Wednesday 2nd October saw our GCSE Dance students and 13 dancers from Years 7, 8 and 9 heading for their very first dance competition, the Independent Schools’ Association (ISA) National Dance Competition!
No wonder they were delighted to achieve 2nd places in both the KS3 and the KS4 categories! After only four weeks of dedicated rehearsal under the creative direction of their Dance teacher, Beth Butler, the groups were excited and anxious to be on stage.
“The standard of the pieces in the competition was really high”, commented Beth, “there were some well-rehearsed, big pieces with over 20 students in the performances, and the quality of dance was really up there.” It didn’t stop our students storming to success though as they were placed second in both the rounds they were entered.
“I really liked the friendly supportive atmosphere at the competition,” continued Beth, “It was a nice day of dance, and I am very pleased that everyone in the minibus came back with a prize!”
Adjudicator, Natalie Bareham, Director of Performing Arts and Head of Dance at Arts Education London, declared our KS3 dancers “demonstrated clear musicality” with their piece ‘Bakongo’ which was “full of characterisation, great team work and clear story telling”. She continued to praise KS4, stating “this quartet had great lifts, interesting spacing and great partner work”.
Year 7 student Jessy commented “I really enjoyed being with different dancers from other schools, watching dance with a wide range of music and styles of dance.” Juliette agreed “It was an amazing experience to dance in front of a large audience.” Whilst GCSE student Albie stepped outside of his comfort zone stating, “I really enjoyed representing the school. I was nervous to start but so proud of what we have achieved.”
You can watch our dancers in action on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOWjHfPbp4M
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