Over 400 dancers take to the Rhoda stage

The first Platform: Surrey Schools SLAM

Dance Woking was back at Rhoda McGaw Theatre to host three amazing Dance Platforms. The first, on Wednesday 24 May, Surrey School’s SLAM, was an urban street style dance platform. Groups from 10 different schools across Woking and Surrey featuring 118 dancers performed to the theme ‘Royal Remix’. The dancers ranged in age from Primary, Secondary to Sixth Form College. The platform showcased an eclectic mix of dance experiences and standards from Monarch Studios Great British Squad, who opened the platform, to students from New Monument and Broadmere Academy taking the stage for the first time.

Other schools taking part were Beaufort Primary School, Woking High School; Horsell CofE Junior School, Claygate Primary School, Esher High School, Priorsfield School and Woking College.

Dance Woking’s CEO and Artistic Director Sam McCaffrey said, ‘I was knocked out by Monarch Studios dance group who opened the platform with their piece ‘Warriors’. With jaw dropping stunts, and a highly choreographed routine, seeing a dance squad performing at international level was truly inspiring. The audience was made up of family and friends and dancers taking part in the second half of the platform and I was initially concerned that students performing for the first time might be put off by such a slick routine. I didn’t need to worry. This set the standard for the platform and the rest of the dance groups raised their game. I was so impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the dancers. Performing in front of an audience can be extremely daunting and whilst there were a few pre-show nerves, all of the dancers really excelled on stage. The platform was a great opportunity for students to build confidence and self-esteem as well as develop great teamwork skills. With a very tight turnaround on the day to get the show ready, literally dress/technical run/perform, it was such a privilege to see groups take over the stage.’