Sadler's Wells got steamy under the collar this week as the Peacock played host to Strictly Stars Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova in their West End debut show 'Latin Fever'...
The show follows hot on the heels of Raymond Gubbay's previous offering, Anton and Erin's touring production 'Cheek to Cheek', seen by this reviewer at the London Coliseum back in April.
Indeed, many of the same supporting cast were to re-appear decked-out in skimpy barbie-hued lycra & feathers after undergoing full-on 'Latinification' - sponsored by 'St. Tropez' (no, seriously, I kid you not).
Most notable of the corps was the terrific Emma Slater (an ex pupil of D & L), who for me stole both shows with her amazing blend of technical excellence, individual expressiveness and the infectious communication of her obvious love for dance. Plainly put, it was a joy to watch her move. More please.
The show offered 'Daz n Laz' the tantalizing chance to choreograph and perform their own showcase production. The programme pledged to 'capture the passion and vibrancy of Latin American dance'. The routines and costumes were indeed spectacular, but for me offered the audience a dumbed-down, steak-and-prawn-cocktail version of what Latin dance is all about.
This was underlined by the largely unimaginitive and predictable choice of music e.g. 'Brazil', 'The Coffee Song' etc. etc. etc. The sort of songs which feature on old-fashioned strict tempo latin dance CDs and don't really serve to fire the imagination.
The latin standards were supplied, semi-cheesily, by a latin band complete with both male and female singers. This made for a more interesting and varied performance than was the case with Anton and Erin's show - which relied on a solo singer, Richard Shelton - the self confessed 'Murderer from Emmerdale' - who belted out a string of Sinatra standards, with variable gusto and competence.
Both shows fell down bigtime during the many 'costume change' musical interludes, in that there was no visual backdrop to animate the stage once the dancers had vacated it. It would have been great to have been able to dim the lights and have some behind-the-scenes/talking heads footage rather than an empty looking apron and on-stage musicians who rather resembled a pack of rabbits in headlights.
Why not allow the backing dancers the chance to self-choreograph their own fillers for these sections, in a series of solo or duo 'spotlit dances', to show off what they can really do and provide a true modern interpretation of latin dance? Hey - just a thought...
Dance-wise, I found the 'very varied' programme not actually that varied at all, since the choreography was so heavily doused with elements of salsa and with generic 'latin' movements that were not correctly specific to each individual dance style.
It was impossible on a technical level to split the cha cha from the salsa from the jive from the swing - as all the flavours were stirred up in a big pot a bit like Eton mess. Exceptions were the argentine tango (which Lilia pulled off 100% more competently than Erin), the Paso (pretty hard to 'Salsa-fy' that one) and the rumba, a section of which I enjoyed the most of the entire show, as it was the most 'pure'.
Having said that, I realize I am rather a tough cookie to please when it comes to dance. Judging by the rapturous applause received at the end of the show - especially for the band - I have to tip my hat to Darren & Lilia in their correct assessment of their 'target customer base'.
They got it spot on that Joe Public who books a ticket for this West End experience is not looking for perfect basics, purity of form nor technical excellence. He is after 'pizzaz' i.e. frilly skirts, skimpy, spangly, gravity-defying, bubblegum-coloured leotards, 'proper dancing' i.e. lots of 'lively action', cheeky winks (or did Tanya Perera simply have an eyelash stuck in her eye for two hours?) and fixed grins combined with 'proper music' they have heard before on the telly.
Darren and Lilia take a bow and count the cash. You deserve every penny: you rule.
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