Burn the Floor - Dare to Dream is a celebration of Australian talent, and will find you clapping and foot-stamping in your seat
Presented by: Burn the Floor
Reviewed: 17 September, 2024
Crowds of all ages pour into Her Majesty’s Theatre, chattering excitedly before the sold-out performance of Burn the Floor – Dare to Dream. For many families it is a special opportunity to bring their children and share a love of ballroom dance, celebration of Australian music, or both. Our host for the evening is Phil Burton of Human Nature fame. Burton is effortlessly charismatic as he welcomes the audience, performing the first song of the evening He Don’t Love You.
Burton explains that he recorded the song with Human Nature twenty-five years ago, and Burn the Floor is celebrating its twenty-fifth year, which he calls “perfect symmetry.” Burton came to ballroom dance through his champion performance on Dancing with the Stars in 2023 (with his partner Ash-Leigh Hunter.) Tonight he performs with the live band, adding to the immense talent on stage and heightening the dance routines.
The majority of the songs are taken from the seventies and eighties Australia, although some more modern artists such as The Cat Empire, Jet, and Sia are also featured. The following song is a blues inspired cover of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. The dancers wear leather, tassels, and studs, with feathered seventies inspired hair. This is the first of several songs where the choreography plays with our expectations – the male dancers performing some impressive lifts with each other, not just their female partners. Burton returns for the next song, Stevie Wright’s Evie, tossing his hair along with the dancers as he sings. The female dancers perform together in perfect synchronisation. For Cold Chisel’s Khe San and When the War is Over, the set transforms into a smoke-filled dive bar where couples farewell and passionately reunite.
The talents of the dancers cannot be overstated. Their movements are fluid and masterful. The narratives they create within the world of a single song is astounding, using their faces and body language to act and emote. The talented band, dazzling costume changes, and set dressings add to the spectacle.
Burton is joined on stage by Adelaide’s own Mark Stefanoff (pianist and vocalist) and Tyler Azzopardi (music director, vocalist, and percussion) for a tribute to Smokey Robinson and mo-town. The audience are smiling and swaying in their seats, and not just because of the playful banter taking place between Stefanoff and Azzopardi, behind Burton’s back. The moments of comedy the performers manage to sneak in between the dances are delightful.
Burn the Floor is a celebration of Australian talent, both past and current. It is easy to see why it continues to grace our stages with different incarnations. A performance where it is nearly impossible to stay still in our seats.
Reviewed by Nicola Woolford
Photo credit: Amy Chong
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Season: ended
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