Reviewed by: Fringefeed
Review by Jackie Raphael | 06 February 2020

Fabulous, funny and fascinating! 100 Years Of The History Of Dance As Told By One Man In 60 Minutes With An Energetic Group Finale tells the story of how dance has evolved through amazing choreographers creating innovative ideas.

The show is made even more entertaining through its unique approach of building a narrative around a schoolboy named Jacob, who is obsessed with dance and is doing a class presentation on the topic. In doing so, Jacob teaches the audience about body movements and techniques.

He also shares personal details about famous choreographers including their scandals, sexuality and deaths.

The long list of global dancers included performers from Belgium, Russia and the United States of America. The show also delves into themes of fame, originality and plagiarism, creating various thought-provoking moments.

While sharing these stories, he performs many of the dances showing his great range. He also varies his voice for his characters and even sings for a portion.

The humour is consistent throughout, with many pop culture references. He has a simple backdrop onstage and relies on minimal props, using just a desk, chair, a piece of fabric, a school uniform and a backpack.

His schoolboy uniform also strips away and is re-purposed to create new costumes, varying his look to match his routines. For a portion of the show he is only in his underwear, showing off his sculpted dancer physique.

From ballet to hip-hop, he shows great skill in his dance routines. His athleticism and energy is admirable but his ability to memorise a one-hour, fast-paced and complicated monologue is beyond words.

Even if you do not know much about dance you will learn a lot from this show as he talks about Bob Fosse to Paula Abdul and even mentions artists such as Michael Jackson, Shakira and Beyoncé.

The comedy is mainly driven through the development of the character Jacob and you will be sure to leave with a smile on your face as he ends with audience participation that includes everyone in the room.