REVIEW: Amy Dowden & Carlos Gu : REBORN – Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow
In REBORN, Strictly favourites Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu aim to highlight the transformative power of dance as they share an intimate portrait of their personal lives and passion for dance in this spectacular show.
Supported by a cast of dance champions and Strictly resident vocalist Andrea Grant, the quality of the live vocals, the choreography and its execution are of absolutely exceptional quality.
The high energy start signals the intent of the evening – to put dance front and centre of everything. Amy charts her dance journey from her first love disco to falling in love with the Cuban heels the other girls were wearing at her dance classes and her switch to ballroom, her dance partnership with her husband Ben, and their pursuit of the 2016 British Championships that led her to be the only professional to turn down Strictly when offered it. The reasoning behind it is truly touching.
Carlos’ story is equally touching, born in Taiyuan in Northern China, his father passed away before his birth leaving his mother to bring him up alone. In a home full of love, his prodigious talent led him to leave home at the tender age of twelve to pursue his dance dream, ultimately becoming Chinese National Champion. His move to the UK and his emergence as his true free self are explained with joy as he declares: “China is my country, but the UK is my home”. His happiness at fulfilling his dance dream as well as being able to express himself fully personally, is palpable. He dances a male/male Tango in a stunning pink suit, that highlights his natural showmanship. He shares too, that the dance style that fires his souls is Flamenco which he powerfully dances with the supporting cast.
Amy explains how Carlos exploded into her life in 2022, full of energy and mischief and how they naturally gravitated towards one another. Gu now a fully fledged member of Dowden’s family, spending the last two Christmases with her, getting his first ever Christmas stocking and now calling her parents Mama and Papa. She declares he’s the “little brother I never had”.
Dowden’s Cancer journey is spoken of frankly as she dances and narrates the horrific setbacks, the pain, loss of identity, how chemotherapy ravaged her athlete’s body, how Sepsis and infertility, changed her forever.
Gu surprises as he takes to the microphone to delivers a fabulous selection from Cabaret/ Chicago, the audience’s jaws collectively drop as the opening bars of Mein Herr ring out and stay on the floor until he is finished.
The costumes and lighting are of exceptional quality, you can see on stage all of the careful planning and design that has brought this to fruition.
For all the emotive storytelling it is the dance itself that is affecting, it is pure perfection, arguably the best quality of any Strictly professionals on stage. There are blazing routines to One Night Only, Proud Mary, I’m a Survivor, This is a Man’s World, Whitney’s I Didn’t Know My Strength, You Can’t Stop The Beat (the routine that gave Dowden and her partner Karim Zeroual her first perfect 40 score), a dark Tango to Everybody Wants to Rule the World, culminating in an explosive pre-finale of Born This Way and Who Runs the World – Girls, the finale itself is an emotive one danced to Over The Rainbow.
If you weren’t a fan before, you will be after experiencing the pair’s talent live, up-close and personal. The energy is off-the-charts throughout. The genuine love the pair have for dance, for one another and respect for their audience just shines through. Pure perfection.
5 STARS
Continues to tour the UK.
