Dance sensation Blaze captivates audience

By Joey Aguilar

Staff Reporter

International dance sensation Blaze enthralled spectators yesterday evening with a 20-minute non-stop street and break dance during their performance at Doha Exhibition Centre (DEC) as part of the Qatar Summer Festival.

Yesterday was the first day of the performance.

Kendra Horsburgh, the group’s dance captain and choreographer, said it was their first time to perform in Qatar and some other parts of the Middle East. The renowned dance group had been to Bahrain three days ago.

“You can expect a big fun night out with some incredible talent and some very impressive visuals. The show has great dances, some of the best in the world,” stressed Horsburgh, who joined 15 other members of the group from the US, Holland, Brazil, the UK, Germany, Luxemburg and other countries.

She said the show is partly choreographed with a lot of freestyle elements. “So, you see the individual flavours of different people.”

The performances will conclude tomorrow. The first show at DEC starts at 5pm followed by a short acrobatic performance. Visitors can watch the second show at 7pm and the third at 9pm.

Blaze has allotted a portion of the set for the audience to get involved and dance with the group.

Recounting their recent performance in one country, Horsburgh said one person had asked her for a picture because he came to see the show with his girlfriend and they had just split.

“After the show, they got back together. That tells you how amazing the show was,” she recalled.

The female choreographer observed that the audience in Qatar seemed to be quiet when compared to people in other countries they have visited, such as Germany, Russia, France and the UK.

“They have their phones out and (were) trying to clap but very discreetly; they were involved in their own way,” she said.

The dance captain believes that people in different places react differently to the show. She noted that some would be very quiet and then, at the end, would be the loudest people in the room while others would start very loud and suddenly hold back.

The Blaze dancers have travelled to different countries around the world in the past four years, according to Horsburgh.

After Qatar, the group will be on a break. They are mulling to perform in Asia and America and have plans to return to Qatar for a full show.

“We do a couple of months in different countries depending on where we are contracted to go,” she added.