Stunning A Level Dance showcase amazes audience

25 October 2019

Second year Dance A Level students at Birkenhead Sixth Form College had the chance to showcase all that they’ve mastered since joining the College in a showcase for fellow students, staff, friends and family.

‘Spotlight’ was a superb and inspiring collection of dance performances from innovative and hard-working second year students, with pieces influenced by a number of topics, including the subjects of pollution, politics, mental health and Roman gods. Indeed, the name ‘Spotlight’ for the showcase itself was a reflection of the range of themes that were brought into sharp focus through the medium of dance.

The Dance students were also joined in the showcase by the College’s ‘Evolve’ dance company, a mixed ability, cross-College group who come together in their extracurricular time to work on collaborative routines and choreography.

Brought together by the dedicated work of Dance teacher, Kirsty Thornton, all 15 of the performances of Spotlight were enormously appreciated by the audience in the drama studio, with individual, duet, small group and large group pieces involved and a sound and lights display to complement each individual piece. Contemporary dance styles were brought together with traditional ballet movements and street dance influences, along with dances inspired by some of the biggest names in UK choreography, such as Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Christopher Bruce.

Dance teacher Kirsty said: “I couldn’t be prouder of how the students performed, whether that was individually or in groups. They’ve put a lot of time and effort into working on their pieces and that really showed with the audience reaction to them all.

“To take such complex themes and interpret them into fluid moves and dances really is an art form, and the students took to that challenge and excelled themselves with innovation, creativity and technical ability.”

Kirsty continued: “Having the Evolve dance company round of the night with their first proper performance was fantastic too. They deserve a huge amount of credit, especially because they put all of the time in off their own bats.”

“Performing Arts is an ever-growing section of the College community so it was great to see so many students, parents and staff involved with the showcase. We got the College production of Grease coming up next year which is really exciting, and I know that plenty of my A Level Dance students and Evolve dancers will be involved with that. It’s set to be a brilliant show!”