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REVIEW: Shall We Dance – Playhouse Opera, Durban
Final performances at 1pm and 5pm today (Saturday, September 16) and at 11am and 3pm tomorrow (Sunday, September 17).
REVIEW BY BILLY SUTER

A BIT of ballroom, ballet and Bollywood. Flamenco and feathery showgirls. Smooth tap and tantalising tango. Jumping jive, rumba, cha-cha, line-dancing. Then there’s Celtic dance, contemporary dance, a Viennese waltz…

Welcome to the fancy footwork display that is the ever-colourful and well-attended Shall We Dance, the 29th edition of Durban’s longest running production, an annual showcase for the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the South African Dance Teachers’ Association.

Once again the show, performed against a changing backdrop of fabrics and sparkling drops, is co-directed by stalwarts Durban’s Neville Letard and Caryl Cusens. And, once again, it emerges as a slick, joyful crowd-pleaser.

Always a kaleidoscope of glitter, shimmer and good moves, Shall We Dance not only mixes styles but also various levels of proficiency, amateurs rubbing shoulders with professionals. It’s a real mixed bag and, notwithstanding some exaggerated expressions and occasional wobbles with spacing and synchonisation, adds up to fun entertainment and a feast for the eyes.

As is customary, there is a wide age range among the large cast, the youngest performers this year being newcomers to the show and future champs in the making. They are the cute as buttons Asiphile Nzimande, 10, and Slindile Ncobela, 9, who jive up a storm to Great Balls of Fire and, later, have the audience eating out of their hands again with a routine set to Lady Marmalade.

The biggest highlights this year, however, are also the teams that were the clear highlights last year. They are the vibrant and beautifully costumed Rudra Dance Theatre – whose two energetic Bollywood routines get the loudest whoops – and the sharp, sassy, sexy Latin American routines of the good-looking KZN duo of Brian Booth and Londeka Mnga.

Also performing this year are Cape Town’s Keanan McClune and Chantelle le Roux, who are the undefeated South African Amateur, Ballroom and Latin couple. They have been competing in ballroom, Latin and 10 Dance, and will represent South Africa at the World Championships in Germany next month. The best of their four Shall We Dance routines is a fast and fun frolic through Boogie Shoes.

The show also features impressive classical ballroom dance from the recently teamed Khulu Khumalo and Sithembile Ndwalane, while also of note this year are Young Dancers’ Project with both a fiesty flamenco and a sparkling tap through Sing, Sing, Sing; and Strictly Ballroom’s elegant routine set to Neville’s Waltz.

Another crowd-pleaser is a well-lit Irish dance set to Mango Groove’s Special Star, performed by the KZN Academy of Celtic Dance, while Dance Basics deliver fun routines with Proud Mary and Smooth Criminal. The Mark Wilson Dancers are at their finest with Go Down Deh.

Opening with a spectacular, feathery routine featuring the whole cast – also united for the second-half opener set to You’re the One That I Want from Grease – Shall We Dance is hosted for the second time in a row by friendly and vivacious singer Marion Loudon. She performs Miley Cyrus’s Flowers and Rednex’s Cotton Eye Joe with dancing pupils from Glenwood Boys’ High and Durban Girls’ High. She also performs solo, singing Big Spender, against a backdrop of swirling coloured patterns.

Shall We Dance has final performances at Durban’s Playhouse Opera at 1pm and 5pm today (Saturday, September 16) and at 11am and 3pm tomorrow (Sunday, September 17). Book at Webtickets.