American Dance Spectacular!

by Magda Katz

All the stars were aligned last night at  the Schimmel Center in New York City to create a flawless show. American Dance Spectacular! traced American  popular dances from the turn of the century to today.  With three Broadway singers, Jennifer DiNoia, Alexa Green, and Vishal Vaidya, narrating, the history of  dance with just enough facts so as not to take away from the enjoyment of the dancers preforming  numbers from the  Charleston to the 20th Century’s flashiest dances.

The fast past show was created, directed and co- written by Daniel C. Levine with the book by Susan Batten. Mr. Levine seems to have the pulse of the young audience because the many young people around me jumped to their feet for a standing ovation. Musical Director Bryan Perri  along with the sensational choreography of  Al Blackstone created an exciting well directed show.

How does one keep from wanting to jump up and dance and sing to such songs as YMCA by Jacques Morali & Victor Willis,  Hank Ballard ’s THE TWIST, Michael Jackson’s BILLY JEAN,Gibbs Brothers’ STAYIN’ALIVE/HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE.? A special mention to the outstanding dancers who were able to change costumes on a dime and perform all the different styles of each period.