By Michal Jansen Miller

“They’re young, they’re hot, they’re in the best shape of their lives.” - Louis van Amstel
I saw an arena show of Dancing with the Stars at Rupp several years ago. The evening was replete with the glitz and glamour of the ABC-TV show. While the producers did their best to transform the hallowed basketball arena into an intimate night club, I still couldn’t get my head around the fact that Big Bertha, already dusty again from renovation, took the place of the iconic disco ball.

The same can be said of So You Think You Can Dance tours. Arenas afford too much space between the dancers and the audience. If I want to see Randi Lynn Strong projected on a wide-screen monitor,
I can do that at home.

American Idol concerts fair better in cavernous spaces, since the whole point of the enterprise is to produce arenas filled with screaming teenagers (and, well… me).

So, what if someone had the vision to package all three of these highly successful American pop sensations into one singular sensation and present it in a more intimate, elegant setting? That would be awesome.

It will be awesome. Louis van Amstel, Emmy nominated Dancing with the Stars pro, had such a vision and brought it to life in what has become the critically acclaimed international production Ballroom with a Twist.

A cast of fifteen Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance veterans, including Anna Trebunskaya, Jonathan Roberts, Legacy, and Randi Lynn Strong come to the Lexington Opera House January 4-6. The twist? American Idol hotties David Hernandez and Gina Glocksen provide powerhouse hit songs as the musical accompaniment to the extravaganza.

The best part? No tedious “results” show. Or Ryan Seacrest.

INSIDER TIP: Bring your ticket stub for complimentary entrance into the swanky Arts Appetizers event at the Horse and Barrel Pub (next to deSha’s) for luscious appetizers on Sunday evening at 5:00 and meet members of the cast. With those bodies, they can’t eat. We can.

 

INSIDER TIP #2: Bring your show ticket for a free 45-minute group ballroom dance lesson taught by Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts on Thursday, January 3rd at 7:00 p.m in the lobby of Rupp Arena. Or, you know, just to swoon over Anna and Jonathan for 45 minutes.