Presented by Kate Simmons Productions, a dancing school in Warrington, these enthusiastic and talented young dancers took to the stage this afternoon at Runcorn's Brindley Theatre, in a cavalcade of costume, pageant, and precision.
In the first half of the presentation, 'Divertissements', we were presented with a traditional showcase of the school's classes and dance styles, which took us through some 19 numbers, and goodness knows how many dancers - some as young as three years old! The showcase was professionally presented with a screen at the rear adding to the mood where necessary. Effective lighting was used throughout, and the entrances and exits of the dancers was drilled precision and swift. All the dances utilised the space well, and most finished with a lovely 'picture'. Costuming was varied, colourful and appropriate, and none of the moves required of the dancers were out of their comfort zone, context, or ability.
With 19 to choose from, understandably, personal preference and subjectivity played a huge part in my enjoyment of each; and so, if you will allow me, my favourites in this section were: "Endure", "Uptown Funk", "Candyman", and "5,6,7,8" / "Whiskey Under The Bridge". Many different styles / genres were presented in this section, including contemporary tap, contemporary dance, ballet, flamenco, line-dance, hip-hop, and commercial.
After the interval and we came back to watch a second showcase, but this time it had a running thread with a young girl (Elise Hampson) and a larger-than-life Mickey and Minnie Mouse being present throughout and entering the dancing at times. This was 'Remember The Magic", a celebration and tribute to the magical world of Disney. Choreographed by Tracey Moss, this section started with 'The Circle Of Life' from 'The Lion King', before traversing through 'The Mouseketeers', 'Alice In Wonderland', 'Beauty And The Beast', 'Aladdin', 'Peter Pan', 'Mary Poppins', 'Snow White', Hercules', 'Cinderella', and finally finishing with 'The Little Mermaid'. Each section utilised a different group of dancers, and again the entrances and exits were swiftly executed, and costumes and attitudes were appropriate and easily recognisable. In this section, we also heard the talents of Hayley Paige Milligan (Belle), Megan Swales (Megara), and Melissa Hughes (Ariel), who lent their vocals to the signature songs from each of their respective musicals. Nicely put together and excellently performed.
The whole event was professionally produced and a superb overview of the school and its dancers. The standard was very high across the board, and was a delightful and exciting showcase of Kate Simmons's Dancing School.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 1.4.23
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