AMATEUR DANCE REVIEW: Salford Dance Explosion - Day 2 (Tuesday) - The Lowry Theatre, Salford.

Now in its 13th year, this annual event, celebrating amateur dance in Salford is back at Salford's Lowry Theatre. The event this year ran for four evenings with 12 different local groups taking part each evening, showcasing a total of 48 dance groups from the region! What a wonderful and inspiring event these days always are, and it is always a pleasure to support young upcoming performers whether hobby dancers or aiming to make this their profession.

I was present for two of the evenings (Tuesday and Thursday), and the dedication and talent on display was, as always, awe-inspiring. Young entertainer Adam was on hand each evening as compere / MC singing a song at both the opening and closing of each event, as well as whipping up support in the form of whoops and claps from the audience of majority family, friends, and fellow dancers. 

Here is my rundown of the groups on Day 2 (Tuesday).

On Tuesday we saw teams from Primary School after-school clubs right the way up to dancers from a Performing Arts college, and the ages ranged from 4 years' old all the way to mid-30s! Miss Joanne Farnell School Of Dancing (Eccles) started the whole evening with an extended sequence titled, 'Time To Dance'. A contemporary dance mix with nice use of three young dancers in the middle. Following this was The Abigail Bibby School Of Dance (Swinton) with a very confident unison routine for a large group of young teenage dancers, making their mark by having been drilled in precision and this worked nicely. FD Academy Of Irish Dancing (Eccles) came next with a change of pace and style, showing their skill in traditional Irish dancing with a slightly modern twist, as they danced their 'Battle Around The Sun'. Following this was The Rachel Ann Walker Theatre School Of Dance (Swinton), with a swish group of adult ladies performing a specially choreographed jazz routine called 'Maria'. Again, a rather large group, performing for the most part, in unison, and with a little Latin influence thrown in for good measure, this was a proficient and entertaining routine. The penultimate group before the interval was Reflections Studios Infant Company (Boothstown) with their highly upbeat and energetic group of young hip-hoppers. This routine called 'Ruthless', was for this reviewer at least, the highlight of the first half, as the combined group's power, attitude, and indeed skill, simply shone. The first half finished with another excellent piece of dance. This time from The Ribble Valley Dance Company (Clitheroe). Their 'Electric Tango Twist' was a most interesting combination of genres, including clever use of tap. Superbly executed.

The second half featured 3 after-school primary school groups, all of which were in their own ways, delightful. St. Charles Primary School (Swinton) performed first, and, having the youngest dancers on stage the whole evening, wowed with their lovely interpretation of 'Friends Like Me' from 'Aladdin'. Following this was St. Andrew's Primary School (Eccles), performing 'Stereo', and finally St. Mary's CE Primary School (Cadishead) with a superb mash-up of their favourite songs. Here every child was having the time of their lives, and the 'acting' during the dance was superb. For me the highlight of the second act! Act two also saw Mill Green School - a community special school (St. Helens) - give some of their young charges rein to strut their stuff in 'Love Is All You Need'. The evening ended with the outstanding first and second year dance students of Pendleton Sixth Form College (Pendleton) perform three short routines... commercial, contemporary, and jazz. These dances were of course, truly outstanding, and were rightly chosen to finish the evening, as these 16 / 17 year old dancers were simply fantastic! 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 13.6.23