Kylee and Stephen Vincent fell in love on the dance floor.
The chemistry between them was palpable on and off stage, and they decided to commit to spending the rest of their lives together.
Kylee, from South Africa, and Stephen, from Manchester in the UK, are now happily married.
Although the two are no longer dance partners, their romance has strengthened during their strenuous preparation for their critically acclaimed show Burn The Floor, touring South Africa.
“The passion of everyone who is part of the show is what makes it so successful,” Kylee, the local Latin dance champion, told Saturday Star.
Stephen echoed his wife’s sentiments, saying: “That feeling you get on the stage is very hard to describe; it’s like excitement, ridiculous amounts of adrenaline and pure joy”.
After successful runs at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, Burn The Floor - The Rebel Tour is being staged at the Theatre of Marcellus at Emperors Palace until September 8 .
From September 12 to 29 the show will be at the Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom, outside Durban. This is the fourth time Burn The Floor has toured South Africa, and Stephen said it was one of his favourite places to perform. “I remember coming to South Africa for the first time in 2011, when it was still a new market for us,” he said. “The response we received was just amazing; I will never forget it. South African audiences are not afraid to show that they are having a good time, and we feed off that energy.”
Kylee attributes this to music and dance being a vital part of many South African cultures.
“The South African audiences are really loud and they enjoy themselves as much as we enjoy ourselves on stage,” she said. “Even though it might be a smaller crowd, they always seem to surprise us with the amount of energy they give us.” The show is choreographed and directed by Peta Roby, and includes music by Rag’* ’Bone Man, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Santana, Janis Joplin, and Led Zeppelin.
Kylee and Stephen said a reason for the international success of the show was that it was adapted for each country. “We know that every audience has different needs,” said Kylee.
In South Africa Miriam Makeba’s acclaimed hit Pata Pata has been included in the show. Stephen said international trends were also incorporated into the show, and in a segment dancers had cellphones to highlight the reach of social media. “One mantra we live by is ‘letting the outside in’, so we are constantly looking at the world around us and thinking, ‘What are the trends, what is happening right now, how can we incorporate it into the show.’”
The performers are from several countries, including Italy, the UK, South Africa, France and Australia. Kylee and Stephen believe this merging of cultures is a factor in the show’s popularity. Kylee said while their different languages sometimes made it difficult for the dancers to communicate, one thing always united them. “The good thing is that if we can’t communicate through language, we can always communicate through dance and music.”
While Burn The Floor has revolutionised ballroom dance across the world, and has earned the reputation of being one of the world’s toughest dance shows, the performers have worked hard to get to the top.
This includes sometimes preparing for a show a year in advance; strenuous hours of rehearsal; following a strict diet; and a taxing gym regimen.
“We have have done technical runs of the show at 2am to
make sure that we are ready,” said Stephen. “We will do anything to make sure that the show is the best it can be.”