Reviews 2010
Reviews 2010
✭✭✭✭✩
created and directed by Jason Gilkison
Mirvish Productions, Canon Theatre, Toronto
April 23-May 1, 2010
“Ballroom Inferno"
“Burn the Floor” is so hot it didn’t seem surprising when the fire alarm went off at intermission and helmeted firemen arrived. Luckily, the alarm was false, but the heat on stage was not. “Burn the Floor”, a dazzling showcase for ballroom dance, has been touring the globe since it first premiered in 1999. This is its fourth appearance in Toronto with an international cast fresh from a triumphant run in New York. The show simply bursts with energy. To take it all in, one go is not enough.
The show was created, directed and choreographed by Jason Gilkison. He and Peta Roby, became Australia’s most successful dance couple winning the World, British and International Ballroom Dance championships. The show was conceived as part of the celebrations for Elton John’s 50th birthday in 1997. Gilkison expanded the 20-minute presentation to a two hour extravaganza which opened in the UK in 1999. It’s now played in over 30 countries and, while the production in Toronto continues the North American leg of its world tour, a second production opens in London in July this year.
Gilkison’s approach is to stay within the parameters of the ten dances accepted for international ballroom dance competitions since 1920. Those ten are divided into two categories: the standard five--the slow waltz, Viennese waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and tango--and the Latin five--the samba, cha cha, rumba, paso doble and jive. In 1999 one might have thought that such restrictions would make for a stuffy stage show. Gilkison’s genius was to prove just the opposite. The dancers, all in their 20s and 30s, are revealed, quite literally, as athletes--the men often shirtless and the women often in barely-there outfits. Gilkison fully exploits the inherent eroticism of dance and sheer vitality needed to execute such complex routines. The show is so thrilling because Gilkison has pushed ballroom close to the acrobatic. The dances combine what looks like an impromptu release of energy with the utmost precision. People may be impressed by the spectacular lifts and dips, but look closer to the floor and you will be equally amazed by the dancers‘ beautifully synchronized footwork.
Unlike other dance shows like “Movin’ Out”, “Burn the Floor” has no plot or characters. It begins with a brief history of ballroom dance starting with the waltz, the oldest of the ten, and ending with the jive, the newest. The survey is a bit peculiar since in working through the decades Gilkison includes the 1960s, for which period he invents a kind on nondescript balletic mode for the jeans- and granny-dress-clad couple. The ‘60s, of course, started the trend toward non-couples dancing, diverted only briefly by the reign of disco. The survey sadly stops short of disco because the hustle, the basic dance step for disco, is not part of the ten official dances. The show then moves into a sequence heavy on the Latin five and light on the clothing. The dances come so fast, one blending into the other, that one is grateful for the two waltzes that slow down the action to help us (and, one guesses, the dancers) to catch their breath. The waltzes bring back into focus that ballroom dance is about beauty as much as power.
After intermission we return to more high speed Latin dancing and finally get a glimpse of two dances conspicuously absent from Act 1--the paso doble and, surprisingly, the tango. While the music features such ballroom standards as “Lets Face the Music And Dance”, “Sway” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing”, one of Gilkison’s innovations is to demonstrate that songs we usually associate with rock music actually are often built on rhythm suitable for ballroom. The most surprising example comes in Act 1 when Damon and Rebecca Sugden dance a passionate but elegant Viennese waltz to “Nights in White Satin”. The same occurs again in Act 2 when, instead of simply frugging to “Proud Mary”, the cast dives into a high-powered jive. These examples suggest that ballroom dance rhythms are still all around us if we look for them.
Some aspects of the show could be improved. The music is all pre-recorded although the percussion by Joseph Malone and Giorgio Rojas and the fine singing by Rebecca Tapia and Mig Ayesa is live. While it would be more expensive, a small live dance band would be more exciting and would allow for real interaction between the dancers and the musicians. As often with recorded music the volume was uncomfortably high. Gilkison emphasizes the Latin five at the expense of the standard five although he does seem to have some affection for the waltz. While it may be because there are already various dance shows devoted solely to the tango, it is odd that “Burn the Floor” should feature only one extended example of this much-loved dance.
Such objections, however, pale when compared to the overall effect of the show which is thoroughly invigorating. The 21 dancers seldom appear on stage at the same time, usually separated into two groups that pace each other off. While the show is really and ensemble piece, individual dancers do stand out. You can’t miss the Sugdens since they are given all the waltzes which they execute with wonderful fluidity of movement. You also can’t miss vibrancy of Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev, who fully embody the ballroom’s ideal of energy and precision. Garnis does the tightest, most exacts spins I’ve ever seen. Jeremy Garner and Sarah Hives glow with passion and one of their dances ends with a surprise flip that is simply breath-taking. Then there is Sasha Farber, sort of the joker of the troupe, who brings humour and verve to everything he does.
What a respite this show is from all the robotics that pass for dance in music videos and all the uninspired movement the mars so many modern musicals. “Burn the Floor” shows there’s a life and a future in couples dancing that too many modern choreographers ignore. Go see it and revel in its energy.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.
Photo: Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev. ©Joan Marcus.
2010-04-23
Burn the Floor