AMATEUR DANCE REVIEW: Debut Academy: Once Upon A Time - The New Adelphi Theatre, Salford.

With a running theme throughout the whole presentation, the latest showcase from The Debut Academy of Performing Arts (Stockport) was of the consistently high standard that I have now come to expect from this establishment.

The New Adelphi Theatre's stage proved to be the perfect size for this evening's show, although finding enough dressing room / backstage areas might have been a bit of a problem since there were just so many of them - 175 to be precise!

A thread of a story connected all the items in the programme as a young girl (let's for the sake of argument call her 'Alice') goes to sleep one night and dreams - these dreams take her on a magical journey (let's call it 'Wonderland') as she encounters characters and stories from many famous children's fables both literary and allegorical, finding that, at the end she wakes and she is back tucked up safe and snug in her bed.

In the first half of the showcase there were 20 items, and 18 in the second, and so the changeover between numbers needed to be slick, quick and efficient; and it was. Minimal props or stage sets used - only those absolutely necessary to make it clear to the audience the actual setting of each. I especially liked the clever pirate ship's bow. The lighting - aided at times with smoke for maximum effect - was excellent throughout, and I particularly enjoyed the clever use of pertinent gobos on the stage floor for each item [obviously not visible though if seated in the stalls]. The music was at times much too loud, and certainly in general could easily have been turned down a few decibels for perfect aural appreciation

With 38 dances and 175 students it would be simply impossible to mention everything. All I will say is that every item was hugely praiseworthy, and even the tiny 3 year olds who came on for a teddy bear's picnic were cute and undoubtedly enjoyed their first live stage exposure. My favourite items this evening (gosh, I have so many... but am going to tailor my answer to just four!) were...
(not in any order)... a) The 7 girls dressed in red and balck doing a devil's dance 'Wicked Witches'. The timing here was exceptional, and the togetherness of the routine more than noteworthy.  b)The 'Meet Snow White' sequence of the second act with a talented yoiung girl starting the routine with a short solo and the backflips were phenomenal.  c) 'Mirror Mirror' with the older group dancing with hand held mirrors. I truly enjoyed the choreography and theatricality of this number.  d) I lost my counting at this point so am not sure of the item number nor the title of the piece, but the music used was 'Freak Like Me'. A modern hiphop style dance with more leaps, flips and no-handed cartwheels than you could throw a stick at. Highly energetic and acrobatic, and each one perfectly executed.

I would also like to make mention of a couple of dancers who managed to impress me a little bit more than trhe others. I must stress that this is not because their dancing ability was any better [I am not qualified to make that kind of comment in any case!] but because they had huge stage presence and focus. I was drawn to them and watched only them, not because they were deliberately stealing the show but because they were fully committed and giving that little bit extra; a certain TV talent show would call it the X factor! I hope I have their names correct, but I have been reliably informed that one comes from the oldest class and in fact has also been lucky enough to be working with Arlene Phillips, and her name is Chloe Astley. Whilst two of the younger girls, Ava Barlas and Skyla Rose Hill, stood out in the first act when the group were dressed in brown skirts and white pinafores. They were the 'lead dancers' front centre and one took the front position when all the dancers made a straight line down the centre of the stage. Again, I got a little lost with the numbering / titles of the sequences, but I hope I have this correct.

I was more than very impressed with the whole showcase, and the standard and professionalism shown throughout was highly accomplished and formidable. I look forward to being able to see whatever the students of Debut get up to next!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6/7/19