Imagine that, once upon a dance-time, Fred and Ginger asked Raymond Chandler to come up with a movie scenario.
Asked Groucho Marx for some deadpan asides and comedy capers. Had a troupe of hot-to-trot hoofers and cute chorines all waiting for the moment the director yelled "action!" Well that's what this latest showcase for Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone feels like: part dance extravaganza, part cod-film noir and part affectionate pastiche of all the boy-meets-girl rom-coms that rolled out of Hollywood in its heyday.
There is a plot, and thanks to chatty soft-boiled gumshoe Tommy Dubrowski (Teddy Kempner), we're kept abreast of whodunnit, leaving us to concentrate on what's afoot when Flavia (Sadie Strauss) loses her leading man to a murdering floosie but finds her ever-after partner in Vincent's Tony DeLuca. Not that the pair sashay straight to the obvious happy ending. Director/co-choreographer Karen Bruce sends them dancing down the "wrongfully accused" route which allows them to defy Tony's prison bars with a smouldering duet (set to Stand By Me) and later make a virtue of being handcuffed together in smooth, poignant elegance.
What especially impresses, however, is the fact that Dance 'Til Dawn isn't their earlier hit, Midnight Tango re- worked. There is a gorgeous mix of styles, everything from a waltz to a Charleston, and though it's hard to prise the eyes away from Flavia and Vincent, there is a fabulous company of sharp dancers on-stage too. The crisp, snazzy precision of the ensemble, the witty edge to much of the razzle dazzle - and the live music, from band and featured singers - deliver pzazz at every turn, while Flavia and Vincent's last Argentinian tango makes you wish they'd dance beyond dawn.
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