It’s performance time and in class, we have been (Christmas) cracking on with putting our pieces together. It seems like just the other day we had our first class of the term, now we have just 1 week to go until our Acton and Hounslow students showcase their skills! It is a very exciting time, especially for some of the newer children, as this will be their first performance ever!
This has been a fun, yet challenging term for our students who have all given 100%, pushed boundaries and have overcome individual obstacles to get to this point. This term we have been focusing on Breaking; a new style for many of our students. Breaking is a very physically demanding style, requiring muscles to be used that may have never been activated before. This was a challenge for some of our students, but week-by-week, we have built it up slowly to ensure everyone’s bodies are strong enough to move safely through the movements before progressing to the next stage. It was also important for our students to understand the movements slowly and break them down so they could take something away for themselves to play with, after all, having fun and playing is how children learn best!
Across this term, our students of all ages abilities have developed their strength, stamina, flexibility, self-awareness, centre of gravity, core strength and problem-solving skills through learning and building upon their breaking foundation steps. It is fantastic to see this weekly progression in our students. Whether it’s becoming groovier, a surge in confidence, or even mastering the beginning stages of a head spin, consistent improvement shows our students are headed in the right direction and nothing makes us prouder!
Over the past couple of weeks in particular, in the lead up to our showcase, we have been rehearsing and drilling our choreographed Breaking pieces, ensuring everyone is comfortable and ready for the performance, as well as helping our students build their confidence in freestyle and encouraging them to explore their own creativity through different concepts. Our Junior crew have been working hard on 3 separate routines for the showcase too, which we will later put together as their competition piece. Those in the crew have really been pushed outside of their comfort zone, learning some advanced choreography and delving deeper into the possibilities of movement. Some students are even choreographing their own solos to perform – something brand new for our end of term showcases this time around and an opportunity for our students to put their choreographer’s hats on!
All our groups are super excited to showcase their hard work and new found skills to friends and family and can’t wait to see what the other classes have been getting up to! Expect a fun, high-energy showcase with lots of treats, certificates and prizes along the way. As well as a fun little surprise at the end to finish off our term with a bang!
Date: 09th Dec 11am (Acton-Berrymede junior school)
21st Dec 6pm (Hounslow Arts Centre)
Come and support the next generation of young dancers, it’s completely FREE!