Sunday 10th March over 400 people came together from across the South West at the Truro College sports hall to dance to make a difference for charity danceaid.
Local dance school The Big Dance Company will be flying over to South Africa this April with some of their specially selected students, from ages 12 to 18; Theo Dowker, Luca Rainbow, Millie Mead, Megan Barkham, Eleanor Fearn, Lennox Pearce and Jess Davy along with Dance aid director Laura Wilson and studio directors Fiona and Ben Richardson plus industry celebrity choreographer Lukas McFarlane, teacher and Judge; Bly Richards. The group will be providing outreach dance experiences for a range of different projects including orphanages, feeding programs, schools and rescue centres.
Fiona and Ben Richardson arranged a charity dance event on Sunday at Truro college sports hall to raise money to build a well in a village that currently has no running water where the families have to walk for miles to collect their water. During their time in South Africa the dance troupe will be looking forward to getting stuck into boring the hole for the well now that the target funds have been raised for the machinery to get the job done. Thanks to an incredible local attendance and support of the ECM dance event, donations of so many raffle prizes and profits raised from danceaid’s merchandise stall the group will be providing shoes for all the little preschoolers who they will visit along the way.
Previously, The Big Dance Company have worked on many charity projects in the UK from domestic violence, knife crime, young carers events, anti-bullying campaigns and mental health awareness in young people, with the emphasis strongly based on the importance that their young people can be part of a movement that strives to see a change in the world for the better, that Every Child Matters in the UK and abroad. Previously outreach tours include the dump sites of ‘Smokey Mountain’ in the Philippines, giving a little hope to families and young people that the rest of the world do care.
The Big Dance Company wanted to thank all the local businesses that got on board to support this event including the amazing celebrity judges that gave up their time for FREE on Sunday to help raise funds and make it all possible! Judges Big Kris has performed for HM the queen and the late Michael Jackson and is also a member of one of the UK’s leading street dance groups; Flawless. Kris has worked with an impressive list of A list celebrities, including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Duffy, Sugababes, Alesha Dixon, Kylie Minogue, Danni Minogue and Jay Sean.
Sarah Louise Richards a British dancer, performed on the X Factor, a backup dancer for the JLS tour, where she met and is now married to JLS member; Aston Merrygold. She has performed in theatre shows Into the hoods & Some like it hip hop, with Zoonation dance company, playing the lead role in both. She has also danced for artists such as Cheryl Cole, Little Mix, JLS, N Dubz, Kanye West, The Wanted, Danni Minogue, Westlife, Conor Maynard and Cover Drive. Some of her TV credits include Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, Tonight’s the Night, X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent
Tjasa Zibert who is trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary and hip hop, and has competed in all styles at a National, European and world level. Tjasa has also danced in number of television shows, in live concerts and music videos, including 'X-Factor and 'Slovenia's Got Talent' and regular teacher at the famous Pineapple Studios London.
Dwayne Nosworthy is a familiar face on CBBC and as head judge on Alesha’s Street Dance Stars. Dwayne has appeared on stage with some of the world’s most successful artists including; Jamelia, Estelle, Sugababes, Kelly Rowland, Mariah Carey, Kellis, Misteeq and Alesha Dixon plus choreographer and Dancer for X Factor Star; Nathan aka "StarBoy Nathan" whilst supporting acts such as JLS, The Wanted & N-Dubz. Dancer, actor, presenter, singer/song/movie writer & choreographer, Dwayne is a vibrant, energetic character as well as an aspiring artist.
The role of the judges was to select dancers for finals in Contemporary solos and duos, Street dance solos and Duos and performance team categories, with dancers competing for titles from as young as 5 years old.
Dance schools who attended the ‘Every Child Matters’ dance competition included; The Big Dance Company, Collide Dance Company, Groovement Project Dance Company, Penryn College, Tretherras School, Future Youth Dance, 4real and Cornwall Dance School who all came together to dance to make a difference. Working together is the future and we hope we can do more events like this together to make a difference.
The Big Dance Company were proudly awarded many First places in solos and duos and teams and will announce results soon.