Flash Mob Reviews | World Dance Management and Agency

Voxpops filmed in London’s West End at Sadlers Wells Peacock Theatre

Review The Londonist Rating Five Stars *****

Flash Mob showcases the talents of a group of young dancers in a high energy, fast-paced, mixed bill of original choreography. Its stars are drawn from reality TV shows reprising the styles that first endeared them to the public and mixing them all up in one big joyous celebration of dance.

So, Irish duo, Brosena, thrill with their fleet rhythmic footwork and surprise with modern twists. Alleviate make us actually cry during their most emotive, dramatic, lyrical duet and Charlie Bruce amazes, throwing herself into challenging contemporary as well as the high kicking, sassy jazz dance that once made Arlene Phillips use the word “mega” live on TV.

New to UK audiences are street crew (America’s Best, in fact) The Elektrolytes, who win the audience over in seconds with their crazy, fun hip-hop and the smouldering R.Elle Niane (off Streetdance 2 3D) and her partner Edwar Ramos showing an earthy, raw side to salsa — no “Strictly” sequins or heels here.

What’s special about the show is that its dancers can shine in their own right, doing what they do best. But they also switch styles and partners, delivering a huge variety of entertaining dance pieces making us laugh, weep, bob up and down, shimmy, woop woop and wolf whistle. We were more than ready to join in with the participation at the end.

If you or your kids have never been to a dance show before this is an excellent way in and anyone with reservations about live shows churned out from the reality TV machine should leave them on Kingsway to kick after curtain call when you prance out feeling elated.

Review The Independent Rating Four Stars ****

When the dancers of Flash Mob ask the audience to join in with a dancealong routine, they get a giggly, enthusiastic response. It’s a happy ending for a friendly show that brings together dancers from various reality TV dance series, in styles from hip hop to Irish dance.

The dancers create their own numbers, which makes for variable choreography but warm, committed performance. Some routines have the cheesy openness of a 1980s dance movie: there’s big emoting and swoopy moves from contemporary duo Alleviate. Irish dance duo Brosena have a very Eurovision soundtrack, but match it with sparkling footwork. Mike Viry and Yunaisy Farray, who appeared in the movie Streetdance 2 3D, ripple and undulate through Latin numbers, hips and shoulders boggling.

The stellar performance comes from Tommy Franzén, recently nominated for an Olivier award. He shows both his street and contemporary dance sides, from weighted, curling moves to a sugar rush of a routine to the Jackson 5. He leads a cheerful rehearsal number with the other men, trying out styles and pretending to pinch each other’s showiest moves.

Review The Scotsman Rating Five Stars *****

FOR every self-indulgent, esoteric, audience-alienating dance show ever performed, Flash Mob is the antidote.

Don’t be confused by the title – this is no shopping-centre gathering where those around you suddenly burst into synchronised movement. This is a dance mob that’s flash – although for “flash”, read talented, hard-working and completely dedicated to their craft.

For those who think commercial dance means leaving your artistry at the door, then the five acts brought together to create this Fringe highlight are ready to prove you wrong.

Most of them have come to the public eye via television, reaching the finals of one of the recent glut of dance programmes re-igniting the genre.

Tommy Franzén is probably the best known, having been runner-up in the 2010 series of So You Think You Can Dance? and, fittingly, the production opens with him in a spot-lit solo.

But this is no one-man show. Flash Mob is a celebration of dance and the many wonderful forms it comes in. Known mainly as a hip hop performer, Franzén also does a nice line in contemporary dance, with some reflective work peppered with breakdance moves. When it comes to contemporary, however, Alleviate are the stars of the show.

Nicolette Whitley and Renako McDonald were runners-up in 2011’s Got To Dance, and their two heart-felt duets, one of which uses the Eminem/Rihanna song Love The Way You Lie to great effect, are joy to watch.

Having only recently made the final in this year’s Got To Dance, A Team has yet to make a name for itself in the way Diversity and Flawless have, but this slick hip hop crew deserves to. Four men and one woman switch from one soundtrack to the next in the blink of an eye, throwing in some impressive back-flips to warm up the crowd.

A superb and utterly spellbinding Irish dance duo, Brosena (also from this year’s Got To Dance), and sensual Latin couple Mike Viry and Yunaisy Farray, complete the bill, widening out the dance genre further, with Viry in particular providing some jaw-dropping moves.

It’s this pick-and-mix quality that makes Flash Mob such a great ambassador for dance as a whole. The only problem with the show is it lasts just an hour. With such joyous talent and variety on offer, that could easily have been doubled without fear of boredom.

