“Dancing with the Stars'” Mark Ballas joins BURN THE FLOOR for limited engagement on national tour

“DANCING WITH THE STARS”

MARK BALLAS

JOINS THE NATIONAL TOUR OF

BURN THE FLOOR

IN A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

The producers of BURN THE FLOOR, Broadway’s Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular, announced today that Mark Ballas of TV’s “Dancing with the Stars” will join the touring company of BURN THE FLOOR for a limited engagement beginning November 30 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ballas will perform with dance partner Giselle Peacock in three cities only: Raleigh, NC (November 30-December 5); Houston, TX (December 14-19) and Pittsburgh, PA (December 28-January 2).

“American Idol” Finalist Vonzell Solomon Joins the National Tour of BURN THE FLOOR

“AMERICAN IDOL” FINALIST VONZELL SOLOMON

JOINS THE NATIONAL TOUR OF BURN THE FLOOR

The producers of BURN THE FLOOR, Broadway’s Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular, announced today that Vonzell Solomon of TV’s “American Idol” will join the touring company of BURN THE FLOOR on October 12, 2010 in San Diego, Calif., as the show’s female vocalist.

Vonzell, better known as “Baby V,” is an international singer, songwriter, producer, recording artist, model and actress. She was the second runner-up in the 4th season of the FOX Television series “American Idol.”  Following her amazing performances on “Idol,” she launched her own record label, Melodic Records. Vonzell is presently putting the finishing touches on her highly anticipated sophomore CD release.

Anya and Pasha Join the National Tour of BURN THE FLOOR

ANYA AND PASHA

JOIN THE NATIONAL TOUR OF

BURN THE FLOOR

The producers of BURN THE FLOOR, Broadway’s Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular, announced today that ANYA GARNIS and PASHA KOVALEV of TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance” will join the touring company of BURN THE FLOOR, from September 7, 2010 to November 28, 2010. Anya and Pasha come to the tour after performing in the London production now playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

MARY MURPHY to Guest Star in Select Cities on BURN THE FLOOR National Tour

MARY MURPHY

TO GUEST STAR IN SELECT CITIES FOR

BURN THE FLOOR 2010-11 US NATIONAL TOUR

 

The producers of BURN THE FLOOR have announced that Mary Murphy of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance” will appear as a guest star in select cities during the 2010-11 US tour of the Broadway smash hit. She will be partnered with ballroom champion Vaidas Skimelis for these appearances.

 

Currently Mary Murphy is scheduled to appear in the San Jose and San Diego engagements of BURN THE FLOOR. “SYTYCD” winners and finalists Robbie Kmetoni, Ashleigh Di Lello & Ryan Di Lello, Karen Hauer, and Janette Manrara will be joining her on stage during these engagements as featured dancers. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

 

Mary Murphy made her Broadway debut earlier this year in BURN THE FLOOR.  Best known for her enthusiastic and emotional judging style on “So You Think You Can Dance,” Mary gained notoriety and earned fans as the “Queen of Scream.”  She is a US Ballroom Dance Champion and an Austrian National 10-dance and Ballroom Champion.  In addition to owning Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego, Mary is a partner in the “Chance to Dance” program in the San Diego area school district, helping provide dance classes to children unable to afford lessons.

 

Years before Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance turned ballroom dancing into must-see TV, one sizzling show was setting stages ablaze around the globe.  BURN THE FLOOR, the electrifying Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular that has thrilled audiences in more than 30 countries, brings the fire and passion of their live performance to the stage.

 

BURN THE FLOOR is directed and choreographed by Jason Gilkison, former World Champion Latin and Ballroom dancer, and guest choreographer on the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance. 

 

The San Jose and San Diego engagements are part of a 40 week national tour of BURN THE FLOOR. The tour kicks off in Portland, OR in September 2010. For casting and tour updates visit burnthefloor.com.

 

Performance schedule and pricing:

 

www.burnthefloor.com

 

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Highlights of 2009-2010 Broadway Season

2009-2010 Broadway Season Officially Ends

HIGHLIGHTS OF A HISTORIC STAR-FILLED YEAR, PACKED WITH SHOWS:

Burn The Floor • Bye Bye Birdie • The Royal Family • Hamlet • After Miss Julie • Wishful Drinking • Ragtime • White Christmas  • A Little Night Music • A View From the Bridge • The Miracle Worker • A Behanding in Spokane •
Times Stands Still • Present Laughter • Next Fall • Looped • Red • Lend Me a Tenor • Million Dollar Quartet • La Cage aux Folles •  Sondheim on Sondheim • Fences • Collected Stories • Everyday Rapture

With the opening last night of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Everyday Rapture, the 2009-2010 Broadway Season officially comes to an end.
 
