Dancers swap leisure centre for the West End

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Putney's young performers get first taste of the bright lights

Young members of Emma’s Academy of Dance & Drama got their first taste of a professional production when they took to the stage at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the heart of London’s Theatreland.

The group, which opened in Putney in April, have been working on Street Dance and Cheerleading routines, and performed their favourite at the Young Performers Variety Show on 17th July.

It took just three months for the local beginners class, held at Putney Leisure Centre, to complete the Cheerleading routine – complete with costumes and pom poms – and perform it along with dancers from the Ealing and Aldershot academies on the famous stage that is the regular home of West End smash ‘Phantom of the Opera’.

The children had a fun day at the Theatre rehearsing alongside other Dance and Theatre schools that had been selected from across the UK to perform at this exciting event.  They also got to meet the newly signed pop group ‘Holah’ who were singing live that night.

The event was staged by professional production company Young Performers who give children and teenagers the opportunity to perform in large scale shows such as this.

Principal Emma Weir encourages members of her Academy to gain stage experience to boost their confidence and for the enjoyment of their families, and provides several opportunities per year for her troupes to perform in professional and large scale events such as this. Her dancers have already performed in a musical at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane earlier this summer and later this month the Academy will be performing live at the Dance, Drama and Music Extravaganza at the NEC Arena in Birmingham.

The Academy will be offering new classes in September in Street Dance, Cheerleading plus more new subjects and it will be expanding to open in several new venues around the local area with new specialist teachers. There will also be a wider choice of classes for adults, as well as children and teenagers. The opening night in most venues will be free so please keep an eye on the calendar for September so that you don’t miss out on a free ‘taster’ with no obligation.

March 27, 2004