Review The Daily Express Rating Four Stars *****

TELEVISION has done more to communise dance than any other medium by shining an interrogative light into dark, elitist corners as well as putting a new spin on an ancient art form. Now stars of any programme with “dance” in the title are coming to the stage to bring the live experience to the swelling ranks of fans.

The trick behind Flash Mob is to bring together dancers of have made their mark in different disciplines. There are reps from So You Think You Can Dance, Got To Dance, America’s Best Dance Crew and the movie Streetdance 2 3D.

Thus we have the solo Flashdance histrionics of Charlie Bruce, whose flaming hair and operative presentation suggest Clytemnestra recast as a pole dancer, there is the stiff armed tap of Irish dancing duo Brosena, the hot Romeo & Juliet pairing that is Alleviate and MTV’s award-winning Arizona hip hop crew The Elektrolytes. In a series of very short sequences the performers swap moves in a kind of dance variant of the duets of Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grapelli.

Each is allowed to make their mark only briefly before being neatly but firmly sewn into the whole tapestry in the second half.

Then there is a Clockwork Orange scenario of swaggering violence. Alleviate’s triangular-torsoed Renako McDonald is caught between three women and The Elektrolytes’ robot dance takes the mickey out of every street mime ever jerked.

So contagious is their collective enthusiasm and good humour that they conclude by successfully getting the audience on their feet to perform en masse.

Review The Sun Five Stars *****

What? A full-on blend of different dance styles
Where and when? Assembly Hall, 6pm

They say…

Dance worlds collide! This dynamic show is packed with energy as stars from your favourite dance reality shows take centre stage. Tommy Franzen, Alleviate, The A-Team Corporation, Brosena and more familiar faces from shows including Got To Dance, So You Think You Can Dance and Move It Like Michael Jackson join forces for the biggest dance fusion Edinburgh has ever seen! Watch as Latin meets lockin’, jazz joins jump jive and contemporary goes Celtic! This feel-good production celebrates the world of dance, building to a spectacular finale that guarantees everyone is on their feet! Directed by Gary Lloyd.

I say…

This is the sort of show that sums up what I love about dance. There are just SO many styles to think about, and you might not want to commit to seeing one genre for an entire hour. So Flash Mob mix it right up and deliver a fast-paced, punchy show that means you never quite know what is coming next. One thing you do know, though, is that it’s going to be a world-class exhibition from some of the best dancers around. It’s also a pleasure to see these guys live, especially if you’ve enjoyed watching them on the box. It shows there is plenty of life after TV talent shows. And, having met them during rehearsals in London, I can honestly say they are a bunch that exude positivity from every pore.

There’s no way you’ll be disappointed by choosing this show.

Review ScotsGay Magazine *****

“When I first learned that a Flash Mob was going to happen in the centre of Edinburgh as part of the Fringe, I thought I’d be reviewing some Twitter savvy Scottish people at Waverley station – suddenly bursting into dance in protest over the price of milk. Er, no.
This Flash Mob is at The Assembly Hall. The show presents a variety of acts from across the genres that many will recognize from television dance shows. Any thoughts that we may be in for sustained commercialised tedium were dispelled from the opening performance. The gorgeous Tommy Franzén produced a spot lit solo that had dance purists, gays, mums dads and the kids (I know these groups are not mutually exclusive) cheering for joy.
We proceeded through an hour of hip-hop, street, Irish, Latin… you name it, they did it. And they did it well. But it wasn’t all fun and games; a beautiful and surprisingly dark contemporary piece performed by Alleviate (Nicolette Whitley and Renako McDonald) was just stunning. I urge you to check them out on YouTube if like me, you haven’t seen the Sky show on which they competed.
Of-course the finale brought all the dancers out together for a ‘jam’ (I think that’s the word) and a shambolic, but very funny dance lesson for the audience which had us out of our chairs, shaking like a mutha and trampling over strangers. I loved it!”

Review Broadway Baby

“They acts have that ‘wow factor’ that the majority of Fringe shows lack. The Irish dancing was incredible; I could’ve watched that much longer ……. In this short time, the show managed to display just about every type of dance, from contemporary ballet to salsa to street, and all executed well.
If you can’t decide which dance show to see and aren’t looking for any particular genre, this is the show for you. Overall…Flash Mob is a fun show for the whole family.”

Review The List Five Stars *****

“Performance-based reality TV shows get a bad rap for chewing up talent and spitting it out again. That’s where this production by World Dance Management steps in with a slick new show spotlighting dancers who shot to prominence on programmes like Sky1’s Got to Dance and BBC1 ‘s So You Think You Can
Dance?

