Burn the Floor extends to 14 Feb, 3 new cast members announced

The Broadway dance show, Burn the Floor, has announced that three new guest stars will join the company for the show's final extension on Broadway prior to an Australian, Asian and U.S. tour.

On 12 Jan 2010, Mary Murphy of "So You Think You Can Dance," and Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo of "Dancing with the Stars" will become part of Burn the Floor's cast. The Broadway engagement has also announced a third extension and will now play its final performance on 14 Feb 2010.

Mary Murphy will have made her Broadway debut in Burn the Floor for one night only on 22 Dec 2009 and will return to join the company officially on 12 Jan 2010. She is best known for her enthusiastic and emotional judging style on "So You Think You Can Dance," gaining notoriety and earning fans as the "Queen of Scream." She is a US Ballroom Dance Champion and an Austrian National 10-dance and Ballroom Champion. She will be partnered with Vaidas Skimelis.

Alec Mazo has been dancing since he was five years old. He moved to America from Russia with his family when he was 12. His mother started a dance studio in San Francisco, and today Alec runs two ballroom dance schools—one in the San Francisco Bay Area and another in Los Angeles. Mazo and Edyta only turned professional in 2005, having been successful amateur Latin competitors for the previous five years. He appeared in the film "Dance with Me" with Vanessa Williams and has had roles in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "CSI: NY."

Edyta Sliwinska, who is known as much for her daring costumes as her dance moves, is the only professional dancer to appear on all eight seasons of "Dancing With The Stars" occasionally against her husband, Alec Mazo, winner of the first season of "Dancing With The Stars." In 2000, Edyta left her native Poland to pursue her dream of becoming a world famous Latin dancer. She settled in San Francisco and partnered with Alec. Together, they won first place in the 2001 International Grand Ball and the 2001 Holiday Ball.

Burn the Floor, the Latin and Ballroom dance show that has played around the globe, opened at the Longacre Theatre on 2 Aug 2009, following previews from 25 Jul 2009 and was originally scheduled to close on 18 Oct 2009.

The show opened to mixed reviews: "can come to feel monotonous and mechanical" (NY Times); "the dance speaks eloquently for itself" (NY Daily News); "an experience that alternates between exhilarating and contrived" (The Record); "a two-hour adrenaline rush featuring some of the best and best-looking ballroom dancers in the world" (NY1); "it's a vulgarized dance marathon" (Variety).

Collectively holding over 100 Latin and Ballroom titles, the cast of Burn the Floor stars HHenry Byalikov, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Kevin Clifton, Sasha Farber, Jeremy Garner, Anya Garnis, Gordana Grandosek, Patrick Helm, Sarah Hives, Melanie Hooper, Pasha Kovalev, Peta Murgatroyd, Giselle Peacock, Nuria Santalucia, Mirko Sciolan, Sarah Soriano, Damon & Rebecca Sugden, Trent Whiddon, Damian Whitewood and Robin Windsor. The dancers are supported by two vocalists, Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia.

Burn the Floor is created and choreographed by Jason Gilkison who is connected to the shows 'So You Think You Can Dance' (both the US and the Australian versions) and 'Superstars of Dance' as the captain of the Australian team.

Burn the Floor was first performed at Sir Elton John's 50th birthday celebrations at the Hammersmith Palais Ballroom, London in 1997, since then the production has gone on to be a worldwide success with tours in many countries including Austrailia, Canada, Japan and across Europe. It has been seen by 30 million people in 30 countries.

The show is produced by Joe Watson, Richard Levi, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, and Marc Routh, in association with Dance Partner Inc/Harley Medcalf.