Review: Tango Fire, Tunbridge Wells' Assembly Hall Theatre, Sunday, May 1 and Dartford's Orchard Theatre, Tuesday, May 3

by Keith Hunt

The dancers of the poetically named show Tango Fire - Flames of Desire lit up the stage and probably left scorch marks in its wake.

We have had glimpses of the Argentinian tango on Strictly Come Dancing and I have witnessed Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace perform it at close quarters at a Medway school.

Tango Fire is a breathtaking demonstration of how you would expect to see polished proponents take to the floor in Buenos Aires. And, boy, do the five couples live up to the show's name.

The company insists the show is not erotic but it is hard to get away from that proposition when seeing the lithe dancers with smouldering good looks prowl across the stage as one, bodies entwined and twisting into impossible positions.

The Argentinian tango is far more sensuous than the jerkier ballroom tango. Health and safety is of the essence when female dancers are swung around so that their heels become lethal weapons and timing is important for lightning flicks between legs for the men especially.

Some members of the audience get to dance on the stage for a pre-show milonga, a term for a place or an event where tango is danced, and are shocked to find they end up dancing with the experts.

Once they had returned to their seats without any unfortunate mishaps, the action got underway.

The set is essentially a night club featuring four-piece band Quatrotango on piano, violin, double bass and a squeeze box called a bandoneon, silky-voiced singer Jesus Hidalgo and 10 gifted dancers.

There is no real story, other than a suggestion of rivalry and the odd bout of fisticuffs. It is all about the often death-defying dancing choreographed by one of the stars, Yanina Fajar, punctuated with haunting music.

The shorter first half flew by in a blur of colour and wonder, while the second part gave the dancers the opportunity to showcase their skills.

German Cornejo and size-zero blonde Carolina Giannini sizzle in an acrobatic routine that would not be out of place in the Olympics. Sebastian Alvarez is no muscle man but twirls Victoria Saudelli around his body like a hoola hoop.

By the final curtain, we were all exhausted, amazed, thoroughly entertained and in need of the night air to cool us down.

As Craig Revel Horwood would say on Strictly: Three words - fab-u-lous!