|
Spring Dance at the London Coliseum
cheek to cheek
Photo by Ray Burniston
Starring Anton Du Beke & Erin Boag With Three times World Salsa champions Chris Marques & Jaclyn Spencer Special Guest Singer Richard Shelton Conductor Gavin Sutherland London Concert Orchestra
A review by Mary Couzens for EXTRA! EXTRA!
This programme functions as a live A to Z of popular ballroom dance, starting off with an intricate, Quickstep performed by BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing stars Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag to Louie Prima’s ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ finishing with a grand finale performed along with World Salsa champions Chris Marques and Jaclyn Spencer, and the entire company to Duke Ellington’s timeless classic, ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing, (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)’. I don’t pretend to be an authority on either ballroom dance, which I once gamely, but rather hopelessly struggled through a couple of lessons on, or television shows, as I gave up my previously lifetime affair with the goggle box several years ago in favour of higher education of the more live (and to me enlivening) kind. However, being from an era in which television viewers were exposed to stunning glimpses of cinematic history as a matter of course, I am very familiar with Fred Astaire and Gingers Rogers films, as well as those of one of my childhood crushes, Gene Kelley. Going on that grounding alone, I’d have to say that Anton and Erin are personable, very capable dancers who inspire one to get up and take to the floor, not only by the capriciousness of their steps, but also by the obvious enjoyment on their faces as they move through their well synched paces, cheek to cheek. As the strains of ‘Cheek to Cheek’ swelled from the London Concert Orchestra, sounding more and more swell as conductor Gavin Sutherland guided them along, star like lights shone behind them, highly appropriate for the ultra-romantic ‘Dancing in the Dark’ they seamlessly launched into before picking up the pace with Gershwin’s lively ‘I Got Rhythm.’ The first number of the programme, a Quickstep to Louie Prima’s ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ quickly became a group number involving the entire ensemble, men in black ties and tails, women in gowns of every colour of the rainbow. Great footwork: hop, slide, skip, twirl, hold the lady back to the floor, bring up the music and go back for more. For the next lively number, ‘Cherry Pink Mambo’, Salsa champs Chris and Jaclyn strutted their cha, cha, chas Latin style, hips swivelling as they twirled, clicked, swaggered and flirted, smooth and hot, and doubly sassy, she in scintillating pink fringe to match his shirt. Was the stage empty with only two? Not when they were these two. Anton and Erin returned for a dreamily gliding Viennese waltz, with Erin in glistening bridal white with mandatory satin pumps, Anton in tails. How her sparkling skirt swirled as they dance. Anton looked out at the crowd as though he was on cloud ten, which of course, he was, to be utilising the vast Coliseum stage as a ballroom floor. However, during moments of light-hearted bantering with Erin, Anton claimed their interactions with the audience were his favourite part of the programme, which may also be evidenced by the fact that in addition to his involvement with TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, he is also one of the presenters of BBC Two’s Up to the Plate, and appears on BBC One’s Hole in the Wall, as one of a team of celebrity captains. Following the introduction of guest singer, Richard Shelton, of Emmerdale and Rat Pack Confidential fame (Mr. Shelton played Frank Sinatra in that ill-fated West End show – The Rat Pack was the better offering of the two) for the James Bond number ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, the show seemed to take a seismic shift towards the cornier end of the spectrum, though, as they say, it takes all sorts to please all sorts of folks and no groans emitted from the suburban contingent comfortably installed in the stalls. After a solo swing performance by the orchestra of ‘The Girl from Impanema’, Shelton returned to sing Mancini’s ‘Moon River’, from that romantic favourite, Breakfast at Tiffany’s to accompany Anton and Erin’s routine, featuring Erin, being repeatedly held aloft in her aqua, satin skirted gown, topped by shimmering sequins. The pair glided as though they’d been fused together, small wonder, for they’ve been dancing partners, as Anton had smilingly pointed out during their conversational interlude for ‘twelve years, eight months and forty-two days.’ More confectionary colours, green satin with sparkles for Erin (who also helps design the costumes) this time, for some smoothly executed American Smooth choreography on ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’. A tangoed version of Sting’s early 80s hit ‘Roxanne’ wasn’t as palatable, with Anton and Chris stamping Latin style with none of the puzzlingly acceptable machismo flair of the native exponents of Tango, and the ladies, Erin and Jaclyn exhibiting what was obviously thought to be appropriately stolid expressions which merely came across as being rather condescending and totally unconvincing. The fact that I’ve been privileged to have seen some of the true artisans of Tango under the leadership of acknowledged expert, Miguel Angel Zotto at Sadler’s Wells during the course of my reviewing life has informed me. However, you can’t go wrong with Big Band sounds on such occasions, and the opening number of Act Two, ‘Opus One’ by Tommy Dorsey, kicked things off in the right direction, with the orchestra going solo all the way. The arrangement of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ which followed seemed subdued, almost to the point of being background music for a dinner party, with Anton and Erin, the latter in feathers a la Ginger Rodgers, dancing a Foxtrot. By this time, however, I was more or less convinced that ballroom dancing would never be one of my own personal mainstays of entertainment. But then along came Chris and Jaclyn in a Salsa version of ‘Take Five’ with plenty of kicks, twirls, writhing and smiles and the jury was out once more. Richard Shelton came on strong in the aftermath with ‘The Lady is a Tramp’, a song I’ve always loved, if only for the telling line, ‘won’t dish the dirt with the rest of the girls’, which I strongly identify with. However, there comes a time during the lifespan of every impersonation, no matter how good, where a momentary sadness comes upon me because I’ve never seen the real McCoy in action. But as Shelton’s singing style is more reminiscent of Sinatra’s rather than mimicking, which only the actor (a ‘loser’ on Stars in Your Eyes) in The Rat Pack seems able to do, my self-pity was fleeting. More jokes and questions from the audience, written on papers placed in a box in the Coliseum lobby just for the purpose, followed during which Anton acknowledged Erin’s ‘496 frocks’ to his, ‘one suit,’ and comically fielded a proposal that he pose ‘semi-nude’ for the Sept/Oct issue of Cosmopolitan, which had,allegedly been made by someone who worked for the magazine. Anton and Erin were in the stride on Irving Berlin’s ‘Cheek to Cheek’ though their co-dancers, Salsa champs Chris and Jaclyn seemed out of character. An ensemble performance to Gershwin’s ‘Strike up the Band’ got off to a frantic start but just as the company seemed to get into the swing of things, they hurried off stage en masse. Chris and Jaclyn’s Paso doble on ‘Malaguena’ was very dramatic, but it seemed as though their dramatic chemistry is a big part of their attraction, as the audience burst into applause following one particularly theatrical turn. Conversely, Anton and Erin’s Tango to ‘O Fortuna’ from Carmina Burana seemed decidedly anti-climatic. And the orchestra’s genetically modified; fast paced version of Sinatra’s classic, ‘My Way’ seemed tailored as if the audience’s short attention spans might get lost along the way, causing the song to lose any emotional impact, a path ‘Luck Be a Lady’ also dwindled down. By the time the orchestra hit it on ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’, I wasn’t sure whether it did even though the number’s intentional wow factors were overwhelming. In terms of ballroom dancing versus indigenous , native, colloquial or whatever you’d want to term it, dancing of the same styles, I’d probably be inclined to choose the latter every time. However, this show should be considered in the manner in which it is presented, as entertainment. That’s not to belittle the talents of anyone concerned, on the contrary. It’s just to say that the show’s rather frantic pace is geared more towards a TV audience than a theatre-going or more traditional dance one.
London Coliseum St Martin’s Lane, London WC2 Sadler’s Wells www.sadlerswells.com
EXTRA! EXTRA! www.extraextra.org
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved
|
