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(ear)
Dancing in your mind's eye
Blaze: The Streetdance Sensation Birmingham Hippodrome ***** AS AN impressionable young boy, I sat with my brother and was mesmerised by Breakdance: The Movie. Such was the draw of what I saw, I was immediately drawn towards the Yellow Pages in search of formal breakdancing lessons. That was the end of my breakdance career. Alas now, not only am I
not a breakdancer but I am not even young, so it was with interest that
I visited the Birmingham Hippodrome to watch
Blaze: The Streetdance Sensation. How I wish they'd have had such a night all
those years ago. With various performances going on in the foyer,
prior to the show, it was an opportunity to appreciate the burgeoning
talent of Birmingham's youth. Not only did it make the preshow enjoyable
but it also heightened the sense of event to the whole night. Once the show did start - the audience was
sucked into the streetdance world. And what a world, with sets by Es
Devlin of RSC fame, it's vivid and witty and apt.
The artists themselves - 12 dancers, 3 breakers
and 1 MC - are superb. With poise and grace they make me once again
believe that I could break. Blaze is so accessible that there's
something for everyone and the crowd reflected that in it's eclectic
make-up. If you loved, So You Think You Can Dance then
the presence of Tommy Franzen and Lizzie Gough should sate you thirst.
But they're just the tip of an excellent show. Running at the Hippodrome from Thursday 7th
October until Saturday 9th, it's a recommended spectacle that might make
you want to dig out the Yellow Pages at the end of it. Recommended: For youngsters &
anyone who likes dancing Running Time: 1hr 30 mins Sum It Up in a Sentence: It's
like someone's tapped into your brain and created a show about how you'd
like to dance, then put it to a brilliant soundtrack. Theo Clarke
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