YOU have until this Saturday, August 17, to get yourself over to The Baxter for a performance that will raise your body temperature. The dancers of Burn The Floor are here on their South African Rebel Tour, and they are setting the stage on fire.
If you’ll allow one more indulgence, they are hot AF, in more ways than one. The cast is breathtakingly gorgeous, and their stamina and energy are incredible, as they whirl and twirl; this is ballroom dancing like you’ve never seen it before. And boy, do they work hard to get it this way.
At the after party on opening night, I was first of all impressed that the women still came out wearing their killer heels. Then I got chatting to Ben Hardwick (go look at his Instagram, you won’t be sorry) and he told me this particular company had only been together since just before this leg of the tour began, and their longest rehearsal was from 7am until 11pm. Can you even!
While you marvel at this stunning display, keep in mind ballroom dancing is also a competitive sport. Burn The Floor’s style is “international style” which has been danced in competition since the 1920s. Let’s take a moment to absorb that’s almost 100 years ago… International style comprises 10 dances, split into five Latin American dances (cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble and jive) and five ballroom “standards – waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, tango and Viennese waltz). Burn The Floor dancers have spent a lifetime training, and it shows.
The tour, which is celebrating 20 years of Burn The Floor, moves to Joburg next week, and thereafter Durban. For more information, click here.