Dancing 4 Fun are no strangers to Hartford's wonderful Grange Theatre, and perform their shows here on a regular basis. The company's ethos, as their title suggests, allows all people of all ages and all backgrounds to enjoy dancing...just for fun! Obviously those with talent and the desire can, and often do, take their dancing further, but the focus of this company is on the enjoyment and social aspects of dance.
'Last One Standing' is their latest theatrical venture; and takes as its premise the world of video / computer games. A group of friends, each in their respective bedrooms, all start playing together online, and instead of the game staying in the ethos behind the screen, it becomes real, and the girls are systematically picked off one by one becoming flesh-eating zombies, until of course, there is only one human remaining.. the last one standing.
Utilising both the actual theatre stage and a part of the auditorium floor, it gave the dancers a larger arena upon which to build their theatrical suspense, although sadly, any floor work they performed on the auditorium area was lost completely beyond the front row of audience. A large cinema screen and projector was utilised continuously throughout, playing excerpts of various computer games (actual footage). Obviously this was to keep the audience focussed on the reason behind the dances and the storyline in general; but some of these excerpts were overlong, and in the main unnecessary, simply wasting time.
The full company from the school included adults, seniors and juniors, and they took their musical inspiration from the popular music repertoire, as majority of the dances were contemporary dance or urban style dances. A good mix between solo dances and large ensembles, but it was somehow extremely disjointed. Majority of the routines were incomplete, and dancers finished their routines seemingly mid bar sometimes, after only dancing for a very short period. Obviously this was to give everyone who wanted the chance to dance, the opportunity of so doing, but from an audience members' perspective, it was rather disconnected.
One of the dances was a tap routine performed by the adults. Sadly, the music was so loud that it drowned out all the taps, and so it was completely ineffectual. Shame. In fact, majority of the music this evening was too loud.
Bravo to all the dancers though. Most of them really quite young and worked extremely hard to perform with such earnestness and focus. Despite my reservations on things technical this evening, the young dancers gave a most enjoyable spectacle, and their energy and commitment undeniable. Well done all.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 17.2.23
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