Dance Woking held their 10th Annual Woking SLAM Platform on Saturday 29 February, the event was covered by Woking News and Mail.
Dance Woking hosted its 10th Annual Woking SLAM Platform on Saturday 29 February at Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking; Demand for tickets was high with the event selling out in advance; the atmosphere inside was electric; 15 groups, featuring 196 dancers from across Surrey and the South East performed to rapturous applause.
Sam McCaffrey CEO/Artistic Director enthused ‘this platform is really quite special as we are showcasing a range of different dance troupes from those at World level to dancers who are taking the stage for the first time. We are lucky to be able to show progression routes at a multi-layered platform like this, it’s really inspiring. Woking and Surrey have an amazing, vibrant and diverse dance sector that we should celebrate and showcases like these allow us to do just that’
Opening the show was a 28 strong troupe from Woking based Street Vibes Elite; who gained silver and bronze cup success at The World Dance Championship in Portugal in 2019. Following them was new to dance 18 dancers from Westfield Primary School Dance Club; taking their movement stimulus from James Wilton Dance’s The Storm; some of who had come to see the professional dance company perform at Rhoda on Tuesday 25 February as part of their journey into dance. Following them onstage were 16 dancers from Kingston on Thames based Vital Signz Juniors, and then Woking based BKD Performers Advanced Street Funk;
Next Dance Woking’s Evolve Youth took the stage, this group came together for 3 days during February Half Term to create their piece Turbulence; Choreography from James Wilton Dance professional company dancer Oliver Robertson. The dancers hailing from other dance schools, but taking the opportunity to work with a professional company to challenge and improve their dance skills. Maidenhead based Dance Inspired followed with Urban Dance School (UDS) and Buckinghamshire based Tuffney Performing Arts rounding off the first half.
An amazing 26 strong girls troupe from local school Saint John the Baptiste Dance Club opened the second half; Vital Signz Dance Seniors then BKD Performers Junior Funk followed with Oxfordshire based Betty Bloom Dance attending for the first time; Richmond College performed a highly theatrical piece to Diamonds, Vital Signz Adults followed and highlighted that dance is for all ages! Closing the show professional dance company Ombrascura sharing an exert of their current work The Moon and Me recently shown at Resolutions in London at The Place.
If that wasn’t enough the finale definitely brought the house down with an impromptu ‘Battle’ led by UDS where dancers took to the stage and performed their signature moves to I Like to Move it Move it from film Madagascar
Audience feedback: ‘Wonderfully exuberant, confident young performers’ ‘Amazing’
Dance Woking is a charity supported by Woking Borough Council, Arts Council England’s Project Grants, Active Surrey and Surrey Community Foundation.
