Burn The Floor is the latest hit to take over the Shaftesbury Theatre. This explosive dance show comprises of world-class dancers from around the world showing off their shoe shuffling skills with the utmost precision.

Burn the Floor  has been touring for the last fourteen years and now it’s here for all those fans of Strictly Come Dancing to relish in. Lead (more in marketing than on the stage) by Strictly’s very own Robin Windsor and Kristina Rihanoff, who join an ensemble cast of dancers from far and wide, this show demonstrates the stamina and creativity required to become a world class dancer.

Burn the Floor takes the audience on a tour of dance styles starting with a history lesson from the glamorous era reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers through to a powerful finale of Tina Turner’s Proud Mary.  There is no story line to follow within this show, so what you are watching is a series of dances which seamlessly interchange with one another not just in movement but costume change and set also.

What’s great about this show is the precision and endless energy that these dancers have. There is fantastic audience participation from the pre-opening, where a couple of ‘volunteers’ get to dance with one of the pro’s and this is wonderfully carried through from start to finish – we particularly enjoyed the creative way they told the audience to turn their phones off before the performance began – a nice twist to one of the most boring announcements out there!

Nothing is wasted in Burn the Floor, every corner of the stage is used, including the viewing boxes and even down the aisles, which really makes you feel fully part of the action. There is humour, emotion and elegance in all of the dances and the faster numbers really do pack a punch – particularly in the second act – the Paso Doble was perhaps our favorite routine, the lighting produced a dusty and warm looking set ready for the matador dancers to step on stage and show off a Flamenco style dance not to be missed!

On the flip side, as there is no real narrative to follow, the show does feel like it has some form of lull in the middle where the audience are left wondering where Burn the Floor really is taking us. As is natural, the slower numbers also feel slightly strained as you really do need the pace to be maintained throughout to keep engagement levels high. However, we appreciated that, that probably isn’t humanly possible and it’s already incredibly impressive how the dancers really don’t seem to break a sweat throughout – we’re pretty sure we’d be needing a drink and a lie down after the first number – but maybe that’s why we’re in the audience and not on stage!!

The only other small niggling criticism is that it would be great to see a few more props used on stage. Yes there are chairs, but if you do watch programmes like Strictly, you’ll see how much fun can be had with props such as hat stands, canes and backing boards showing familiar scenes. Burn the Floor felt bare in elements – and although this was probably a conscious decision to help the audience focus on the dancing itself, in two hours it would be nice to have a little change of scene to keep us guessing and surprised.

So here’s our final verdict. If you’re a Strictly Come Dancing fan, Burn the Floor is a must, and if you’re lucky, once a week it holds a Q&A after the show so keen audience members can meet the dance troupe (which is a fantastic addition!). But even if you have just the smallest bit of interest in dance, or are just intrigued with the concept its most definitely worth a watch.

You can book your tickets to Burn the Floor through any of these links below – make sure you go and see it before it heads off around the world touring again!