in English; 51.02% of analyzed comments were positive<sup>[4](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1542139/pdf)</sup> |
| Adaptation | A Vietnamese version, *Street Dance Việt Nam*, premiered on 22 April 2022 using the original format<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup> |
| Industry effect | 2018 was called the first year of street dance variety in China; the sector counted over 5,000 training studios, 5 million annual trainees, and more than 300,000 practitioners<sup>[5](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0514/c1013-29985627.html)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Seasons

Six seasons aired between 2018 and 2024, each with a new panel of captains drawn from Chinese and international pop music.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>

- **Season 1** (February to May 2018): captains [Jackson Yee](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackson-yee), Huang Zitao, Show Lo, and [Han Geng](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-geng); champion [Han Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-yu).<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>
- **Season 2** (May to August 2019): captains Jackson Yee, Show Lo, Han Geng, and Vanness Wu; champion Ye Yin.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>
- **Season 3** (July to October 2020): captains Wang Yibo, Lay Zhang, Jackson Wang, and Wallace Chung; champion Yang Kai. Produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was credited with lifting public enthusiasm for dance.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://uploads.strikinglycdn.com/files/60d3ff62-7e15-4c06-a66c-e54fcb2c2fb5/street_dance_of_china_season_2_winner_captain.pdf)</sup>
- **Season 4** (August to October 2021): captains Han Geng, Wang Yibo, Lay Zhang, and Henry Lau; champion Ye Yin. This season was framed as a world challenge in which the star captains faced international dancers.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[10](https://dzb.whb.cn/imgPath/2021-05-12/50512.pdf)</sup>
- **Season 5** (August to October 2022): captains Han Geng, Wang Yibo, Liu Yuxin, and Nathan Lee (Li Chengxuan); champion Zyko.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>
- **Season 6** (November 2023 to January 2024): captains Vanness Wu, Jay Park, and Ding Chengxin; champion poppin C. The season was presented as the start of a new era, gathering top dancers from many countries on a single competitive platform.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIt1mwugZCw)</sup>

A seventh season was announced on 8 May 2025 by director Lu Wei and the show's official account, under the slogan "Battle for Burst", with the original production team returning, though no premiere date had been set as of mid-2026.<sup>[12](https://post.smzdm.com/p/a70ke805/)</sup>

## Format and production

The show uses a "celebrity mentors + professional dancers" model. In the first season, four celebrity team leaders, Jackson Yee (Yi Yangqianxi) of [TFBoys](https://www.edgepedia.org/tfboys), Show Lo, Han Geng, and [Huang Zitao](https://www.edgepedia.org/huang-zitao), selected and trained competing troupes from a pool of 390 contestants.<sup>[3](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001870)</sup> Early episodes were shot on a set built to look like an alley opening onto a street corner, and captains picked dancers by handing out a limited number of scarves; undecided leaders could call dance-offs between contestants.<sup>[3](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001870)</sup> Contestants performed in styles including breaking, popping, and locking, and the audition stage itself was set on the street rather than on a conventional stage, returning the dance form to its street setting.<sup>[3](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001870)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>

**Production scale.** The program was made by Canxing Culture (灿星制作), the company behind *Sing! China*, with director Lu Wei leading the first season. Canxing drew on its earlier dance shows *Dance Smash* and *China's Got for Dance*, and the first season's raw footage per episode exceeded 50 times that of comparable television programs, nearly 20 times that of *The Voice of China*.<sup>[6](https://tech.ifeng.com/c/7nKkoFfxyQd)</sup> The production described itself as a scripted-free "narrative reality show" in which storylines emerged from the dancers' relationships rather than a written script, and it invested heavily in street sets, post-production, and color grading.<sup>[7](https://www.jiemian.com/article/1968987.html)</sup> International choreographers, including Phillip Chbeeb and Galen Hooks, were brought in for staging and choreography.<sup>[8](https://www.jiemian.com/article/1922267.html)</sup>

## Cultural context and impact

The show arrived in the wake of a 2018 censorship directive telling Chinese broadcasters not to feature tattooed artists or representatives of hip-hop and other subcultures, which had stalled hip-hop programming after *The Rap of China*. [Street dance](https://www.edgepedia.org/street-dance) shows were seen as a way to keep the audience for hip-hop culture while avoiding the guidelines; Youku's *Street Dance of China* launched three weeks before iQiyi's rival *Hot Blood Dance Crew*.<sup>[13](https://radii.co/article/after-the-hip-hop-ban-chinese-tv-turns-to-street-dancing-shows)</sup> 2018 was subsequently described in Chinese media as the "first year" of street dance variety programming, and the show was credited with moving street dance from a niche, underground pursuit into mainstream visibility.<sup>[5](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0514/c1013-29985627.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.fx361.com/page/2022/0604/10383317.shtml)</sup>

