New ‘iLuminate’ show is the dance party The Strat has never had

Miral Kotb finds creation successful the dark.

She has survived crab — twice. She considers machine coding an creation form. And she’s astir to crook a Las Vegas showroom into a luminous, late-night creation production.

“iLuminate” is this creator venture, opening Aug. 26 astatine The Strat Theater. The glow-in-the-dark fusion of creation and drama runs 10 p.m. Wednesdays done Mondays. Tickets are spell connected merchantability astatine 10 a.m. Tuesday, starting astatine $49, astatine tickets.thestrat.com oregon astatine The Strat.

The “iLuminate” troupe and exertion gained nationalist notoriety successful 2011, archetypal connected Chris Brown’s “F.A.M.E.” circuit and aboriginal that twelvemonth by finishing successful 3rd spot connected the sixth play of “America’s Got Talent.” The technology, and dancers, person besides been utilized by Black Eyed Peas and Christina Aguilera. “iLuminate” has besides performed successful New York, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Egypt and connected the cruise-ship circuit.

The dancers’ pulsating suits became a ocular sensation, the effect of merging 2 seemingly unrelated skills — choreography and coding.

Starts and stops

An Egyptian-American raised successful Houston, Kotb is simply a maestro astatine both. She developed the “iLuminate” technology, past established the institution down the concept. Finally, she zeroed successful connected the thought for the Las Vegas signifier show. But Kotb’s way to Vegas has been repeatedly derailed.

In 2001, Kotb suffered from sarcoma, a uncommon signifier of crab that grows successful connective tissues, successful her close hip. She recovered aft intensive Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT). In 2017, she was diagnosed with leukemia, surviving done a stem-cell transplant from her sister.

Kotb was yet acceptable to bring “iLuminate” to Vegas successful 2020, prepping for a residency astatine Sin City Theater astatine Planet Hollywood. That task was delayed amid COVID-19 restrictions, and yet undercut erstwhile Caesars Entertainment closed the venue permanently successful May.

“I’m doing well; I’m 3 years crab free,” Kotb said during a telephone chat Sunday. “With leukemia, you person a caller normal, which is surviving with stem-cell transplants. And we cognize the caller mean of COVID. I person been experiencing both.”

A postgraduate of Columbia University, wherever she studied machine technology, Kotb is besides a trained classical dancer dating to her childhood. She performed arsenic a dancer portion successful schoolhouse and aft graduation. While penning codification for iPhone applications, she discovered she could illuminate a creation costume remotely successful bushed with the euphony and dancers’ movements.

As Kotb explained successful a file she contributed to Newsweek successful June 2020, “I learned astir the easiness of utilizing your smartphone to pass with mini wireless chips — they are truthful tiny you tin usage them successful anything. In my case, the chips could beryllium utilized to pass accusation connected a dancer portion they are performing live.

“Through what is present the patented iLuminate system, the dancers deterioration mini-computers that powerfulness the lights based connected commands we nonstop wirelessly. The ‘lightography’ is programmed to beryllium synced to the euphony and movement.”

Following that theme, Kotb says, “Coding is the astir originative portion of my day. I spell into a antithetic zone. When I start, I archer radical astir me, ‘Leave maine alone. I’m going into the Matrix.’ ”

Dance, drama and tech

“iLuminate” features six backing dancers with across-the-medium training. The co-hosts are acquainted Vegas signifier performers, mates Matt Morgan and Heidi Brucker Morgan. Both person worked successful Spiegelworld arsenic good arsenic successful their ain offshoot productions.

West Hyler, who has worked connected Cirque’s “Paramour” Broadway amusement and besides “Jersey Boys,” is co-director. Music manager Kevin Teasley has designed the dependable for Jennifer Lopez (on her Super Bowl LIV halftime amusement with Shakira), Usher and Britney Spears, among different artists.

“You volition spot amazingness,” Kotb says erstwhile asked what we volition see, exactly. “It’s fundamentally a amusement done antithetic eras. We observe life’s travel done galore antithetic styles — jazz, Moulin Rouge, Prohibition, the hippy era, hip-hop, to the ’80s, ’90s location enactment each done the existent EDM vibe.”

The enactment acquisition is fueled by an enactment wherever an assemblage subordinate orders a peculiar shot, which volition correspond with a dance-era experience. A circumstantial liquor volition nonstop you to the ’80s, oregon to a ’90s dance-party segment.

The amusement survived COVID-19 arsenic Kotb recovered an opening astatine The Strat Theater, with Adam Steck of SPI Entertainment arsenic the recently installed venue manager. The edifice is looking to grow its amusement roster with a late-night production.

When “iLuminate” launches, its lead-in shows volition beryllium mentalist Banachek, Xavier Mortimer’s magic accumulation and “MJ Live” (at slightest until that amusement moves retired astatine the extremity of the year).

All of those shows volition intermission erstwhile Sammy Hagar’s rock-party performance performs six shows from Oct. 29-Nov. 13.

“This is going to beryllium a antithetic benignant of show,” Kotb says. “It has been a imagination of excavation for a agelong time. I’m really moving to Vegas soon, and program to beryllium progressive successful each country of the show. I americium excited to bring the enactment to the city.”

John Katsilometes’ file runs regular successful the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast tin beryllium recovered astatine reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him astatine jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats connected Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 connected Instagram.