Floorplay true version of dancing with the stars

Floorplay's dancers leave little to the imagination.

Floorplay has lashings of ballroom and Latin, but it's the heapin' helpin' of the ol' horizontal shuffle tossed over the mix that really gets everyone overheated.

You won't see any lumbering Rodney Hide lookalikes doing the Monster Mash amid these taut, tanned, sweaty, flexible bodies. Oh nurse, the screens.

"This is more the kind of stuff we do for fun in the practice room," says one of the taut, tanned bodies, 21-year-old Sydneysider Sharna Burgess.

Like all the dancers, she is also a competing ballroom dancer with years of foxtrotting around the world circuit behind her. In ballroom terms, this really is dancing with the stars.

"What we get to do in the show is hot and sweaty, it's really raw," she says. "There's no comparison to official competition style really. When we're competing in world championships in Blackpool or somewhere it's all about who's going to be number one, impressing the judges, how nice your dress is and how orange your tan is. With this, it's far looser, sexier, and just a lot more fun to be involved with."

Floorplay is the third incarnation of Burn the Floor, the brainchild of producer Harley Metcalfe. He was impressed by the glamour and energy of a display of ballroom and Latin dancing put on as part of Sir Elton John's 50th birthday in 1997.

Metcalfe's background was in rock-show staging, with acts such as Queen and he thought he might be on to a winner if he combined the two.

While the first Burn the Floor shows took a traditional approach to the history of dance and showcased the various styles that have emerged, after seven years of touring, choreographer and World Latin American champion Jason Gilkison developed Floorplay.

The costumes have been stripped back, the energy is pumped up several notches, and everyone pretty much gets jiggy.

The two-hour show features 16 dancers, from all parts of the globe, a seven-piece band, and two singers who provide the vocal links as well a few tunes for the audience to sing along to.

Singer Kieron Kulik was plucked from three years of immersion in the Abba-filled world of Mamma Mia.

"To be honest I was getting a bit tired of theatre, then this came along and I haven't looked back. It's the most ultimate gig I could have dreamed of.

"It doesn't have all the serious side of theatre, or the luvvies, because I'm working with dancers who are in it for the pure love of it. I just feed off them every night. I've never been in a show where everyone gets so pumped before they go on. I just wish I'd been doing this since I was 5 like they have."

LOWDOWN

When: September 6 to 8.

Where: Aotea Centre Tickets: Available from Ticketek for $47.