Express & Star

Remembering The Movies with Aljaz and Janette, Symphony Hall, Birmingham - review

Strictly Come Dancing's popular married pair of professional dancers brought the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to Brum in a dance celebration of favourite movie moments.

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Aljaz and Janette brought their show to Birmingham's Symphony Hall at the weekend

Slovenian heart-throb Aljaz Skorjanec and his partner, on and off stage, Cuban-American Janette Manrara were in sizzling form on the dancefloor and raised laughter with their between routines banter, with Janette reminding cheeky Aljaz whose the boss and correcting his English, like when he got 'quip' and 'quiff' mixed up.

The movie theme saw the couple reinvent classic silver screen dance sequences, including a balletic take on Dirty Dancing with a slo-mo version of that famous lift and a hip-hop revamp of Singin' In The Rain with Janette in the Gene Kelly role, mixing breakdance moves with the familiar movie routine (minus the rain).

There were also lots of paso doble, salsa, disco and cha cha cha moves.

Some may have been surprised that the pair don't dance ballroom routines together, and that's because of the considerable height difference, but Saturday night's audience saw plenty of the duo in action as a couple in more modern styles.

These included romantic routines inspired by The Bodyguard and Romeo and Juliet, with the strong Aljaz making Janette seem light as a feather as he twirled her around through the air.

That doesn't mean ballroom was neglected, for those numbers Aljaz was partnered by elegant Australian dancer Ash-Leigh Hunter, who was among a troupe of nine dancers that gave the show a big budget West End show atmosphere.

This was boosted by some impressive lighting and video effects, and the presence of two powerful singers in Janine Johnson and Damien Edwards.

It did sound like some numbers had been pre-recorded but hardly surprising as the singers also often got roped into the dance routines.

Aljaz admitted he didn't choose to inflict his singing on an audience again after their last tour but, thankfully, Janette was up to the job with the saucy Mein Heir number from Cabaret and a mash-up of Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend with Madonna's Material Girl. Aljaz obviously thoroughly enjoyed taking on the 007 image for routines inspired by the Bond movies.

The show covered the golden age of Hollywood (although the Casablanca tribute looked more like Brief Encounter with its steam train backdrop) and that included a nod to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, which was the theme of their previous Remembering Fred tours.

But the emphasis was on movie musicals from the 60s to the present with routines inspired by West Side Story, Saturday Night Fever and Hairspray.

Bringing things right up to day, the show was bookended by routines to songs from latest movie musical phenomenon The Greatest Showman, apt choice for a great dance show which draw a standing ovation.