Jazz Men

The show opened to the very enthusiastic audience with the question, “Are you ready to be entertained tonight?” Frenetic athletic energy and a blistering pace held the loosely themed collection of items together and generally delivered an entertaining night of dance and song backed up with interesting staging.

The Master of Ceremonies, vocalist Bek Chapman added live performance and a good dose of audience involvement to the recorded music. Mandy Savickas added solo dance elements.

The dancers, Benito Veneziano, Leigh Sleightholme, Scott Blanco, Cameron Davey, Nathan McLaughlin, Angus Eastwood, Dan Lewis, Jesse Matthews, Dean Schultz, Davey Harris, and Erik Soriano worked well in ensemble and also had a chance to showcase their partic

ular talents. All the dancers have plenty of experience, commitment and skill with some of them exhibiting the calm control of classical training.

The skills of the dancers were the highlight, the costumes provided sensible support (except for the yellow fringe pants which were not at all sensible). The lighting added drama although having lights directly in audience’s eyes always needs careful thought.

The show advertised that it is a “scorching hot fusion of cabaret and sensuality” but the overall tone is adolescent and tongue in cheek. This is a show at the beginning of its development having been put together in just 8 days. With further nurturing it could become a solid vehicle for male dancers and a staple of the dance performance calendar.

Ruth Richter

Photographer: Robert Cuzens