On Friday 27th September 2019, I flew to Birmingham for the annual Board of Dance Gala Ball where I delighted to be awarded both Grade 5 Ballet and Jazz. I also had the opportunity to perform with two of my friends.
The evening started with a delicious three course meal before the awards ceremony. We were then presented with our major exam scrolls by the president of the theatre branch, Joanne Sullivan. I received my Student Member Ballet and my Student Member Jazz. My dance teacher Samantha was also awarded 5th place for Technical Grade Exams 2018-2019 for our school.
We performed a Modern Dance to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Standing up in a triangle formation, the routine then began slowly with a lot of technical moves, such as showing off leg lines with flowing but sharp movements, both on the floor and standing up. It became more up-tempo with stronger, faster and energetic movements, such as jumps, knee slides, strong arm lines, punches, turns and runs.
At the end, the music changed to the slow and quiet conclusion. We went back to the technical movements, where Rudi jumped on our backs into middle splits. We all then went dropped the floor to finish our routine, laying on our backs with our arms over one and other.
We were delighted to hear the applause of such a tough audience.
Of course, to finish the evening, we got on the dance floor to dance and sing the night away. It was an incredible event.
On the Sunday, I attended lectures in different styles: Contemporary, Modern Jazz and Commercial/Street. We listened intently throughout these classes, writing plenty of notes, and getting involved to learn new exercises, combinations and techniques. This was my first year attending this spectacular event and I thoroughly enjoyed the Ball and taking part in the workshops. It was an amazing experience and one of those opportunities I will never forget!
