Music

We talk to Harley Medcalf about Burn the Floor

“I just can’t dance, and possess two left feet”- This has not, however stopped veteran Australian Producer, Harley Medcalf, from building the amazing global dance brand Burn the Floor.

The worldwide smash hit, Burn the Floor is a combination of fast-paced, exhilarating ballroom dancing and pop and rock hits. The idea to create Burn the Floor came to Harley Medcalf at the 50th Birthday party of Sir Elton John and since then the production has been performed all over the world.

Burn the Floor has had acclaimed runs on Broadway and London’s West End and many famous faces have been part of the audience including Matt Damon and Jennifer Lopez.

In March, Burn the Floor returns home. So get ready Australia, because this is one event that you do not want to miss. Burn the Floor will be performed at The Palms at Crown Melbourne from March 3 until March 19. Click here to purchase tickets now.

Ticketmaster: Thanks for chatting with us, Harley. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Burn the Floor, can you explain the show?

Harley Medcalf: Simply put, Burn the Floor is more than a dance show. Although we draw from the wonderful ballroom art form, styles, history and traditions, we deliver them all with a complete 21st century makeover.

The show is a really strong theatrical experience; the dancing is combined with great story telling in the choreography and really eclectic music, from Santana to Tito Puente, to Shakira and Led Zeppelin, and much more… all played with quite an edge.

Our dancers are the best in the world, they have bodies to die for, incredibly fit eye candy. We have great sets, tons of very lush costumes and the really hot band, which this year features two Spanish guitarists, and then the two amazing singers …

The cast has a lot of fun on stage and that is seriously infectious when you are sitting in the audience. We have emotional moments, funny moments, and times when the action on stage just blows you away… you almost need seat belts!

And you can bring your kids, your husband, or your grandparents. Overall, you come to Burn the Floor be totally, completely entertained!

Ticketmaster: You first got the idea for Burn the Floor after seeing a group of ballroom dancers perform at Elton John’s 50th Birthday party. Firstly, how was Elton’s party? But more importantly, what was it about that performance that sparked an idea in your head to produce Burn the Floor?

Harley Medcalf: Well, Sir Elton’s 50th in 1997, it was just pure fantasy. 600 guests, the who’s who of rock and theatre, at a way over the top costume party at London’s Hammersmith Ballroom. Only an earthquake might have stopped the revelry. In the midst, Sir Elton’s manager, John Reid had booked 16 young ballroom dancers to perform after he jumped out of the massive birthday cake. It was going crazy. But these dancers stopped the room in its tracks, everyone stopped, focused on them, shocked I think. The dancers’ energy was incredible, so unexpected, they blew everyone away and the room just totally exploded around them. I just looked at what was happening and thought, “if only you could bottle this and turn it into a show”!

Ticketmaster: What is your favourite ballroom dancing routine?

Harley Medcalf: I love the Rhumba. Two people gliding across the floor in total joyful unity. It’s so smooth and sensual. When you set it something like “Stairway to Heaven” there is no turning back, it just draws you into the moment, hooks you emotionally, you are mentally up on stage with the dancers, you don’t want it to stop…

Ticketmaster: Ballroom dancing really is stunning and theatrical. The music, costumes and passion of the dancers really adds to Burn the Floor doesn’t it?

Harley Medcalf: I set out originally to combine the Ballroom art-form and tradition with Rock and Roll. That’s what I felt I saw back at Sir Elton’s party. Strange bed fellows perhaps? Well it absolutely worked, more so, it fuelled the dancers with the passion, electrified them, and set them free. We made our guys the rebels from the ballroom world. Over the years we have learnt how to play with this, dial the temperature up. With this infusion the dancers go like they come from another planet, boundless energy spills out, they capture you and wont let go.

Ticketmaster: Burn the Floor has had successful runs on Broadway and London’s West End. Can you tell us about the experience of taking the show to those entertainment ‘meccas’?

Harley Medcalf: Just walking onto a Broadway stage for the first time runs shivers up your spine to start.  A show on Broadway is the most challenging, beyond description experience this industry offers. There is no respite, you are competing with 30 plus of the best shows in the world on Broadway, every single day, plus the the 300 or more off-Broadway offerings. We hoped for six weeks which became seven months, 193 performances. Hundreds of fans are at the stage door, even in the snow. The experience leaves you exhausted. You fight for every inch of publicity space, every opportunity. Just when you think you can relax you find out Matt Damon is coming, wants tickets, next day JLo, then Chelsea Clinton! Or you are asked to get the company up at 5am to dance on Good Morning America. Burn the Floor actually rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange then rushed to the theatre! And then you go to London, the West End and do it all over again!

Ticketmaster: You have worked with many of the biggest names in the entertainment industry including Sinatra, Queen, Dame Edna, Billy Connolly, Michael Flatley and the list goes on. Is it possible to narrow down the greatest live show you have ever seen?

Harley Medcalf: Frank Sinatra, Melbourne Festival Hall in 1974, made me cry when he walked on stage. Freddie Mercury, Queen – The Works Tour at Sydney Entertainment Centre in 1984 words just can’t describe. Elton John with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1986, first night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre; just breathtaking. These would be my top three. But there are so many, I have been blessed, lucky really. But when the curtain went up on Broadway for Burn the Floor, at the Longacre Theatre in July 2009, I can’t describe it. I just shook all over with emotion, I had not control; it left me totally drained.

Ticketmaster: There’s a lot of Aussies associated with Burn the Floor. Do you guys love bringing the show ‘home’?

Harley Medcalf: Coming home is really special. The dancers’ families, friends all come along, past dancers, and lots of fans who have followed us since 1999. We only get to come here every second year. So, to show what we have learned, how the performance has grown and developed, this is really important to us. We need to make a statement at home.

Ticketmaster: Does Burn the Floor hold a special place for you given you spent years developing the idea and producing the show?

Harley Medcalf: I love Burn the Floor, simple as that. The struggles in the early years, then the high points, more so the dancers themselves make Burn the Floor a very special place. We have over 80 dancers now, 90 plus people in the Company; we have a great culture, almost a lifestyle now. Travelling to see one of our productions – we have four, and just spending time with the dancers, or working with my co-producers, Jason Gilkison, Peta Roby and Nic Notley, we are all dreamers, it just fills me with pride. We set out to take Ballroom to the world and succeeded.

Ticketmaster: And finally, can you dance?

Harley Medcalf: If I close my eyes, dream of that Rhumba perhaps I can? Sadly I have two left feet. Dancing changed my life, yet I just can’t dance!

Ticketmaster: Thanks for your time and we wish you the very best for Burn the Floor!

Burn the Floor will hit the stage at The Palms at Crown Melbourne from March 3 until 19. Click here to purchase tickets now.