A recent celebration of all things Tango was the offering from Strictly Come Dancing's Vincent Simone at the Wyvern Theatre.
The 'Original Italian Stallion' showcased one of the most recognisable types of dance with a show that stood out from the many one-night spectacles brought to the town's theatre from former Strictly pros.
Choosing to do away with the Saturday night entertainment stuff, and the stand-up comedy routines, Vincent Simone's 'Tango Passions' chose to, almost balletically, exclusively tell a love story through dance alone.
We meet two strangers, Vincent, and an Argentine Tango specialist Paula Duarte, who both find shelter in the same place and there, a small group of very talented dancers show the audience a variety of different Tango dances.
Highlights included one dance between two of the ensemble that appears at first to be a light-hearted tiff between a couple but eventually turns into a dance-recreated of domestic abuse, captured magnificently by subtle changes in the choreography.
Another standout set piece number was the resulting dance between Vincent and the abused woman, who he had rescued. Again, with no dialogue, we saw Vincent attempt to make sure this woman was okay, but then things turned towards a seduction, with the 'hero' succumbing to the advances of his grateful damsel in distress, much to the dismay of his love interest.
The final standout dance for me was the dance between Vincent and Paula that took place after this. A couple's tango that saw Vincent desperately trying to win her back and her trying to get away from him.
It was a really clever dance because it was performed entirely as a couple with the pair in and out of holds, so working together beautifully, but at the same time, both had to act in conflict with each other, with Paula trying to pull away and escape from Vincent's grovelling.
I mentioned that there was no dialogue and that was largely the case except for a strong opening laying out the history of the dance, set to the sound of a heartbeat thudding and an exceptional violinist, who also sang throughout and sometimes even danced too.
This decision really put a laser focus on the storytelling of the dances themselves and made the whole thing quite enjoyable. The audience was promised a 'sexy, steamy, passionate night' and that's exactly what was delivered.
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