Breaking new ground: Blaze is set to wow audiences in Scotland

WATCHING Blaze, the latest streetdance sensation to hit British theatres, two things strike me. First, the audience demographic - sitting in the auditorium in Salford's Lowry Theatre are four-year-old girls, men in their seventies and everything in between. Such is the pulling power of hip hop these days.

• Already a big hit in Holland and London, Blaze is now touring the UK, including two dates in Scotland

Secondly, during the show's closing moments, when one by one the performers step forward to do a turn, smiles of admiration radiate from their fellow dancers. It's a true indication of just how much the 12 streetdancers, three breakdancers and DJ respect one another's work. Company member Tommy Franzn, a runner-up in BBC1's So You Think You Can Dance, concurs.

"We're learning so much from each other on the tour," he says. "Before every show we always have a little warm-up and swap moves and skills. I respect ever single dancer in the company, everyone's got something about them, something special to offer."

Already a big hit in Holland and London, Blaze is now touring the UK, having picked up Franzn and fellow So You Think You Can Dance finalist, Lizzie Gough, along the way.

Unlike Into The Hoods or Pied Piper, two of the biggest shows to bring hip hop into the theatrical arena in recent years, Blaze has no narrative. Instead the show is broken up thematically, either by dance genre or through set- pieces, such as a routine inspired by computer games or, rather amusingly, the DJ's love of food.

Swedish-born Franzn not only performs in the show, but due to a bold bit of self-promotion, also contributes to the movement. "I choreographed the locking number," he explains. "The person supposed to create it didn't work out, so I decided to put myself forward. It was my first experience of choreographing on other people, and, at times, I felt like I was going in blind as I'd only ever made solos for myself, which is completely different."

In fact, Franzn's piece, with dancers dressed in black and white costumes and bowler hats, is one of the strongest routines in the show, signalling the 28-year-old out as a talent to watch. "I've realised that I really enjoy choreographing," he says. "I never wanted to go into it before, and I still don't want to fully yet as I love dancing. But I'm being asked to do it more and more, so I think it's leading that way."

For the uninitiated, hip-hop terminology can be confusing. The fact that Franzn created a "locking number" will mean very little to much of the audience. Seeing the styles performed next to each other, however, makes it easier to appreciate the various nuances of the genre.

"In Blaze we've got commercial hip hop and a more underground but still modern hip-hop form known as nu style," Franzn explains."Then we've got the foundation styles that are locking, popping and breaking, and also house, which is relatively new but has been welcomed into the family."

Finding the right talent to illustrate those styles was the job of Chris Baldock, co-director of Blaze. If the show's overall vision was to be achieved, then recruiting choreographers and auditioning dancers from around the world was an essential part of the process. Hailing from Europe, the United States and South America, the cast and crew pour a wide range of flavours into the Blaze pot. "That was one of the things we really wanted to do," says Baldock. "To have different cultures, different styles, different mentalities - to have a completely international cast, rather than UK only. And they all get on great, they really blend well together."

Arguably one of the most captivating aspects of Blaze is the breakdancing, in particular the remarkable Brazilian champion Fabiano Lopes, aka Neguin. So sure was Baldock of Neguin's ability, the dancer didn't even have to audition for the show.

"I looked at the Brazilian breakers on YouTube, saw what they could do - and I just knew," recalls Baldock. "They're at the top of their game at the moment, in Sao Paulo's Tsunami All Stars crew. Neguin is incredible, he was runner-up in the World Championships last year."

Baldock co-created Blaze with Anthony Van Laast, a West End choreographer with a string of award-winning shows to his name, including Mamma Mia! and Bounce, and an MBE for services to dance. Together, Baldock and Van Laast strived to make something fresh and unique.

"There are so many hip-hop shows out there now," says Baldock, "and we wanted to do something completely different. It's taken us three years to pull together and a lot of research has gone into it. We brought a lot of different people on board because we wanted to cover as many elements as possible."

As for the diverse audiences Blaze is attracting, Baldock has a number of theories as to why. Aside from the good reputations of those involved, he feels that streetdance has now become the rule, rather than the exception.

"I think TV shows like Britain's Got Talent have been a major force in that," says Baldock. "Because every Saturday night people are watching acts like Diversity performing streetdance, so that definitely helps. But my feeling is also that streetdance is becoming the new commercial dance. When I was a dancer, commercial dancing was the kind of typical stuff you'd see on a Saturday night variety show - but now that's changing and streetdance has become the accepted norm."

• Blaze is at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 15-16 October, and at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 21-23 October.