The final of Charles Darwin School’s twenty second annual Dance, Choreography and Performance Competition was held on Monday 11 February in front of a capacity audience of 250 people. This year 14 different dance acts from Years 7 to 13 competed for the year group medals and the overall Key Stage 3 and combined Key Stage 4 and 5 trophies.

Mrs Rees, Deputy Headteacher, dance teacher, event organiser and one of the judges was joined on the panel by staff members Miss Abbotts (Head of Dance) and Mrs Kearney (Assistant Headteacher and Music teacher).

This year’s guest judge was Lucy Curran, one of our ex-A Level and GCSE Dance students. Lucy entered this competition every year she was here and showed a much appreciated commitment to Dance whilst at Charles Darwin School. Lucy has now returned to support our Year 11 GCSE dancers which we are very appreciative.

“What is particularly inspiring is that the students organised all the music choreography and costumes by themselves and had clearly spent many hours rehearsing,” said Mrs Rees. “Many pupils had been working on their competition routines for months without teacher direction.”

Whilst the judges conferred the audience was entertained by performances from local dance group PDM who performed a piece entitled ‘shots’, ex GCSE and A Level dance student Georgia Gallagher who performed a solo entitled ‘Feeling Good’ and Thrive, the School’s elite Dance Group who danced to a piece choreographed by Amy Robinson entitled ‘Suffrage’.

“I started the competition 22 years ago to inspire students to express themselves through dance,” said Mrs Rees, “and it is particularly rewarding to see several ex pupils back here tonight to perform during the judges’ deliberations, either as individuals or as part of a group. It is the lasting legacy of this competition that many of the entrants study dance post 18 and continue to perform as young adults.”

 “The night really showcased the dancing talent that we have at Charles Darwin School. Thank you so much to those who supported us on the night; Mr Andy Chubb for photography, Mr Colin Andrews for music, Miss Gemma Currie for semi-final judging and  for lighting and Amy Eaton and Sara Gurung  for stage support. Most of all, a big thank you to the families in the audience who supported us on the night, funded or made costumes and created rehearsal space at home. We couldn’t do it without them,” concluded Mrs Rees.

All money raised from ticket sales and the raffle will go back into developing dance further in the school.