Burn the Floor

The original idea of Burn the Floor came in a burst of colour and energy. I was witness to a scintillating display of Ballroom and Latin dancing at Sir Elton John’s 50th birthday celebration at the Hammersmith Palais Ballroom, London in 1997. In the midst of a glamorous costumed evening, Sir Elton, the ultimate host, the party in full swing, 16 young energetic dancers mesmerized the packed room in a 10 minute dance display. For me it was just the spark of an idea then. I was soon to meet and discover… Show more the Ballroom dance world, its people with their intensity, commitment, discipline and work ethic. These ideas would become my inspiration. It was the dancers themselves that provided the real motivation, their good nature, openness and sheer talent combined with a burning passion and love of dance. It was 18 months before I gathered the first team together, a core of dancers and designers in a London ten day workshop late in 1998. A quest to combine the natural chemistry and personal values of the individual dancers with aspects of modern theatre technology. Small pieces of choreography from Anthony Van Laast, costume ideas from Bonita Bryg and lighting by Patrick Woodroffe, set by Marc Fischer, became our original design team; we rehearsed and stitched together the initial pieces day after day at Pinewood Studios. The results were spectacular on film, creating strong images and magnifying personalities. The result bought us a commitment from Universal to support us for a full-length show that we would produce specifically for film. A genuine buzz began in the Ballroom and Latin dance environment, sending new dancers our way, all with ideas and excitement. The frantic rush to deliver the show by June of 1999 began. Sets, costumes, choreography, all focused on a World Premiere in Bournemouth. We were to film all three planned shows for worldwide release, thus beginning a never-ending cycle of marketing and touring around the World. It was a tense and nervous time. Tensions often flared under the pressure. Deadlines missed and re-set, staff replaced, as patience and performance came under question. Slowly the show began to take shape. Six weeks, twelve hour days, six days a week in an old army barracks hall in Hammersmith, London followed by a week of technical rehearsals in South London preceded the move to Bournemouth. Seemingly the Burn the Floor tradition of delivering under pressure and creating opportunity from little, “no matter what it takes”, was born at this time. After chaotic dress rehearsals the first shows were performed with much relief. This collection of spirited dancers, assembled from fifteen different countries, the fierce personalities all honed in dance competition, excelled on stage, the months of work and pressure released. The enduring comment of the night captured the feeling in the Company. “It’s as if we all won the competition tonight!” Finally, with the results on film, the Bournemouth shows completed successfully to solid critical comment, we began our first world tour. Australia for two months, back to the UK including the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Point theatre in Dublin (the home of Irish dancing) and then a long trek through Europe. Relentless overnight bus travel, occasional deep snow, to critical reviews, some great, some disappointing. A few dancers couldn’t take the pressure and went home early. Everyone was tired. It was a solid learning process, what worked, and what did not work in the show, with the very best teacher - the audience. We discovered the scenic Pieces were cumbersome and difficult to move,and parts of the show were slow and meandering. We had “too much and too many”, this was our first lesson in production. Everyone one was happy to break in December of that same year, some seven months after we started. With all the success we also encountered set backs. Our first US tour in March 2000, highlighted by shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York, was cut short in six weeks. We would finally learn our lesson in touring economics, too many “grand ideas” proving impractical. Seven semi trailer trucks hauling what had become a massive production across vast distances. We had grown to a staff of eighty! As Producer I was required to call a halt to re-assess our structure and ideas. Advising the dancers who had shown such passion, loyalty and commitment was like attending “a funeral for a dear friend”. With all we had achieved in just ten months it seemed unreal to stop. We began to assess all we learned about the show, the pace and structure. Jason Gilkison with the blessing of Anthony Van Lasst came to the forefront from dancer to Associate Choreographer and finally to Artistic Director and sole Choreographer. His ideas breathed new energy and life into the dancing and the show