When you look past the immense staging and lighting of a Madonna show, beyond the lavish costuming and the army of backing dancers and musicians populating the stage, you notice something not so fancy all the way down to the artist’s feet.

Pulled over Madonna’s feet are ankle braces that creep up from whatever shoes she wears at the moment. These are elastic, like ACE bandages, flesh-colored and not decorated in any way. These wraps are not to be celebrated, or even detected, but serve the vital purpose of keeping the whirling, stomping diva steady on her spindles. These braces are commonly worn by athletes, especially tennis and basketball players, to ward against injury while leaping and making quick cuts.

Madonna is as athletic a performer as you will see on any stage. At age 54, she is in supreme condition, and that physical fitness is the core of her stage show, which she rolled into MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday for the first of two Las Vegas performances. The second was Sunday night.

At various points during her latest stage spectacular, the 2012 MDNA Tour, Madonna performed as a gangster, a majorette and a dominatrix. She spun, leaped, strutted and happily swiveled her pelvis in a two-hour performance that would have been astonishing even without music accompaniment, given its exhausting pace.

Click here to continue reading this review by John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Sun.