IFDPA Dance Championships
Wednesday 22nd of March by Katrina Excell
Keywords: Events, Disney, Dance, IFDPA, Take Us 2 The Magic
19 students from SAA have returned home with 10 trophies after competing at the IFDPA Dance Championships in Disneyland Paris!
In September 2016, students from Southern Arts Academy auditioned to be in with the chance of performing at the IFDPA Dance Championships, hosted in Disneyland Paris. We successfully had 19 students that were chosen to be a part of the team and they have just returned home with an incredible 10 trophies, meaning 10 of our dances placed either 1st, 2nd or 3rd place!
The competition was held on Saturday 11th March and consisted of more than 25 different categories that were open to all age groups in a variety of genres. 10 dance schools travelled from as far as Russia to take part in the event and the standard from all schools was impeccable. SAA entered 16 different dances which included Solos, Duos, and Groups, in which 10 of these placed with the following rankings:
Senior Solo - Jessica Thomas - 1st Place
Junior Duo - Lily Whittaker and Lucy Knight - 2nd Place
Senior Duo - Gina Lipscombe and Lloyd Kingston - 3rd Place
Junior Group Tap - 2nd Place
Junior Group Modern- 3rd Place
Junior Group Jazz- 2nd Place
Senior Group Tap - 1st Place
Senior Group Jazz- 2nd Place
Senior Group Ballet- 2nd Place
All Ages Group - 2nd Place
The competition day concluded with a rehearsal with the Disney Performing Arts Department, in which students practised the choreography for the Disney Pre-Parade; which they would perform down Main street the following day alongside the other dance schools. The Disney Performing Arts Department used this rehearsal to decide the order that the schools would stand in as they danced in front of the parade.
On the Sunday, students were provided with a well earned break by spending the morning in the park before meeting up and preparing for the Parade. Southern Arts were called first to line up, which meant that we had been chosen to lead the parade through the park! Our students and teachers alike were beaming with pride as we walked up to the Disney gates waiting to make our entrance. As the gates opened it revealed tens of thousands of onlookers that cheered and clapped as we performed.
The students put in so much hard work over the past few months and excelled themselves over the weekend and we could not be prouder of them all.
We would also like to say a massive thank you to Caroline, Mel and Heidi for all of their hard work with planning and organising fundraising events such as the quiz night, numerous raffles and the kids/adults Christmas parties. We would not of been able to of achieved any of this without your support. A thank you also goes out to Charlotte, April and Jess for organising and running the Disney February Half Term Workshop, it was a very successful few days.
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