Bailia Brasil at the Opera House

Hot steamy and much fun Here's what I thought for Sydney Arts Guide http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/baila-brazil-concert-hall/Combining live music, breathtaking body movements, dance, dynamic percussion and songs from the soul of Afro Brazil, BAILA BRAZIL has a contagious, exhilarating energy and rhythm that will have people dancing in the aisles. The show has been brought to Sydney by the same who brought us BALE DE RUA. At the helm of the team are Artistic Director Fernando Narduchi, Choreographer and Costumer Designer Marco Antonio Garcia and Musical Director Pedro Paulo Da Silva Ferreira, and they come up with another dance and live music spectacular. As colourful as the streets from where they hail, the exuberant cast of eighteen dancers and musicians deliver a high-energy celebration of life, love and the Brazilian way. Loud and with plenty of energy . The set is heavy and industrialised (think a cross between Stomp and Tap Dogs) with plenty of scaffolding. Heavy musical instruments, large drums, hang from the bottom of the set. The core band is made up of guitarists and a keyboard player, with the dancers most of the work on the percussion instruments. Vocals are mostly provided by Alexia Falcao Lopes , one of only two women in the show. Rap vocals are provided by two of the male dancers for the contemporary street dance inspired sections which include breakdance, hip hop and other club dance styles. The lighting throughout is superb. There are, at times, very effective use of silhouette and shadows and at one point much fun is had with the use of UV lighting especially for the flowers. The troupe of 18 dancers and musicians explore the colour and diversity of Brazil. There is a striking and very odd opening religious dance to Ave Maria with the men using the skirts of their costumes to cover themselves and look like women, then ‘reversing’ their energy and becoming macho and hot. The show features a bit of a nod to ballet and contemporary European dance with Uiara Cristina Ferreira as a very different tutu clad dancer with flying dreadlocks and no pointe work, at all. Uiara’s rather clunky boots somewhat ruin the visual ‘line’. Highlights include. the way that Michael Jackson’s white suit and hat and dance style is reverently homaged…the dazzling performance of the sensual salsa and mamba and Latin American ballroom styles…a piece about African slavery…martial arts inspired capoeira, acrobatic hip and break dancing…all performed in a pulsating celebration of the joy of dance. The entire stage is utilised and ‘vertical’ interest is added with dancers using and clambering around the construction scaffolding set. As well as the exuberant dance, the choreography incorporates various props and costumes of the assorted dance styles to create different stories and moods to add extra colour and texture. The various dance styles displayed demonstrated the incredible athleticism and superb fluid movement of the dancers, ranging from very precise, tightly choreographed dance to what seemed to be almost improvised, free-form expression. We are luxuriously treated to wave after wave of eye candy, hunky male dancers in ever briefer costumes of dazzling colours. They are all exceptionally strong dancers, some outstanding in particular styles and given their ‘fifteen minutes of fame’, basking in the limelight in special solos and duets. BAILA BRAZIL is a colourful, steamy night of dance that had the the audience dancing in the aisles at the end. The slinky high voltage energy of the cast is nothing short of sensational. Running time 90 min s (approx) no interval. BAILA BRAZIL is playing the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House until the 18th January. Share this:3Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)3Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)