Burn The Floor: Maksim Chmerkovskiy & Kym Johnson to join cast

 

 

Maksim Chmerkovskiy will rejoin the cast of Burn the Floor on 27 Nov 2009 with Kym Johnson of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." The musical has extended its engagement by one week, and will now play through to 10 Jan 2010.

 

 

"Being on Broadway with Burn the Floor this summer was a highlight of my dance career, and it means a lot to me to be invited back for a longer run. It will be great to be able to share this experience with Kym," says Maks, who returns to the show following his sell-out run during the first three weeks of the Broadway production.

Kym, who will make her Broadway debut in Burn the Floor, says, "As a little girl growing up in Australia, my dream was to perform on Broadway. As an original cast member of Burn the Floor, I'm so excited to make my Broadway debut by returning to the show and dancing with my friend Maks."

In addition to being a cast member on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, Maksim Chmerkovskiy is also a world renowned choreographer and dance instructor. His most recent association teamed him with famed performance and film director Franco Dragone revamping and updating the immensely popular performance show Le Reve at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Maks owns and operates 'Dance with Me' and 'Rising Stars Dance Academy' with locations in New Jersey and New York, and he sits on the board of the non-profit organization DanceTeamUSA, which promotes DanceSport amongst the youth of America.

Australian native Kym Johnson began training in ballroom dance at age 13. She went on to be the Australian Ballroom Champion and represented Australia in the world 10 dance championships for two consecutive years. In 1997 Kym performed at Sir Elton John's 50th Birthday party in London - the group performance that was the "inspiration" for the creation of Burn the Floor. Kym performed with Burn the Floor from 1999 to 2004. She grabbed Australia's attention when she appeared in seasons 1-3 of the hit TV show "Dancing with the Stars" and took home first place in season 2. She was then asked to move to America and join the US version of the show.

As previously announced Mary Murphy of FOX's "So You Think You Can Dance" will make her Broadway debut for one night only on 22 Dec, in the Broadway dance show, Burn the Floor. Murphy will be partnered with ballroom champion Vaidas Skimelis.

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.

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.

 

Originally published on

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