Tango Fire: Flames of Desire at the Peacock

There is little in life that’s more perfect than a dancer’s back. The tone, flexibility and pure strength of it are testament to years of hard work. The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires are a troop of dancers so beautiful that you may well leave with scorched eyeballs.    

The show was broken up into dance numbers, songs where the band Quarteto Fuego could shine alone, and several from soloist Jesus Hidalgo. The audience will hear the passionate sounds of the traditional tango in their heads for the rest of the week.

Costumes were sexy, sophisticated and enhanced the dancers’ forms impeccably. There was one slightly questionable bodysuit that had the unfortunate luck of looking like army camouflage from the dress circle. This particular dance duo were so technically superb, though, that the catsuit did not distract for long.

The sexiest couple of the night was dancer Gisela Galeassi paired with choreographerGerman Cornejo. The former lost two heavy-looking diamond earrings in spectacular fashion during some athletic turns. Some fatalities are expected when one is being thrown around like a lascivious ragdoll; better it be the earrings than someone’s skull.

The staging was very basic, and though this must have been so as not to detract from the dancing, it felt slightly lacking in effort aesthetically. Although some routines were messier than others, these small errors will surely be ironed out after opening night. The audience was visibly enjoying the show, their gasps audible throughout the theatre at some of the more perilous moves. 

The second act sizzled even more than the first; the traditional red costumes of the tango reserved for the crowd-pleasing final numbers. A truly enjoyable show with a finale that’s worth the wait.

Tina Squatley-Thrust

Tango Fire: Flames of Desire is on at Peacock Theatre until 14^th February 2015, for further information or to book visit here.