**Commercial and industry effects.** Data from the Street Dance Committee of the China Dancers Association cited in 2018 put the sector at more than 5,000 training studios nationwide, about 5 million trainees a year, over 300,000 practitioners, and a potential related industry scale of 250 billion yuan.<sup>[5](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0514/c1013-29985627.html)</sup> A 2023 report commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism found that the China Hip-Hop Union Committee had connected nearly 3 million street dancers and almost 10,000 training institutions.<sup>[15](https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3457-Informational-Materials-20240712-498.pdf)</sup> The deputy director of the China Hip-Hop Union Committee, Wang Han, credited dance variety shows including *Street Dance of China* with a combined 50 billion online views and with helping street dance culture undergo a localized transformation in China, including fusing street dance with Chinese-language songs.<sup>[10](https://dzb.whb.cn/imgPath/2021-05-12/50512.pdf)</sup>

**International reception.** A study of Chinese variety shows on YouTube analyzed 41,706 valid reviews of season 4: 71.0% of comments were in English, 20.2% in Chinese, and 8.7% in other languages, and sentiment analysis classified 51.02% of comments as positive, 38.64% as neutral, and 10.34% as negative. The authors read the English-language majority as evidence that dance's cross-cultural appeal attracts audiences across language backgrounds.<sup>[4](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1542139/pdf)</sup> The format was also exported: a Vietnamese version, *Street Dance Việt Nam*, premiered on 22 April 2022 and adopted the original show's model.<sup>[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)</sup>

**Franchise extensions.** The series spawned derivative programs, most prominently *Master! I Want to Dance* (师父！我要跳舞了), which reached a peak Douban score of 9.3 and developed into an independent show, part of Youku's broader "This Is!" (这！就是) variety franchise that also included *This Is! Slam Dunk*.<sup>[16](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202011021425676211_1.pdf)</sup>

## References

1. [《这！就是街舞》, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%99%EF%BC%81%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E8%A1%97%E8%88%9E/22293892?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [Street Dance of China, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/street-dance-of-china)
3. [Pop, Lock, Break, Repeat: 'Street Dance of China' Wows Audiences, Sixth Tone (2018)](https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1001870)
4. [The power of cross-cultural communication: reception and impact of Chinese variety shows on YouTube, Frontiers in Communication (2025)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1542139/pdf)
5. [《这！就是街舞》热播 综艺带火街舞 跳进市场风口, 人民网 (2018)](https://culture.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0514/c1013-29985627.html)
6. [专访《这！就是街舞》总导演陆伟, 凤凰网科技](https://tech.ifeng.com/c/7nKkoFfxyQd)
7. [连台本都没有的《这！就是街舞》如何重新诠释网综真人秀？, 界面新闻](https://www.jiemian.com/article/1968987.html)
8. ["这就是"网综：一场共同长跑与升级实验, 界面新闻](https://www.jiemian.com/article/1922267.html)
9. [Street Dance of China season 3 winners and captains (fan-compiled PDF)](https://uploads.strikinglycdn.com/files/60d3ff62-7e15-4c06-a66c-e54fcb2c2fb5/street_dance_of_china_season_2_winner_captain.pdf)
10. [文化视点：街舞热度不断提升, 文汇报 (2021)](https://dzb.whb.cn/imgPath/2021-05-12/50512.pdf)
11. [Street Dance of China Season 6 official trailer, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIt1mwugZCw)
12. [《这就是街舞7》官宣466天仍无定档, 什么值得买 (2025)](https://post.smzdm.com/p/a70ke805/)
13. [After the "Hip-Hop Ban", Chinese TV Turns to Street Dancing Shows, RADII (2018)](https://radii.co/article/after-the-hip-hop-ban-chinese-tv-turns-to-street-dancing-shows)
14. [网络综艺节目中青年亚文化的呈现与收编, 参考网 (2022)](https://www.fx361.com/page/2022/0604/10383317.shtml)
15. [Report on China's street dance sector, FARA informational materials (2024)](https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3457-Informational-Materials-20240712-498.pdf)
16. [iResearch: 《这！就是街舞》触发优酷综艺内容履带式发展 (2020)](https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202011021425676211_1.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Reality and competition franchise editions › Dancing with the Stars and dance-competition franchises*

*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license