Karen Hauer heats up 'Burn the Floor'

Karen Hauer, a featured performer in "Burn the Floor," the onetime Broadway ballroom-dance sensation making its Long Island premiere with a performance Friday night at Staller Center, started dancing when she was 8 years old. That was shortly after she and her family moved to New York from her native Venezuela. At the time -- 1990 -- ballroom dancing remained a relic of the '50s, Arthur Murray Dance Studios and Lawrence Welk reruns. It was more about the sedate fox-trot than competitive lifts, spins and partner tossing.

But then came prime-time TV's "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance." Hauer, a 2008 World Mambo Championship winner, danced her way to the "SYTYCD" finals the next year, and joined "Burn the Floor" -- the brainchild of Australian choreographer Jason Gilkison -- on Broadway in 2009.

Hauer, 30, has been burning the floor on global tours ever since. She and her current dance partner, Kevin Clifton, among a cast of 20, steam up the stage with the rambunctious renditions of the cha-cha, rumba, salsa, mambo, samba, tango, swing and quickstep, along with the elegant Viennese waltz, exuberant jive and intense paso doble.

We spoke to Hauer by phone between tour stops that will take her troupe to Australia in June.

What attracted a young girl to such an old-fashioned style of dance before it became the rage on reality TV?

For me, it started with the cha-cha. Latin dances seemed to be a natural.

How is "Burn the Floor" different -- other than it's not a competition -- from "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance"?

On TV, you have a pro dancer and a celebrity, and you only have a short time to get synchronized. Imagine, then, two dancers who have been at it their whole lives. It takes a lot of stamina. "Burn the Floor" is a two-hour show. We all have different personalities, and we have a team of choreographers. The dance is a character all its own. Plus, there are two amazing singers and percussionists.

The women are the ones most often lifted, twirled and tossed about. Have you had any falls, injuries or close calls dancing in the show?

There are always injuries here and there -- your back, ankles and such. But we all try to be protective of each other. So far, though, I've escaped any serious injury.

What would you like to be doing after "Burn the Floor"?

[Pause] It's been running 13 years. So for now, I'm just focusing on "Burn the Floor." I haven't thought about the future beyond that.

WHAT "Burn the Floor"

WHEN | WHERE Friday night at 8 (rescheduled show from Feb. 17), Staller Center, Stony Brook University

TICKETS $42

INFO 631-632-2787, stallercenter.com