Hyperreal

Hey Folks,

Just back from seeing Strictly Ballroom Dancing at the King’s with a pal.

It was pretty awesome. All the dancers were fab, and the dances they did were brilliant. OK, there were a couple of things I could mention… Some of the guys seemed to get a bit out of time from the others now and then. And a lot of their ballroom dances were a bit same-y – once they’ve added in their showy style, much of the original dance gets lost under it all.

The “latin” dances they did were much better. When they were dancing Salsa, you could see the Salsa moves and be in no doubt what it was. Likewise, their Jive was a jive. (Nothing on the Modern Jive we do, though they might have had a touch more style than the average seen down the road at JJ’s… )

The worst thing about the whole production were the hosts, Lionel Blair and Jane McDonald. Although both of them are charming, entertaining people, the time spent listening to them I’d rather have spent watching the dancers some more.

They both danced and sang a bit. What Jane lacks in dancing ability she makes up for with her singing. And let’s just say that Lionel is a good dancer and leave it at that. However, I didn’t pay to hear Jane sing songs of her new album, (”only £11.99 at HMV.” ) And while I’ve no doubt that tap dancing is difficult to do, it just leaves me cold, so I’d say that Lionel’s two tap dances were probably one and half dances too many.

The most entertaining part with Lionel was when he got a lady from the audience up to dance with him. She was only on for about five minutes and her wit and charm put him in the shade. The lucky lady as well as dancing with Lionel got to dance a bit with all the male dancers there. Unfortunately no-one from the audience got the chance to dance with the ladies, much to my disappointment.

At one point we were “taught” Salsa. This amounted to the basic forward and back (mambo) step, and a side-to-side step. This was about the level of our very first warm-up of our Salsa classes, so whether it was learning Salsa, I’m not really sure. It was fun watching the rest of the audience try to shimmy though. (Actually, it was more fun watching the professional dancers shimmy! )

The dancers were from all over, including a Romanian pair who were latin champions. I think though that they only got to do a very small amount of Samba before being cut short. That was a disappointment.

There was a young couple there for whom this was their first professional gig. Ben Hardwick and Emma Slater. He’s only 18, and she’s only 16, but they were just as good, if not better than all the others. (I think there were a few other teenagers amongst the company though.)

Where have I heard the name Ben Hardwick before?

It’s interesting that the pre-advertised dance-off with local dancers didn’t happen. I wonder if it’s because they couldn’t find local talent, or whether they decided (as I suspect) that it wouldn’t fit the pace and style of the show.

Overall, a good night, a great spectacle. I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate some of the moves and style I saw, but somehow I don’t think I’ll be dancing very different come tomorrow night at JJ’s.

Anyway, it’s on all week. There were a fair number of unsold seats tonight, though I guess as the weekend gets nearer there’ll be fewer and fewer tickets left. So, if you’re looking for an entertaining couple of hours, get yourself along to it.

I’d give it a solid 7.5 out of 10.