Actress-dancer Lauren Gottlieb reflected on how So You Think You Can Dance became the turning point of her career, revealing that filmmaker Remo D'Souza discovered her through the show and later cast her in ABCD: Any Body Can Dance, launching her journey into Indian cinema. As So You Think You Can Dance officially came to an end after 18 successful seasons, actress-dancer Lauren Gottlieb looked back at the show that unexpectedly changed the course of her entire career, from a contestant in the US to becoming one of the most recognized dance faces in Indian cinema.
Lauren, who participated in Season 3 of the globally celebrated dance reality show in 2007, shared an emotional post along with throwback clips from her journey on the series. While many dancers credit the platform for exposure, Lauren revealed that the show directly led to her Bollywood breakthrough after filmmaker Remo D'Souza spotted her on television and cast her in ABCD: Any Body Can Dance.
Reflecting on the impact the show had on her life, Lauren wrote "The end of an era 💔 So You Think You Can Dance has officially ended after 18 seasons 💫 I was just an 18 year old girl from Arizona when I stepped onto that stage for Season 3, back in 2007!! Not only was I part of my season, but I was lucky enough to come back again and again for the All-Star seasons too. SYTYCD was my home for so many years. But I could have never imagined how the show would completely change my future. Because SYTYCD aired globally, Remo D’Souza saw me and cast me for ABCD. A global journey was born because of DANCE 🥹. 19 years later I still have moments like two days ago when a flight attendant stopped me and said “OMG, I love you all the way back from So You Think You Can Dance!” That’s cultural impact if I’ve ever seen it!! Dance transcends language, borders, and every other barrier we try to put between each other. Dance reaches straight to the heart. And that’s exactly what this show did for so many people around the world 🫂🌎. To every single person who made this show what it was, cast, crew, choreographers, judges, our parents, and our fans - Thank you ❤️ Thank you for the memories and all the moments that changed our lives forever ❤️❤️❤️🫂. Now tell me your favorite memory, performance, or season in the comments…Let’s have one big SYTYCD party down there"
For Lauren, the end of So You Think You Can Dance marked more than the closing of a television show, it marked the legacy of a platform that connected international talent with global opportunities long before social media made cross-border fame common.
After making her Bollywood debut with ABCD: Any Body Can Dance, Lauren went on to become a familiar face in India’s dance and entertainment space with performances like “Bezubaan,” “Tattoo,” “Mercy,” and “She Dance Like” alongside Harrdy Sandhu. She later expanded into Punjabi cinema with Ambarsariya and was most recently seen in Single Salma alongside Huma Qureshi, Sunny Singh, and Shreyas Talpade.