Where in America is So You Think You Can Dance filmed in season 18?

So You Think You Dance season 18 has gotten off to a great start. We've made it through the first two days of auditions with a third on the way come March 18 and the Choreography round is just around the corner. With each new episode there's been growing curiosity about where this year's season takes place.

In the past, the series used to travel to multiple major U.S. cities to hold auditions but that wasn't the case for season 17 as they were held in Los Angeles, CA. If you pieced together that this season's auditions aren't taking place in the Golden State, you're right on the money. While the competition is set in a major American city, it's not LA. They're in the Deep South!

So You Think You Can Dance is filming in Georgia for season 18

The show has been filming in Atlanta at Pullman Yards which is located in Kirkwood. This is the first time in the show's run that a whole season is being filmed outside of Los Angeles. So You Think You Can Dance has also never come to Atlanta before this so it's an exciting time for the area.

If the name 'Pullman' sounds familiar, you're probably thinking of the Pullman Porters. The Pullman Company, who'd bought the property in 1926, were the largest employers of Black men prior to nationwide de-segregation. The sight was once used to repair cargo and passenger cars, and it's steeped in a rich history that began in 1904 when it was built by Pratt Engineering.

Before the space became known as Pullman Yards it was where fertilizer bombs were being made during the first World War. The Coco-Cola Company can also lay claim to a piece of its past as the business purchased the space before the Pullman Company back when the soft drink juggernaut was a start-up. Nowadays, Pullman Yards is known for being a filming location and event venue.

Atomic Entertainment purchased the space in 2017 and transformed it into the "entertainment destination of the south," as described by the famed locale's website. You maybe shocked to learn this but parts of The Hunger Games franchise were shot at Pullman Yards. Per Screen Rant, it doubled as the Hob in Catching Fire. Production returned for Mockingjay as well.

In an interview with Fox 5 Atlanta, So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley had nothing but good things to say about Pullman Yards:

"It's so amazing. Listen, I love it because it's so raw and the space can kind of become anything you want it to. But I also really love the fact that we're reusing a space, too. To me, that's really important. It's like rather than knocking things down, let's use them and let's use the history and kind of embrace it. So I'm really enjoying it."

There's one judge on the panel who's a frequent visitor to Atlanta and that's Maksim Chmerkovskiy. He's been coming to the city for quite some time with his dance studios, so he's familiar with the area and local businesses. From his perspective, the show has taken on the "vibe" and "locality" of Pullman Yards, and you can definitely see that from what we've been shown so far.

From where the audition room is to the waiting area, there's a warmth that can be felt even through our screens at home. It's all of the big windows and beautiful natural light pouring through them, plus the welcoming air of the city combined with the gorgeous brickface building. It feels tried and true while still being a bit edgy in a very Southern way.

It'll be interesting to see how Pullman Yards is transformed once the competing dancers are weeded down to the Top 10. It's going to be the space for the challenges they'll be participating in to replicate real world job experience such as dancing in a football halftime show. Considering the venue has been home to festivals, immersive experiences, political rallies, and concerts the sky is the limit when it comes to what the team behind So You Think You Can Dance can do.

Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more news and coverage!