and we began a process of change. We looked for different ideas in structure and music, costume and staging; it was a major overhaul and began what is now an annual process for Burn the Floor. We look to find a higher level for the dancers, a streamlined and stylized presentation that would continue to evolve. It was six months before the company reassembled with many a new face, the desire to succeed and the even greater passion. New Year's Eve in Monaco was the catalyst, on stage for the Millennium New Year at the glamorous Le Club Sporting was to be our turning point. A new enthusiasm was born. Although there was drama to come, highlighted by our return USA tour opening around the chilling events of September 11, 2001, Burn the Floor had reached a plateau. We considered ourselves strong enough, and were becoming good enough to succeed in any circumstances no matter how challenging, how testing. Good or bad, it could only build the character of this unique company. Under Jason’s guidance the show continued to blossom in all directions. Audiences were growing and good critical reviews are now the regular thing. A highlight in 2002 was our visit to to Japan in Osaka and Tokyo. Also in 2002 and twice again in 2003 we were in the USA. Casino seasons in Biloxi and Reno in 2002 and 2003 helped us create the second company, and with a long season, a mini version of Burn the Floor running at Busch Gardens for nineteen weeks through the early part of 2003, our USA connection remained strong. Japan and Australia featured in our schedule again in 2004, and we took our performance credits to 87 cities and 17 countries with over 2 million people seeing the show. Such has been our success in Japan it has become our spiritual home. New ideas come much easier now, and we continue to evolve, in search perhaps of elusive perfection, and Burn the Floor has become a strong and unique family. In 2005 we began to experiment with Jason’s latest ideas, music and styles. We workshopped extensively under the titles “Jason Gilkison’s Ballroom” and “Extreme Ballroom” in Australia, London, Beijing and Shanghai. This time there was to be no rush or pressure, and we continued to tour and perform Burn the Floor until we agreed the new work was ready. Finally on May 18, 2006 at the Tokyo Forum, after eight years touring in over 130 cities, 30 countries, close to two thousand performance and an incredible ride, we concluded our 4th Japanese tour in front of 6,200 emotional fans, and put the original show to rest. There was no more fitting place. Within weeks of our return from Japan we were straight into rehearsal with forty dancers to create two new companies and begin our latest global assault, and soon after opened FloorPlay in Melbourne, Australia. Days later, on the other side of the world, the second company opened at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. By September we brought the companies together in Las Vegas, for our long awaited shot on "the Strip", with a three month run at the Luxor. Vegas was our launch pad, where together as a company we consolidated out thoughts, and built our confidence and philosophy for the future, fuelled by acclaim and success in one of the toughest markets in the world. 2007 saw us returning to Japan for an amazing 52 show, ten city tour, followed by Hong Kong, Canada, USA, back to Perth onto Macau and Donnguang and Wuhan in China. With new ideas, costuming and vision from Jason Gilkison the show quickly found its feet and pace, with glowing reviews accompanying every premiere performance. In 2008 the hectic touring pace continued, with the year opening amidst China blizzards with shows in Ningbo, Shanghai and Beijing. Our return to the Crown Palms Theatre was sold out for five weeks, before we held our major showcase of the year at the Royal Carre Theatre in Amsterdam with seven capacity shows and an electrified audience. We then camped in Reno, at the Eldorado for nineteen weeks right through the summer, setting up a pulse to be on the road in September with out fifth tour of Japan and five week Sydney season. We are set to roll on through 2009 and 20010, both feet firmly planted in the future. As a company, in nine years we have created our own history and tradition, through the hard work, experience and absolute passion. This has defined us as people and given the strength to follow our dream. Looking back at all the adventures, challenges, success and failure of our early years, I take great pride in Burn the Floor, which has become a place of fierce commitment, application and kinship from everyone involved. In all, the very heart of our show remains unchanged, and it is simply defined by the sprit of the dancers, their rebellious nature now directed impeccably by Jason Gilkison in FloorPlay.

-Harley Medcalf

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