One of the busiest and exciting Broadway seasons in years included many moments that will make it truly memorable.  
 
Follow along with us on Twitter (@BBBway) as we look back at this electric, star-packed season.  
 
@OfficialBTF:
“Last summer, the Longacre heated up with the dancers of BURN THE FLOOR.  Maks and Karina from DWTS were a special treat for audiences.”
 
@B3onBroadway:
“The new Henry Miller’s Theatre opened in September with the first revival of the famous rock-n-roll musical BYE BYE BIRDIE.  Mayor Bloomberg cut the ribbon!”

@MTC_NYC:
“THE ROYAL FAMILY was so luscious, even the NY Times is still talking about it:   http://tinyurl.com/39yw4vg .”
 
@HamletBway09:
“Jude Law returned to Broadway last fall in the Donmar Warehouse’s mega-hit acclaimed production of HAMLET.”
 
@NightMusicBway:
“Celebrated stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury lit up Broadway this Winter in the first revival of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.”
 
@RTC_NYC:
“Carrie Fisher had audiences rolling in the aisles as she told her sordid, martini soaked tale in WISHFUL DRINKING.”
 
@BBBWAY:
“The Neil Simon Plays: Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed by David Cromer, earns enthusiastic reviews, but plays briefly at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre.”
 
@RTC_NYC:
“Patrick Marber’s AFTER MISS JULIE brought Sienna Miller & Jonny Lee Miller together in an intoxicating tango.”
 
@SignatureTheatr:
 “Signature Theatre enjoys one of its biggest critical successes with the marathon trilogy production, Horton Foote’s THE ORPHANS’ HOME CYCLE, directed by Michael Wilson.”
 
@RagtimeonBway09:
“The celebrated musical RAGTIME returned to Broadway this Fall, breathing new life into the beloved American epic.”
 
@BBBWAY:
“IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS returned to Broadway at the Marquis Theatre this Winter, making it New York’s newest holiday tradition.”

@VIEWonBroadway:
“The new year began dramatically with Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson in a definitive production of A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE.”
 
@RTC_NYC:
“The dashing Victor Garber nailed the classic Noel Coward matinee idol role in a very funny revival of PRESENT LAUGHTER.”
 
@MTC_NYC:
“Donald Margulies’ newest play, TIME STANDS STILL earns rave reviews in its Broadway debut at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.”
 
@MiracleWorkerNY:
“THE MIRACLE WORKER brought Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin to Circle in the Square for her Broadway debut, alongside Tony nominee Alison Pill.”
 
@LoopedBroadway:
“Valerie Harper returned to Broadway in March in a tour-de-force performance as Tallulah Bankhead in LOOPED.”
 
@NextFall:
“Geoffrey Naufft’s new American play NEXT FALL opened in March and was lauded by critics for its humor, compassion and depth.”
 
@BehandingBWAY:
“March roared in like a lion with Chris Walken’s memorable portrayal of a one-handed man in A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE.”
 
@MillionDQuartet:
“In April, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET became Broadway’s newest smash hit musical featuring a treasure trove of beloved rock and roll songs.”
 
@LendTenorNYC:
“Uproarious laughter has filled The Music Box since the April bow of Ken Ludwig’s madcap comedy Lend Me A Tenor, directed by Stanley Tucci.”
 
@RedonBroadway:
“Stage & screen vet Alfred Molina and Broadway newcomer Eddie Redmayne paint NY RED in John Logan’s new play, directed by Michael Grandage.”
 
@LaCageBroadway:
“LA CAGE AUX FOLLES opens to raves for Kelsey Grammer & Douglas Hodge and the ingeniously reinvented production, directed by Terry Johnson.”
 
@RTC_NYC:
“The adoration for Sondheim’s musical genius continued this spring in SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM.  Barbara Cook is a rare treat for Broadway audiences.”
 
@MTC_NYC:
“Donald Margulies’ COLLECTED STORIES premiered on Broadway at MTC, starring Linda Lavin, Sarah Paulson and directed by Lynne Meadow.”
 
@FencesBroadway:
“The first Broadway revival of FENCES, directed by Kenny Leon, opened to a chorus of raves for stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
 
@RTC_NYC:
“Sherie Rene Scott finished the season off with a bang, wowing critics with her new musical EVERYDAY RAPTURE.” 

www.twitter.com/bbbway 
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BURN THE FLOOR feature on TabletMagazine.com

Broadway’s BURN THE FLOOR

FEATURED on TABLETMAGAZINE.COM

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BURN THE FLOOR dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Henry Byalikov and Sasha Farber are featured in this week’s TABLETMAGAZINE.COM. 

