Dance review: Rock the Ballet

First things first - despite the star rating, the dancers are all, without question, superb. Each has been classically trained, before adding gymnastics, jazz and hip hop to their CV.

The six men and lone female who make up The Bad Boys of Dance burst on stage to the Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling (Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night). Which, if you're looking for shamelessly commercial, unchallenging, slightly dated dance, it probably will be.

During the opening routine, images of the Chippendales came to mind. I pushed them away, thinking I was doing this talented troupe a disservice.

An hour later, after wall-to-wall Michael Jackson, Prince and Queen, their encore of bare-chested strutting to I'm Too Sexy elicited squeals of delight. Maybe the Chippendales reference wasn't too far off the mark after all - especially when they take blow-up dolls for partners.

But it was during the Michael Jackson numbers that I realised why Rock The Ballet wasn't rocking my world - the choreography looks and feels like material for backing dancers, but without a star singing front and centre, it has to stand alone. Asking performers of this quality to dance such low-brow material is like using Chinese silk to fashion a kiss-me-quick hat.

• Assembly Hall (venue 35)