Street dancing fest at Sadler's Wells

With flashing strobe lights, well-known tunes thumping and a cast of supremely talented street dancers, hip-hop dance company Blaze certainly know how to throw a party. The diverse group of sixteen dancers have come together from all corners of the globe to create a ninety-minute extravaganza that showcases a wide variety of dance styles: from popping and locking to breakdancing and – much to my surprise – even a tap number thrown into the mix. With no clear narrative running through the show, the primary aim of this high-octane medley appears to be to demonstrate the versatility of Blaze as performers.

With a row of trainers running along the front of the stage, and a backdrop comprising of a series of white cabinets and drawers piled high, the cast of Blaze burst onto the stage through a series of unexpected doors within the set design. The opening number consists of short solos to establish each of their ‘characters’, followed by the entire ensemble performing a highly-synchronised sequence in a ‘V’ formation. After the opening dance they then divide into smaller groups of two or three to perform a series of disconnected sketches, which often revolve around a prop. For instance, there is one piece based on luminous gloves and another tenuously centred around a pair of headphones.

However, the bar is certainly raised when breakdancers Sunni Brummit, Virgil ‘Sky Chief’ Dey and Jeffrey ‘Machine’ McCann erupt into the space. The trios’ offerings are just the right blend of recognisable old-school moves, and new applause-worthy tricks. Just when you thought seeing somebody doing a no-handed backflip would be the most impressive move you would see all evening, ‘Sky Chief’ eclipses the aforementioned by sliding across a large portion of the Peacock Theatre’s stage on solely his head. The spirit of one-upmanship pulsates through the evening as every dancer in the show attempts to outdo the last.

Being half term, much of the audience consists of school-age children and, consequently, much of the humour in the pieces is quite slapstick in nature and clearly geared towards the young crowd. The night does seem to descend into the realm of pantomime during a moment of audience participation, which consists of a rap that the audience are encouraged to sing along to, copying a series simple food-based actions such as “chopping the ham”: a slightly bizarre digression that I found a little out-of-place in a street dance show, yet many of the younger audience members seemed to thoroughly enjoy the strange interlude of a rap-inspired dance.

Ever since dance troupes like Flawless and Diversity were given exposure on prime-time television, the popularity of street dance has undoubtedly grown, and consequently there is a large appetite for shows like Blaze. Although I enjoyed parts of the evening, choreographically the show plays it quite safe and doesn’t go far enough to set itself apart from its’ predecessors. By extension, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the street dance arena.