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April's the Month for Dancing!
The last few weeks has seen a very busy time for the Dance department. This is the time of year when all the work we have been doing since September culminates in a number of performances.
For the first time this year, a Primary school Dance Festival was held here on Tuesday 15th April. More than two hundred children from Telford primary schools performed on our stage. The atmosphere in the theatre was amazing, as the children applauded and cheered each other at the end of every piece.
Our first evening performance was to an invited audience of parents and friends on Thursday 17th April. All our GCSE and A Level choreography and performances were shown. This is the work created for examination by our year 11 and 13 students and this year included work by our year 10 GCSE Dance students who are being entered for the exam a year early. This year the work was of exceptional quality and we anticipate a high success rate at GCSE.
The evenings of 21st, 22nd and 23rd April saw packed houses for our annual dance production, which this year featured twenty seven pieces of work - our longest ever programme, to include pieces by three of our catholic primaries, our Monday Night Club, who had been working with a professional dance company, 'Blue Eyed Soul' and of course our own students, from years seven to thirteen. All of the work is produced during lunch time and after school dance clubs and is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our students. This year, several of the pieces featured were choreographed by our older students, for younger dance clubs. Two of the pieces featured had been created by students, for their Bronze and Silver Arts Award.
Following on from our shows came the serious business of the A level practical examination on 25th April and the GCSE Dance moderation on 28th April, clearly a stressful time for us all!
Finally, we hosted a Key Stage 3 Dance Festival on Tuesday 29th April, with work performed by a number of secondary schools in the Telford area. This was organised by two of our year 13 students as part of the requirement for the Silver Arts Award. Again, all dancers involved gave each other a warm and enthusiastic reception as they shared their work with each other.
On writing this, our final count down is to our very first Arts Award moderation on 8th May. After that we either breath a sigh of relief or start to prepare the dance for next year's productions. Judging by the many "When does dance club start again Miss?", I don't think the sigh of relief is going to be an option!
Mrs Whiting
Head of Dance & Performing Arts
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