Burn the Floor is aptly titled. The show features sixteen ballroom dancers, split between men and women, who make fire with their feet as they interpret in virtuouso, redhot fashion such dances as the foxtrot, Lindy hop, samba, salsa, Quickstep, Paso Doble and tango. Each dancer is a world-class performer, having won more than a hundred dance titles between them.
Represented in the San Francisco edition of the show (Floor premiered in the UK in 1999 and has been seen internationally by an estimated three million people) are dancers from 14 countries, raging in ages from 18 to 30 (including three married couples).
Decked out in array of dazzling costumes, backed up by taped orchestral music, two live percussionists and two vocalists, the dancers take turns on stage, sometimes dancing in twos and fours, other times as a company. Just about every emotion and desire is conveyed by these extraordinary performers -- sex, love, romance, anger, joy and lashings of Latin spice.
The action is non-stop; there is even dancing during the act break: video footage of famous ballroom dancers from the last century, including the parents of Burn the Floor's original creators, the Australians Sam Gilkison & Peta Roby.
Floor is, then, a love-letter to the history and art of ballroom dancing. Such TV shows as "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing with the Stars" have been inspired by Floor and have, in turn, fueled the show's continuing success.
