Recognised worldwide for their high performance standard, and as the “rebels of the ballroom” Burn the Floor are heading back to Australia stopping in the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth with their stunning new production.
Crafted over the past two years, With Brand New Music, New elaborate Set, and Costumes designed by the famous Rome Theatrical company D’inzillo, and with the groundbreaking Choreography of Jason Gilkison and Peta Roby, The new show has been staged to rapturous European and American audiences, and pushes the boundaries of Dance to new and dizzy heights, adding a “Rock opera” angle, and breaking all the rules.
With their champion dancers on stage Burn the Floor creates the “ultimate high voltage theatrical experience”.
Years before Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance turned ballroom dancing into must-see TV, Burn the Floor show was setting stages ablaze around the globe. Their debut show in London in 1999 has been credited a reinventing the Ballroom style and starting a new fashion and trend that enabled reality TV to showcase Ballroom and Latin dancing to the masses.
Today over 60 Burn the Floor accredited dancers star as professional dancers in “Dancing with the Stars’ and “Strictly Come Dancing”. In the current Australian series of Dancing With The Stars, nine of the professional dancers are from the Burn The Floor family.
Now in its 16th year, with four ensembles performing around the world at any one time. Burn the Floor can we seen on Norwegian Cruise Line ships, sailing every week out of New York, Miami and Barcelona. These shows are the highest rated theatre shows on the high seas, standing shoulder to shoulder with the best that Broadway can offer.
Burn the Floor has performed in over 300 cities around the world. Highlights include its 193 show run on Broadway, at the Longacre Theatre, two runs on the West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
The 2015/16 World Tour will cover South Africa, China, Australia, and Japan – for a record breaking 9th tour, before returning to the USA.
Jason Gilkison, the star Artistic Director of Burn The Floor and Peta Roby the associate Choreographer are bringing their global ballroom dancing phenomenon back home to Australia. The International cast of 20 including Champion dancers, musicians and vocalists are all hand picked from around the world to bring the best of the best to Australian audiences.
‘In all, the very heart of our show is constantly changing and it is simply defined by the spirit of the dancers and their rebellious nature. It is their energy that helps us create new routines and segments to ensure whether it is the audiences first time or tenth time seeing the show it is always new and vibrant’, says Jason Gilkison.
Peta Roby says “The Audience are in for a lot of surprises this tour, the show is brand new, the excitement amongst the dancers knowing that the Australian audiences will see this show for the first time, I believe will be an overwhelming experience shared by both the audience and cast”
The touring pace, the love of their art form and continual development of the show results in the team becoming like a family on the road. Heated creative input, on-road romance and dance fuelled drama brings the team together in an unbreakable connection that transcends the stage.
"Extraordinary! So hot it contributes to global warming -Burn The Floor will take your breath away." -
The Independent (London)
"Audience-Dazzling! Swiveling hips, steamy embraces and high-octane tempos. A nonstop display of pop variations on classic styles, performed with precision and polish.” - The New York Times
“Sizzling and sexy...pure, unadulterated entertainment...one is overawed by the spectacle.” -
Peter Feldman, artslink.co.za, July 18th
The back of house is as busy as the stage with 367 costumes and accessories and over 94 pairs of shoes being worn throughout the performance. A team of wardrobe professionals are at hand taking care of the 90 seconds quick changes. It is thirsty work with 90 Litres of water consumed at every performance and the dancers rehearse and train 4 hours before every performance to keep highly tuned.
Featured Dances in the show include The Spanish Flamenco and Paso Doble, Salsa, Tango, Cha Cha, and the Classics include the Waltz the Foxtrot and Swing, and Music including Santana, Led Zeppelin, Christina Aguilera, Janis Joplin and Tito Puente.
The Australian born Producer Harley Medcalf was inspired to create this production over 18 years ago with the original idea of Burn the Floor being born from Elton John’s 50th birthday party in 1997.
The concept has experienced challenges with economic rise and fall and geographical learning curves. The bond between the team meant these obstacles were met head on and success prevailed. ‘It has become a place of fierce commitment, application and kinship for everyone involved’ says Medcalf, who has been at the helm and takes pride in never losing sight of his goal. Medcalf states, ‘As a company, in 16 years we have created our own history and tradition, through the hard work, experience and absolute passion. This has certainly defined us as people and performers, and given all in the company strength to chase our dream’.
Burn The Floor, as a commercial product is a Theatrical Dance Theatre and over the past decade and a half, has toured continuously around the world.
To the international dance talent, it has a reputation as the “world toughest dance company” and it this what attracts some of the world’s elite dance talent and forms the incredible casts.
Over the past decade and a half, Burn The Floor has toured continuously around the world. For a dancer, surviving rigorous auditions and training, when they join the Burn The Floor company, they affectionately join the Burn The Floor “Family”. A place where their talents are developed and mentored under the watchful eye of both Peta Roby and Jason Gilkison.
