Bermuda Festival: "BREAK'' -- Ruth Seaton James Theatre -- January 13-15 Catapulting the 25th Bermuda Festival firmly into the 21st century this week was Steve Love's urban funk spectacular, "Break'', which drew an uproarious response on opening night thanks to some brilliant crowd-warming banter from the show's 14-strong crew of mesmerising dancers.

Not only skilled on their feet, these performers earned tumultuous applause for their effectiveness as well-practised all-round entertainers.

"Break'' drew a surprisingly and gratifyingly mixed crowd to the Ruth Seaton James Theatre on Thursday night, and producer Steve Love's New York cast had a relatively reserved house rocking by the show's close.

Although featuring breakdancing, a contemporary grassroots urban dance form, the production, however, lacked a gritty, back-street feel.

This was underlined by some inappropriately glitzy costuming and glossy, but ineffectual lighting. Silver-lame waistcoats and bowler hats -- even tie-dyed ones -- are little passe.

In essence, Love's production presented an adult-friendly warm and fuzzy version of funk, which was tame enough for the uninitiated but hardly earthy enough for the hardened fan.

Some poor production values, which may possibly have been due to technical limitations, also did little to enhance an expected pulsating, ghetto feel.

Putting a DJ on stage, who could scratch and mix that vinyl with the best of them, was a wise move on Break's part. However, instead of having him mix tracks so that numbers blended into each other, each dance segment came to an abrupt end, breaking the flow and killing any hoped for club atmosphere.

On the whole the show's technical management was rather shaky with a major sound glitch halting the proceedings within the first five minutes.

But, weaknesses aside, Break's dancers with their unstoppable display of anatomy-defying gyrations and mesmerising synchronicity kept up the pace. The night, undoubtedly belonged to them.

Love has managed to attract to his company performers with an impressive array of credentials and achievements in their chosen field. Break's three women and 11 men have all worked on film, stage or screen with show business legends like Puff Daddy, Janet Jackson, Ringo Starr, Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross, and some having been honing their skills since breakdancing's dawn.

Although the exact origins of breakdancing are unclear, it is generally thought that the dance form emerged as a style of street dancing during the 1970s, inspired by a number of sources including James Brown's acrobatic style on stage and the popular martial arts films of that decade.

In a two-hour extravaganza, Love's crew took its audience on a break-neck tour of the craze in all its varied forms -- locking, electric boogaloo or popping and power tumbling -- a list of names as dizzying and mind-boggling as the moves themselves.

Girls and boys alike, with suggestive names like Miss Twist and Mr. Flips, flipped, dived, tumbled and span with articulate agility and vertiginous speed.

The wearing of knee pads and reinforced baseball caps was clearly more than a fashion statement but essential for self-preservation. Lengthy head spins, shoulder and hand spins kept the audience holding its collective breath. And unbelievable displays of lofty tumbling made an unsprung stage look like a trampoline.

The technical precision involved in this dance form did not go unnoticed.

However get-down-and-dirty it may be, breakdancing is still an art form that requires precision timing and musicality, which every one of Break's dancers clearly possesses in abundance. They worked King Uprock's music to the max.

This is the second year in a row that the inspirational Mr. Love has entertained Bermuda audiences with his work in non-traditional dance forms.

Last year his New York Express Roller Dance Company, with which he has achieved world-wide acclaim, introduced the island to dance's wider parameters.

The two productions shared much in common, both in terms of their ups and their downs. Both offered a bevy of talented artists, but neither will draw plaudits for direction, costuming or technical effects.

Break was perhaps the weaker of the two in this regard.

Originality and imagination were clearly contributed by the individual performers in their moments of solo freestyle.

But this dance jamming was lengthy at times and company numbers tended to lack choreographic shape and consistency.

Nevertheless, Love has clearly provided Bermuda's young dance fans with plenty of inspiration. Parents be warned. You need to invest in some good kneepads and headgear.

Today "Break'' offers a matinee performance at the Ruth Seaton James Theatre at 2.30 p.m. and an evening show at 8 p.m. Tickets are available from the Bermuda Festival box office.

LOUISE FOISTER We want to break free! Mesmerising footwork got the crowd going at the Ruth Seaton James Theatre. But shaky technical management marred the overall effect of the show.

ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINERS ENTS