BURN THE FLOOR ends its Broadway run this Sun Jan 10.

“Competitive ballroom dance, the high-testosterone, low-art pastime fittingly referred to as “dancesport” by enthusiasts and regulated by a global body recognized by the International Olympic Committee, is pursued and followed in much of the world—generally, the parts with discotheques and good soccer teams. It remains relatively obscure in the United States, but that’s begun to change in the past few years thanks to dance-competition television shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. For the past several months, the bespangled cast of a live show from Australia called Burn the Floor has even been foxtrotting across a Broadway stage.

Given the international nature of dancesport, it should come as no surprise that the 20 hoofers in Burn the Floor come from nine different countries, from Sweden to the Philippines. What might be somewhat less intuitive is that three of the dancers—all young men—are the children of Jewish émigrés from the Soviet Union. But in fact, this may be less an anomaly than an illustration of a larger trend. As The New York Times reported in 2003, the nascent popularity of ballroom dance in the United States is largely due to an influx of professionally trained dancers from the former USSR who run and attend a significant percentage of the ballroom dance studios here in America. Carrying over a practice from the old country, many Russian-born parents send their children to ballroom dance classes from a young age. This, the Times noted, is especially true among Soviet Jews, for whom ballroom dance was, back in Russia, a common strategy of acquiring ‘culturedness.’”
Read the entire article here: http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/theater-and-dance/23250/dancing-with-the-tsars/

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Broadway’s BURN THE FLOOR Plays Final Performance Sunday, January 10

Broadway’s Sizzling Dance Sensation

BURN THE FLOOR

Plays Final Performance Sunday, January 10

BURN THE FLOOR, Broadway’s hit Ballroom Dance show, plays its final performance this Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3pm.  It will have played 8 previews and 185 regular performances at the Longacre Theatre, where it broke box office records and enjoyed two extensions.

 

Derek Hough of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” makes his Broadway debut tonight in BURN THE FLOOR when he partners with Kym Johnson, this season’s professional champion on “Dancing with the Stars.”  MiG Ayesa also joined the company this week as the show’s male vocalist.  Mary Murphy, the enthusiastic and emotional judge on FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” continues her guest appearance in BURN THE FLOOR through Sunday, as well.

After previews began on July 25, BURN THE FLOOR opened on August 2, 2009 with guest stars Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff, both of “Dancing with the Stars.”  Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev of “So You Think You Can Dance” were also featured in BURN THE FLOOR during its tenure on Broadway.

The cast of BURN THE FLOOR is composed of award-winning dancers from around the globe, featuring Henry Byalikov, Irina Boubnovskaia, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Kevin Clifton, Sasha Farber, Jeremy Garner, Gordana Grandosek, Karen Hauer, Patrick Helm, Sarah Hives, Melanie Hooper, Peta Murgatroyd, Giselle Peacock, Nuria Santalucia, Mirko Sciolan, Vaidas Skimelis, Emma Slater, Sarah Soriano, Katarina Stumpfova, Damon & Rebecca Sugden, Trent Whiddon, Damian Whitewood, Robin Windsor, and Gary Wright.  BURN THE FLOOR has also featured Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia as vocalists.

BURN THE FLOOR embarks on a World Tour in February, beginning the 30-city U.S. leg of the tour in September 2010.

Created, directed and choreographed by Jason Gilkison, BURN THE FLOOR is the electrifying Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular produced by Harley Medcalf, Joe Watson, Richard Levi, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Raise the Roof One, Toppall/Stevens/Mills, Benigno/Klein, Caldwell/Allen, Carrpailet/Danzansky, Bud Martin, The Production Studio, Schaffert/Schnuck, and Carrie Ann Inaba by special arrangement with Dance Partner Inc. 

Critics and fans around the world have raved about BURN THE FLOOR: The NY Daily News called it “athletic, sensual and rocket-fueled.”  Bloomberg.com called it “utterly theatrical” and NY 1 News said BURN THE FLOOR is “hot, hot, hot.  Pulse pounding choreography.  A two hour adrenaline rush featuring some of the best and best-looking ballroom dancers in the world.”

Playing Schedule: Tue at 7, Wed- Sat 8, Wed & Sat at 2, Sun at 3.

Tickets are available at www.telecharge.com. 

www.burnthefloor.com

www.twitter.com/officialbtf

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