This week marked a very special time for Burn The Floor. On the 26th July 20 years ago, Burn The Floor opened in the UK, and 10 years later, it opened on Broadway, so what better time than now for the show to come to the Sydney Opera House.
I was privileged to go along to this one-night-only show and sit in the fourth row from the front. As a dancer myself, I was already so excited for a full-on Ballroom and Latin dancing show but I have to say, I was surprised I’d love it as much as I did.
The sold out theatre was mesmerised by every single dance and song. What I loved most about this show was the fact that you didn’t have to be a dancer or even have a love of dance to enjoy this show. There was something for every single person; young and old, male and female, gay and straight.
Every song was played live and actually sung by real singers, which just added to the beauty of the production. I personally love going to musicals and plays but this was the first time I have been to a show where it was strictly just dancing. No dialogue (besides being presented by the recent Dancing With The Stars Australia judge Tristan MacManus). I was pleasantly entertained for the whole 1.5 hours. I did not once take my eyes off the stage or start to think about other things, like what I am going to eat after the show. I must have looked like a kid in a candy store because I could not wipe the smile off my face. The entire performance made me so happy and just made me want to dance.
For a whole show not involving dialogue, it was created in a very smart way. Every single dance connected to one another and it involved many mini stories which, in the end, created one big story. Coming back to what I mentioned before about the show being for anyone and everyone. Every dance would have been interpreted differently but that is the beautiful thing about dance. It is a language in itself.
I really have to take my hat off to all of the dancers. Not only did they work really hard, exerted a lot of energy (and sweat) but they also had to memorise all of the dance routines and make them all real and relatable. Some of the dancers were incredible actors as well. The facial expressions some of them made just made the show! You could see the emotion on their face throughout a dance and know exactly what they are trying to portray in this ‘scene’ and what their character could be thinking and feeling.
For the lovers of Dancing With The Stars, you may already know that some of the professional dancers from the show, like Jorja Freeman, Gustavo Viglio, Marco De Angelis and Jarryd Byrne, were cast in the show, but also Dancing With The Stars 2019 winner Samuel Johnson and season favourite Olympia Valance came back to perform their favourite dances from the show. I watched every single episode of the latest season so I absolutely loved these parts of the show. With Tristan MacManus there, it only made sense, right?
Tristan also shared his story with Burn The Floor and why he loves and treasures the production so much. Many of you may already know that Tristan toured with Burn The Floor for 5 years but did you know, Burn The Floor is really the reason why he is a professional dancer today. Just when Tristan was about to give up dancing, he was made to go along to see Burn The Floor and the show sparked the love and passion of dance back into him and he made the decision right then and there to pursue his dream and never give up, but he only wanted to do it with that company. If he hadn’t have toured with Burn The Floor, he wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to go on Dancing With The Stars and do all of the amazing things he has achieved in his career so far. You can definitely see why it is his all-time favourite show now.
I really wish this show was on for more than one day in Sydney because I really want to see it again and take all of my friends and family to experience the magic and passion of dance that I have experienced.
The only negative I could think of was sometimes when all of the dancers were on stage performing, there were a couple of routines going on at the same time and it was a little too much to look at. You didn’t know where to look…but too much dancing is a good thing, right?
In conclusion, if you ever see Burn The Floor showing in another city around the world, buy your tickets IMMEDIATELY and experience a night of dance that you will never forget. Trust me, you will not be disappointed! You will come back and thank me.
Rating: 9.5/10
Did you attend this amazing show too? Let us know by commenting below.
Written by Lauren Yeates