Tommy Franzen was a muscular. fleet-footed contestant on the first edition of If1e latter series. He looks back on it as ‘an amazing challenge and experience.’ But, he adds, such shows are ‘only tools. It’s up to you to make yourself successful.’ In Flash Mob he, a Latin-grooving duo from the film StreetDance 2 3D, the groups Alleviate and A-Team and others join forces for what Franzen dubs ‘a celebration of dance where everyone gets a chance to shine.’ The director is Gary Lloyd, whose CV is topped by the Michael Jackson tribute musical Thriller Live plus work with a slew of big name from Tom Jones to Leona Lewis. So get it while it’s hot.”

Review The New Current Five Stars *****

“This year “Flash Mob” is on a path to becoming the most talked about dance show of the fringe 2012. Filled with performers from all spheres of the dancing work “Flash Mob” has been causing stirs and now there is an opportunity to see why.
The ability, skill, and wonderment that each of the different dancers brought to the show was remarkable….– the dancers are at the very top of their game and produce such a mesmerising spectacle on stage their different ability and skills could have been woven into a different narrative.”

Review London Aisle *****

“If you stampede down the stairs at the sound of So You Think You Can Dance’s opening credits, are first in line for the latest street dance movie, have MTV solely for watching America’s Best Dance Crew, or obsess over the candidates on Got to Dance, then this show in undoubtedly, irrefutably for you. Featuring performers from all four of the above mentioned shows, including SYTYCD’s winner Charlie Bruce, R.Elle Niane from StreetDance 2 3D, America’s (winning) best dance crew The Elektrolytes and the astounding Celtic dancing talent of Got to Dance’s Brosena, Flash Mob is billed as ‘ready to prove the sceptics wrong’. Because, of course, aside from the celebrity excitement, these are some of the best dancers in the country, who are now getting the chance to do their thing away from the confines of a structured TV show.
After a successful stint at Edinburgh Festival, FLASH MOB brings it’s eclectic mix of genres and crowd-pulling names to London… it sold out completely in Scotland, so make sure you don’t suffer a similar fate if FLASH MOB tickles your fancy.”
The London Aisle

“The audience screamed, clapped, had a wonderful time.”
FT (Financial Times)

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Celebrity Tweets

Olympic winner skier – Chemmy Alcott ‏@ChemmySki 33,383 FOLLOWERS
Bopping and head nodding away in the audience of @flashmobtoursitting waiting eager for 2nd half. Creative genius & amazing talent!

Synchronised Olympic swimmer Jenna Randall ‏@JennaRtweets 10,666 FOLLOWERS
16th Oct- If you love to dance or love watching it?? Go see @FlashMobTour#SaldersWellsPeacockTheatre Fantastic dancers!! #AMustSee

16th Oct- Absolutely loving #FlashMob @FlashMobTour show tonight… Makes me want to dance again!! 🙂 #AMustSee

16th Oct- Off with the little sis @AshaRandall to London to go see some of the best dancers perform in #FlashMob #Excited!!

15th Oct- Super excited to go see #FlashMob tomorrow in London!! Who’s going!? #DanceGeek #LoveToDance!!

6 times World Champion swimmer Mark Foster ‏@MarkFosterSwim 54,978 FOLLOWERS
Really enjoyed @flashmobtour at the peacock theatre. Brilliant mix of dance, great night out. pic.twitter.com/pENl39et (picture of poster from the front of the theatre)

On my way into town to catch up with @MichaelKlimAus then off to look at a pool… The going to see “flash mob”

Michael Klim (Mark’s Guest) ‏@MichaelKlimAus 6,240 FOLLOWERS
saw Flash Mob in London thanks to our dear friend@MarkFosterSwim , do yourself a favour and go see it! Amazing!!!

Lindy Klim (Mark’s Guest) ‏@LindyKlim
Loved seeing Flash Mob in London with our amazing friend@MarkFosterSwim , those guys can really move do yourself a favour and see it!

Actress Nadia Sawalha ‏@nadiasawalha 46,230 FOLLOWERS
Just took my daughter to #@flashmobtour had a great night and charlie bruce melted our hearts with her beautiful dancing! X

Actress Olivia Hallinan ‏@Livvyloooo 2,747 FOLLOWERS
Dancing is a whole different ball game! In awe #flashmobtour

Bopping to Flashmob! Absolutely incredible! @flashmobtourpic.twitter.com/fAhpUwi8

16th Oct- Absolutely loving #FlashMob @FlashMobTour show tonight… Makes me want to dance again!! 🙂 #AMustSee

16th Oct- Off with the little sis @AshaRandall to London to go see some of the best dancers perform in #FlashMob #Excited!!

15th Oct- Super excited to go see #FlashMob tomorrow in London!! Who’s going!? #DanceGeek #LoveToDance!!

6 times World Champion swimmer Mark Foster ‏@MarkFosterSwim 54,978 FOLLOWERS