Dance
Keep Dancing
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Marianne Gunn
three stars
THE BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing programme has had lots of spin-off theatrical incarnations, but the glitzy January offering, although fluffy, does manage to recreate the Saturday night telly meets variety show vibe. With Keep Dancing this wasn’t quite the case, but there were three main draws for the audience, and Louis Smith, Strictly winner in 2012 and Olympic gymnast, was arguably the main pull. (Well, he had top billing anyway.)
Not without recent controversy, unfortunately Smith has the sex appeal of a sock drawer in this show, with his man bun and panto-style costuming. Dancing four numbers with breath-taking Anya Garnis (who reached the semi-final with Patrick Robinson from Casualty) Smith’s only memorable moment came in Act 2 with his comic Charleston with added gasp-inducing tumbling. This dance is surely the only reason he lifted that Glitterball trophy; this year, he’d be out already.
In contrast, Strictly dancers Robin Windsor and Anya Garnis complemented each other stylistically, and it was their rhythmic Rumba which really impressed. There was a nice arc of emotions as the ensemble cast presented Disco, to Big Band, to Tango and Jive in Act One and moved into much more Latin territory in Act 2, with a camp-tastic Gloria Estefan Medley to finish. For Salsa dance fanatics, it is worth getting along to see Yanet Fuentes (who studied at the National School of Dance in Havana, Cuba, and has performed worldwide with Shakira) to see how it’s done. There were moments when it felt like she was the only person on stage. Absolutely mesmerising.
The number which nearly got the desired goosebumps moment was Applause – an absolutely sensational piece of fun hand and arm choreography. It’s a seven from me.
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