BURN THE FLOOR Sets Downtown San Jose on Fire!

Okay, I think it's time for me to come clean with everyone. The show "So You Think You Can Dance" has become a guilty pleasure of mine. Perhaps around season 2 or 3, my wife started watching it and I was forced to be a passive viewer. I would sit on the couch with a laptop in front of me, doing work or surfing the web... not really paying much attention to what's going on. A season later, I would put down the laptop anytime a hip-hop routine came on. Fast forward to their last season and magically the laptop was nowhere to be found whenever the show came on.

What I think that show really did for dance was take decades of tradition, and modernize the heck out of it so that even people that know absolutely nothing about dance (e.g. me) can enjoy it. BURN THE FLOOR essentially did the exact same thing to ballroom dancing. They took elements of traditional ballroom as well as jazz, contemporary, and even paso doble routines and made it so that literally anyone can enjoy it. This isn't just a good show for people that like watching dance... it's a good show period.

The routines are simply amazing. You'll see moves that human beings shouldn't be able to physically pull off. What's even more impressive is how these moves can be consistently executed throughout the performance without any slips or falls. The level of talent required for this show is off the charts... all of the dancers were at least great, and some were astounding. The "So You Think You Can Dance" graduates--Pasha, Anya, Ryan, and Ashleigh--were definitely in the astounding category. There was even a special cameo from "So You Think You Can Dance" judge, choreographer, and hot tamale train conductor, Mary Murphy!

Backing up the dancers are twin percussionists and talented singers that help keep the mood lively from curtain to curtain. The sets were fantastic. Choreography? As good as it gets. How about the pace? The show never got boring, even for someone with a very short attention span (last time I saw The Nutcracker, I fell asleep at least 3 times). In a nutshell, this is the best show I've seen at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. If you're interested, I would try to get tickets before they're all sold out. Here's the direct link!