The Fox Theatre, Atlanta
February 5, 2013

By Deborah Searle.

After a not so successful season in London in 2010, Flashdance the musical has been reworked and now has a second chance to wow audiences in a US tour before hitting Broadway later in the year.

A stage version of the 80s cult classic movie, Flashdance tells the story of “Alex”, a steel worker by day and club dancer by night who dreams of being a trained, professional dancer. With a story all about dance, it’s no wonder there are many dance scenes, which was great for this dance lover.

The slogan for the musical is “One girl, one dream, one chance”, but the musical is really about a group of characters and their dreams and aspirations, and it took a huge team to create and successfully get this musical back to the stage. A colorful 80s explosion, Flashdance effectively took us back to the era of leg warmers, MTV music videos, and musical hits like “Maniac” with fitting choreography, sets and costumes.

With everything from ballet, jazz and hip-hop, to even break dance and pole, Flashdance features a wonderfully talented ensemble of versatile dancers.  The strength of the dance component was the large ensemble numbers where the dancers were all very neat and committed to every step, oozing 80s pizazz. Sometimes the 80s feel seemed a little forced, but the dancers gave a lot of energy and life to the steps. Many of the dancers probably don’t even remember the 80s! The ballet scenes were also a strong point of the production.

Emily Padgett as ‘Alex’ with the dancers of ‘Flashdance The Musical’. Photo by Kyle Froman

Some of the solo jazz dance numbers by the lead cast left me a little disappointed, however, with bent legs in an aerial cartwheel, a lack of turnout and extension when needed, and hops in pirouette.  That said, the lead performers, led by Emily Padgett as ‘Alex’, were all very talented actors and singers. Emily Padgett has a stunning voice and was a joy to listen to. She was very believable as the young, sassy ‘Alex’.

A few scenes were dissatisfying. The iconic, sexy scene where Alex sits on a chair and pulls a chain to shower herself with water, felt rushed and like it was just squashed into the program right before intermission. I was disappointed that this very memorable scene didn’t have more build up or resonance. Sadly, the pivotal final audition scene where Alex dances a jazz number for a panel of judges was poorly staged. The judges were on the side of the stage and Alex danced facing them, instead of facing us in the audience. This made it harder for us to feel engaged by her performance and left the dance number feeling a little flat.

The music is infectious and a feast of 80s classics like “Maniac”, “Manhunt”, “I Like Rock and Roll” and the movie title song “Flashdance- What a Feeling”, and the show is really quite fun and entertaining. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t blown away. I heard mixed reviews from the audience, but I was happy to hear people saying “I want to go dancing now”, as they left the theater. If Flashdance can inspire people to dance, then it’s definitely achieved something that we dancers can’t complain about.

Photo: Emily Padgett as Alex in Flashdance The Musical. Photo by Kyle Froman.

USHER is currently on tour across the world with a team of very talented and dedicated dancers. One of those dance divas is Saidah Nairobi. Saidah has recently danced for Beyonce’s I Am…World Tour from 2009-10, performed at the BET Awards in 2008 and 2009, the 2009 MTV VMAs, the 2009 European Music Awards, and has featured as a principal dancer for Beyonce, Ciara, Tami Chynn, Rick Ross, The Dream, Sean Garrett and Drake. Now touring with USHER she has the world at her feet!

What is your dance background and training?
I started dancing in Atlanta at my performing arts high school with a southern crank dance crew called ‘Isis Gold’. When I went to college in North Carolina, I was a part of a hip hop dance group from a college organization called Couture Productions. I moved back to Atlanta in fall 2005 and started taking classes, go-go dancing as a means of extra income and freestyle practising, and going to any audition I could attend to start booking jobs. I’m not technically trained, I just love to dance.

How did you get your ‘big break’?
I was booked by Jamaica Craft to go on tour dancing for The Dream which was the opening act for Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige’s 2008 Heart of the City tour.

You have danced with the likes of Usher and Beyonce, what has been your career highlight so far?
Working with Usher and Ciara are definitely two career highlights. Ciara was the artist that helped me realize my dream to be a professional dancer in this industry. I most connected with her choreographer Jamaica Craft’s style. It has become Ciara’s signature movement. It’s raw, it’s swag, it’s groove, flavor, high-energy, and it just feels good. Every move sits in the pocket of what feels right with the music.

I remember studying Jamaica on Usher’s Truth Tour. I loved how she was the shortest with the most hair [laughs] and I just felt her rawness and energy through the TV screen. I loved her style. I LOVED Usher’s classic choreography in the U Don’t Have to Call, You Make Me Wanna and Caught Up dance videos and was thinking “I want do those moves!” Seeing the dancers on Usher’s Truth Tour just made me hungry to be on stage going full out like they were.

What were the rehearsals like for the Usher tour?
Very physical and strenuous. We had only five weeks, but the choreographers utilized that short amount of time to make sure all the dancers were precise, clean, capturing the full essence of the
movement and feel of each movement, and it wasn’t easy because there were so many different styles that we had to capture and master. We had Todd Sams, Flii, Marvelous, Rio Henderson, Ed Moore, SuperDave, Punch and Goofy, Oththan, Lorriel who was an aerialist – that’s ten different styles and sometimes a combination of styles in just one number! But the militant style of rehearsals made us stronger as dancers, in addition to the workouts we did before every other rehearsal.

What is it like to dance for Usher?
It’s fun! There’s a lot of on stage interaction between the dancers and Usher which makes you feel that much more a part of the show! The female dancers get to wear flats and heels, we have eight different outfits we change into, and we use props throughout the show so it’s constant movement, constant energy, constant sweating!

What are the challenges of being on tour?
Missing my family, friends, and my puppy. Traveling with luggage can become frustrating especially when the time away from home is pretty lengthy and you need at least two suitcases for the road. The last thing you want to do after a show is walk through the airport with two or three suitcases and a book bag! And, eating healthy can be a challenge at times.

What are your plans after the tour concludes?
I plan on going on a vacation! I plan on making my first major purchase which is buying a new car! That’s going to be my personal treat for the hard work I’ve put in over the last couple of years. I definitely plan on looking into investments with the money I’ve saved and then I’m focusing on pursuing my other passions in life – music, book writing and modeling.

What advice would you give to young commercial/hip hop dancers? How can they too have such success in the industry?
My advice is to always follow your heart and always stay encouraged, even if it seems like your goals and aspirations are out of reach, because they aren’t. But you also have to be realistic and STUDY, STUDY, STUDY the artists that you are aspiring to dance for.  Get familiar with the choreographers and dance styles of those artists and what type and look of dancers are usually hired for those artists. And please take ballet classes, even if you’re very fluent in hip hop. It’ll
make you a much better dancer, because your body will be conditioned to do more than it could if you didn’t take ballet.

Saidah Nairobi is represented by Xcel Talent Agency.
www.xceltalent.com