It’s been nearly ten years since dance troupe Diversity won Britain’s Got Talent kickstarting a great adventure for the group. Year after year they’re constantly improving and this is shown through their exciting live shows. This autumn’s tour titled Ignite is their quirkiest to date, set in a 2000 capacity travelling circus tent which would see their signature dancing combined with some classic circus acts. Sounds great, doesn’t it? We headed down to the final Bournemouth show for our own incredible Ignite experience. Without giving too many spoilers, here’s what we thought of the show!
Opening the up the show with The Greatest Showman track The Greatest Show immediately we had no idea where to look due to how busy the stage was. Everywhere you looked you were met by different dancers whether from Diversity or their friends which they’ve brought along for the ride. The street dance circus spectacular had already performed three shows in Bournemouth, allowing the performers to feel totally at home which we feel added to the great vibe omitted during the show.
Throughout the show, we’re introduced to many of Diversity’s friends who’ve come along for the ride. Our favourites being The Gerlings who defied gravity on more than one occasion, from balancing on a tightrope whilst sat on a chair to the quite simply terrifying double wheel of death. We’ve never seen anything like it with them skipping, jumping and being blindfolded whilst on the edge of the wheel. With a slip-up or two, it led to a lot of hands over eyes and gasps from within the crowd; we’re happy to say all four members descended the wheels in one piece. We’ll definitely leave the death-defying stunts to the experts. A little less terrifying was the juggler who despite not having the best day was cheered on relentlessly by the rest of the team and the audience, smiling from ear to ear when he managed to catch the balls thrown at him halfway across the tent. There was also a hula hooper with a LED hula-hoop who when team up with diversity armed with LED umbrellas performed a spectacular light show, lighting up faces and the tent. The show was packed with action from start to finish and combined dance and the circus flawlessly, making our first trip to the circus a special one.
But Diversity themselves weren’t exempt from the circus acts with ‘ringleader’ Ashley Banjo taking part in two incredibly mind-blowing albeit scary stunts. We first saw him being chained up and submerged in a locked water tank having to unlock himself before escaping, not only did he escape but he managed to swap with one of the scary masked onlookers watching him struggle in the box. Later in the second act, he tried escapology this time with a leg trap which would catch fire after sixty seconds, oh and Ashley was in a straitjacket whilst trying to escape the leg trap so he definitely doesn’t make it easy for himself. Despite watching with our hands over our eyes we can confirm he did it with just seconds to spare. Ashley, Perri and Sam had even taken the time to learn how to do the gymnastic rings and the sheer strength the trio have is outstanding, future stars of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo?
Diversity are known for their exquisite and downright impressive dance routines made sure these got plenty of attention during the night. we saw them building a car with their bodies before this being traded in for a customised tour MINI. Who knew Diversity had magical powers too? The show featured more backflips than we can count, sharp body locking in the bucketloads, the slickest choreography we’ve been lucky enough to witness and a dance battle just to top it off. The biggest well done to Ashley for still being more creative than we ever could and the whole team for bringing the magical ideas to life.
To loosely explain the show without giving too many spoilers; it sees DVJ’s Isaac Getachew starting his life on the streets, without a family. When he’s given a special coin it’s when his luck changes and the show comes alive. It sees him find his place and his family within the circus and within Diversity as he gains his own signature jacket. The show’s story is truly a feel good one and considering how many families were in the audience it really felt like something everyone could get behind and feel an emotive connection with. Diversity themselves have always been a family since we first met them on Britain’s Got Talent they’ve flaunted a superb support network and this has gotten stronger over the years. Even if Ashley did have to take the opportunity to wind Sam up about his Celebs Go Dating stint… Still as inspirational to both dance group and youngsters alike they’re the real embodiment of how hard work and working to your strengths (Ashley picking up Sam with one arm was definitely a strength) and the strengths of those around you can lead to a really special, successful outcome.
Diversity’s Ignite tour was like nothing we’ve seen before, the seamless integration between circus and dance with storytelling intwined captivated our full attention. If you believe you can do it you can, we all have a fire within and it just takes a spark to ignite it and release this passion. We have to say at this point that it wasn’t just Diversity who made this show such a special occasion, each and every member who appeared on stage whether in a group or as a solo artist helped to make this show as memorable as it was. Whether this was by showing off their quirky skills such as the contortionist or just coming on and helping to hype up the crowd into a frenzy creating an exciting atmosphere. Our eyes were opened to a whole new world of ideas, the world around you isn’t what it seems and everyone has a talent to show off, it’s important to show these off and be proud of what makes you unique. Ignite is heading to Brighton from the 9th – 11th November and if you can we’d highly recommend heading to a date to witness the magic yourself.
Did you go to any of the Ignite shows? Tweet us @CelebMix to share your favourite parts of the show!
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