North Somerset Dance Festival

What an absolute pleasure it was to be back at the NSSPEA dance festival this year after what feels like a very long hiatus! Hosted in the wonderful Playhouse Theatre, in Weston-Super-Mare, we were finally able to perform to a live audience once again. 

Year 12 students Hetty Cleaver, Daisy Money, India Syndenham and Isobel Taylor were an utter joy to watch. Their dance routines were slick, well rehearsed and poignant, marking the covid pandemic which has taken over us for the last two years (impacting their GCSE year) with their ‘Free Choice Dance’. A compilation of pop songs released during the pandemic from infamous TikToks to musical hits with Boris Johnson’s stay at home speech woven throughout. Audience members were heard talking about it during the interval and after the show saying how it ‘brought them back to that very moment’ and realising how far we have come. A very emotional moment indeed! This was followed by their themed dance routine ‘Night at the Movies’ with La La Land. A highly poetic and uplifting number. 

Hetty Cleaver was interviewed as one of the eldest performers there alongside the youngest child in year 2. When asked what advice she’d give to the younger participants she said "take good risks and enjoy all these opportunities that come your way". 

I am so proud of the girls and that all their hard work paid off. They have waited two years to be back performing and they certainly did not disappoint. 

Mrs Lauren Collins

Head of Drama and Performing arts