As I see the excitement of my two pre-teen dance students, who are also co-reviewers for the day, I realise this kind of experience is engaging, inspiring and allows the hopes of young aspiring dancers to be seen in an attainable reality.

There is an important turning point in any young dancer’s life where it gets hard. So they will ask themselves, will I stop or will I keep going? A show like this, that floods the audience with positive, inspiring messages and displays the individual potential of each dancer who has succeeded, can help determine a young dancer’s destiny in regards to this question.  

The Next Step is a Disney Channel series featuring young, talented dancers engaged in all the obvious drama of a dance studio. This tour is a chance for actors/dancers of the cast to perform live and tell their more personal stories. Seven young dancers, four guys and three girls – Trevor, Briar, Victoria, Myles, Lamar, Isaac, and Jordan; all equipped with a variety of dance styles, flips, tricks, humour and acting abilities – lead the crowd of pre-teens, teens and parents in a polished and interactive performance from beginning to end.

Group arrangements of contemporary, hip-hop, jazz and ballet, are placed between the dancers’ personal short video stories of how they grew up, began dancing, their achievements, difficulties, their favourite food, dance moves, pastimes, and words of encouragement to young dancers. After their videos each dancer performs a personalized solo. Highlights from my review panel are Lamar’s original, inspiring and funky contemporary moves, and Jordan’s expressive and beautifully executed contemporary solo to Adele’s ‘Hello’.  

It takes a while for the NZ audience to warm up to the over-zealous thanks, praise, encouragement and confidence of American Disney, but by the end, my mini reviewers are dancing in their seats, and give the second half an amazing score of 10.5, and 10.9 out of 10! They love the interactive sections of Q&A time, and the time for the audience to get up and learn a little dance routine.

There are some hilarious moments even adults can laugh at like Trevor’s struggle to produce a New Zealand accent. The kids also love moments like the dance-off between the girls and boys. There are impressive moments such a Briar’s display of flexibility and strength, and she moves so gracefully, echoing her words of wisdom: “It not about competing with others, but competing with yourself and being the best YOU, you can be.”

There is not such a depth of choreography, however it is a show aimed to ‘wow’ and inspire young dancers, which it certainly does. Overall this is a talented cast who, despite their youth, bravely tell their unique stories and give positive messages about the opportunities they’ve received. I’m sure the cast too, receives just as much hope as they give out, as they see how their little fans respond to their efforts to develop their talents, and take action until the end; until their hopes are fulfilled. In any field, this mentality is a powerful and inspiring thing to share! 

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