REVIEW
By Michael McHale
Lincoln Journal Star

Dancers with Slicked-back hair and glittering outfits worked the stage for an hour and a half at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Wednesday night.

Hundreds watched as five couples leaped, glided and groped in the spotlight as part of a sensual and athletic performance from the World Professional Ballroom Dance Champions, who have been featured in ABC’S “Dancing with the Stars,” BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” and the newest syndicated release of “The American Ballroom Challenge.”

Wearing outfits that showed off a bit of skin and unpacking moves that drew repeated cheers from the crowd, the couples put on a powerful and graceful show that revealed their skills on the dance floor.

The performers moved to 10 themed numbers, each representing the connection between dancing and life and featuring separate presentations form several of the couples. By the time the show ended, each of the 10 dancers had taken the stage multiple times, having jerked their hops and moved their feet in a waltz, fox trot or quickstep, or swayed and glided to a cha-cha, rumba or mambo. Often they were silhouettes in front of a large video screen that flashed bright reds and oranges throughout much of the show.

Each time the dancers appeared in new outfits, from pinks and blues and blacks to go with the music blaring from the speakers. The variety of outfits changed as often as the color. Sometimes the guys wore open shirts revealing most of their torsos, drawing whistles and hollers from women in the audience.

And usually the women squeezed into two piece outfits to reveial some skin or body hugging tights to get more intimate with their partners. The skimpier the clothes, the sexier the dances as the couples would wrap themselves together before snapping apart and rocking their legs and hips with big grins on their faces.

They knew they were good.
They just had to convince the audience…and it didn’t take long.

On of the show’s first numbers was about couples sharing emotions through dance, according to their narrarator. . Dancers Luis Grijalva and Christan Penatello took the stage and snapped and slid to Latin tunes. Their quick and rhythmic style became a crowd favorite as the evening went on. The dancers spent the evening executing their mover, prancing around the entire depth of the stage during every routine.

The most impressive part? The women did almost every routine in high heels.

Reach Michael McHale at mmchale@journalstar.com