There are 525,600 minutes in a regular, non-leap year. It only took me about five to know Kylie Shea would be on this list.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance was a decent movie. I don’t agree with some that say it was terrible or even deserves to be on a Years Worst List. The first Magic Mike film, like most trilogies was the best. We met Mike, played by Channing Tatum and it was art depicting life as we got a glimpse into the life that Tatum used to have when he was an exotic dancer. The first film was quite good. I didn’t care for the second as much but the third was more intriguing as it was a graduation of sorts. Instead of simply gyrating at a strip club the film focused on the characters putting on a cabaret style show.
Many of the actors from the film were taken from the live Magic Mike shows that are in London and Las Vegas.
So who is Kylie Shea? I am getting to that. In the final installment the Magic Mike character teams up with a woman named Max, played by Salma Hayek, who is spending her husbands money and decides to enlist Mike to help her put on a show at the Rattigan Theatre in London. Throughout the movie there is a back and forth between the two characters. She wants him to dance in the show but he refuses. He’s ‘retired’ and she wants him to open up and be more vulnerable.
This all culminates towards the end of the film where Magic Mike takes the stage one more time (every time he thinks he’s out, they pull him back in) and he dances a number with a ballerina played by Kylie Shea.
The scene plays out like a story and it’s the story of the Magic Mike and Max characters. With the soothing sounds of Gallant’s Open Up playing in the background (Because Mike won’t open up…get it) we are treated to an exceptional dance routine.
Shea, who is an insanely talented dancer, approaches every move with confidence, grace and a technique she has acquired from years of training.
Her agility rivals Cirque du Soleil and through the complete performance she makes it all seem so effortless.
The entire dance is done while the actors are being showered with water. It’s sexy, it’s graceful and it was the epitome of scene-stealing.
Carmen Cuba, the casting director for the film deserves a lot of credit for casting Shea in the movie. Many of the male dancers were simply taken from the live Magic Mike shows.
How did Cuba find her? Perhaps it was her Instagram page that acts like more of a testimonial for Shea’s massive talent. Perhaps Cuba was informed that Shea was the principal dancer with Spectrum Dance Theater. It could have been her turn in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or her numerous YouTube videos.
Kylie Shea has been silently but effectively showing the world what an incredible dancer she is. 2023 was the year I joined the party.
A lot of things can happen in five minutes. A grocery store PA system will tell you the store will close in five minutes. One round in the UFC lasts five minutes. When you’re heading to that important event your partner will tell you that they will be ready in five minutes. It only took five minutes in a movie close to two hours for me to know Kylie Shea had to be on this list.
Kylie Shea is a gifted performer that solidifies why dance is such a beautiful art form and she displayed a glimpse of that talent this year in Magic Mike’s Last Dance and that is why I find her fascinating.
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