Review: Burn the Floor, presented by Broadway Across America. Directed and Choreographed by Jason Gilkison. Featuring Anya Garnis, Pasha Kovalev, Ashleigh Di Lello, Ryan Di Lello, Robbie Kmetoni, Janette Manrara, Karen Hauer. Now through September 19 at The Paramount.
Many people aren’t aware of it, but “Burn the Floor” predates all the hot ballroom dance shows on television, the various incarnations of “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance?” that have become very popular entertainments in the last several years. The idea for “Burn the Floor” originated over 10 years ago when a group of young ballroom dancers wowed the guests at Elton John’s 50th birthday party. One of those guests, theatrical producer Harley Medcalf saw that show and the audience’s reaction to it and thought, “This could be the next big thing!” Despite the fact that competitive ballroom dancing had been a popular art form/sport for many decades, it had rather an “old hat” reputation, the domain of Eastern European dancers with impossible to pronounce names and a rather elderly fan base remembering the “good ole days” of Astaire and Rogers. It was not “cool” to be a fan of ballroom. But Mr Medcalf had the genius to think outside that box…ballroom dance had to be made “hot” before it could be made “cool”. Putting professionally trained dancers with rock-hard, muscled bodies into sexy, slinky outfits and having them tango to pop standards and jitterbug to Brian Setzer songs seemed the logical way to go. Nearly a dozen years and 4 million tickets later, Mr Medcalf would have to be called a genius for thinking outside the old school ballroom box and making something as cold as competitive ballroom dancing seem fresh, relevant and “hot”.
And, this show IS hot…smoking HOT! The 21 men and women in this company range from late teens to 30 and they are all fit, muscular athletes in the prime of their dancing lives. The opening number, “Ballroom Beat” had them pouring down the aisles of the Paramount, cha cha-ing their way to the stage and from my aisle seat I could count the “packs” in their abdomens…and, most of them come from countries on the metric system because they had a lot more than the standard American six…we’re talking 2% bodyfat at best on these kids! If you enjoy ogling ridiculously fit people do ridiculously complicated dance routines while wearing tight, sexy clothes then this show is more than worth the cost of admission. “Burn the Floor” is a fast-paced energetic, professionally staged and designed night of dance-theater that’s a solid entertainment value for ballroom/Broadway style dance fans and the entire family. It IS sexy, but, it’s a pretty wholesome brand of sexy…the kind that Del Monte wouldn’t have any problem with putting it in a can and selling at Safeway. There are a couple of “Fosse” style bumps and gyrations during the show but they were brief and far between…there is really nothing that would make Granny faint or prompt little Billy to ask embarrassing questions about “pelvic thrusting”. This ain’t Rocky Horror…
Which brings me to some slight carping. I had a good enough time at this show; it’s a well-packaged theatrical event with pretty costumes and colorful lighting and very attractive and talented young dancers performing professionally and with style and panache, and the audience had a GREAT time at the show, (the standard Seattle standing ovation, which the staging of the finale milked for all its worth). But…does it have to be so packaged and safe? The show could use a bit more edge to it…I’m not talking Mark Morris ballets or a Phillip Glass production number but the show does teeter into Vegas Revue Land on more than one occasion and once or twice it almost veered into Cruise Ship Cabaret for a moment or so. It would help if they found some better music; I’m a huge fan of the song “Sway” but is has become a ballroom dance show cliche. And both “Proud Mary” and “Turn the Beat Around” are great songs but they are waaaaay too corny and obvious to use in a contemporary Broadway style entertainment; they are both staples of cheap Vegas lounge acts and amusement park variety shows performed by eager young glee clubbers slumming during summer vacation. John Fogerty has made ENOUGH money from “Proud Mary”; spread the love and royalties money around and find some newer, fresher songs, please!
And, to end on a positive note, there really was some amazing dancing in this show. The diminutive Robbie Kmetoni, the winner of this year’s Australian “So You Think You Can Dance?” had a couple of funny smart numbers that played off his height, one involving bigger male dancers trying to keep him away from their girls. And, one of the slightly edgier numbers was the “Matador” that involved two insanely sexy matadors who kept flirting with the idea of dancing the paso doble with each other, in their rivalry to be the supreme bullfighter, but sadly, their lady loves showed up in the last moment to put the kibosh on that! It was really the only moment in the show that hinted at homoeroticism and it was very well danced and choreographed, and obviously, one of my favorite moments in the show. I just wished they had been brave enough to take it one step further and have the men DANCE with each other…it’s not SEX, it’s dancing and I don’t think the world would collapse in upon itself if two men did a paso doble together! Push the envelope a tad!
“Burn the Floor” plays at 7:30pm on Wednesday and Thursday nights; 8pm on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday night at 6:30pm with matinees Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 1pm. For tickets and more information go HERE!
-Michael Strangeways
