The Next Step

IN THIS post- So You Think You Can Dance world, what can fill the void that many Sydneysiders have discovered in their beat-deprived hearts?

The answer may lie in the Next Step - 14 boys aged 18 to 23 who perform a fusion of tap, breakdance and hip-hop - and have performed everywhere from the MTV Awards to Mornings With Kerri-Anne. However, this is the first time their one-hour dance show will be performed for a public audience.

Watching the rehearsals, it is clear why the Next Step have been so well-received - they are athletes, and their strength, precision and energy show. All at once they execute backflips and headstands to toe-tapping rhythms. The eye is drawn to movement everywhere.

"I think it's original; I've never seen it before," says 21-year-old director Jason Lewis. "It's a combination of all different styles of art on the stage at the same time. But it's not like a normal act where the dancers are the back-up and the singers are in the forefront; we've reversed that so it's all about the dancers and the singers, and the band are backing us up."

The Next Step's music, a mix of rap, hip-hop, soul and house, pumps out of their rehearsal space at Brent Street Studios. The original score is by their producer Michael D'Arcy, rapper Adam Katz and vocalist Carlos Velazquez. On Sunday, when they play at the Metro, Katz and Velazquez will be accompanied by a live band with drums, keys and bass and two female back-up singers.

In an attempt to shake off the street image that Lewis says they often project, the boys will sport suits in various shades of grey, along with their runners and tap shoes.

"I wanted to make it a bit more upmarket so we kind of have a suit vibe, it's very classy," Lewis says. "[It's] just to make us look a bit more presentable instead of hoodlums, which we're not, but sometimes come across as."

He says the stage will be very bare, consisting only of a few podiums for the singers and the band. "The set is basic. This show is basically just about the raw talent that is there."

The group will slide into the Metro at 6am on the morning of their two evening performances for rehearsals.

"It's going to be an intense day," Lewis says, "[but] I guess we have to do two shows just to pay back what we've put into it. It'll be good for us to get our stamina up and get us working."

Lewis created the concept with Brent Street buddy Sean Robinson five years ago as a tap and hip-hop group that performed for corporate events. They aimed to create work for themselves and their friends - something Lewis says there isn't a lot of in Australia.

"Over the years it's just evolved into what it is now, with all the music as a stage show, [and] getting the breakdancers in and the band."

It has taken five years to reach this point but Lewis is proud of where it is now. "I've kind of driven it to what it is today; it's been my baby," he says. "I like creating things. [Being] on stage in front of an audience and grabbing them, is the best feeling you can ever have. Even the creative process, making something from nothing, is a very rewarding thing."

Much of the choreography has been designed by the boys specifically for this show. "In rehearsals that's where things come to life," Lewis says. "All the boys pitch in and choreograph it. It's a big group effort."

Lewis says shows such as So You Think You Can Dance have helped make dance more well-known and now more people seem to want to see dancing. They have had success across many age groups in corporate events but teens are still their primary market.

"Yes," he says, "the girls do go crazy."

And understandably so. With the playful personalities from Australia's So You Think You Can Dance, Hilton Denis and Khaly Ngeth, and dancers from the Tap Dogs and Fergie's film clips, there are many familiar faces in the group.

Lewis says the boys, who have known each other for at least three years, are great mates. "[It's just] boys hanging out really ... in the garage having a dance, as silly as it seems."
- Sydney Morning Herald