Welcome to Flashdance’s second blog!  It’s only taken me 3 months!  But boy it’s been a busy time!

Our intentions with this blog are to give parents and families of Flashdance more information about what we do, how we do it and most importantly why!

Blogs will be written by a variety of people, teachers, assistants, pupils and the occasional guests.  We hope to cover an array of topics, events and important milestones.

This second blog features our Demonstration 2019 which took place in the Queen Elizabeth Theater of the International School, our much-loved performance venue of choice.

90 pupils took to the stage on Sunday 23^rd June 2019 to show off class work and dances from the last few months.

Why do we do the Demo?

The Demo was born from my wish to get the pupils on stage at least once per year.  Most pupils love our full shows with costume, lights, props etc. but we physically cannot do a show every year and keep up with exams/progress and meet individual pupil goals.

The Demo is class/exam work, onstage, in Flashdance uniform, easily adapted hairstyle and simple black or white background.  The demo preparation should enhance exam preparation, unlike preparing for a full show dance.

It is ‘supposed’ to be informal as it is not fully rehearsed in the final order that you see.  It is rehearsed on stage in small class groupings making the rehearsals easier for families to attend whilst giving the pupils and tech team the skills they require.

Due to this, you may have seen some technical hitches, some pauses for quick changes (which cannot be avoided) and you may have had to wait at the start of the morning demo for the curtains to open…totally my fault for pressing the BIG RED EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON rather than the small curtain open button!!

But this is all because we want to make it accessible, as easy as possible and give the pupils and families the best possible experience on the day and in the run up.  You will have also noticed many of our class assistants on stage rather than the teachers, pupils inspiring their younger peers, all part of our valuable learning process.  And hopefully of Miss Laura learning to release the reigns!!

We hope your family enjoyed the Demo experience if they took part and we hope those who couldn’t will be able to join us in future.

 Awards

I wanted to acknowledge our long-term pupils this year, along with achievements in exams.  I have wanted to do this for many years, sadly it just hasn’t happened before.  It took losing a special friend this year to give me the boost to celebrate all we have accomplished.

All our pupils are cherished individually, no matter how long they have been part of our Flashdance family, but we cannot ignore some families have been with us for over 10 years!!  How did that happen??

All pupils who have attended 5 years and over received a medal and those with 10+years association with Flashdance received a trophy after the PM Demo and were suitably embarrassed with early dance photos put together by Molly.  I was so pleased with how this went; it will definitely be repeated!

Another first was our shields for the highest exam mark in the academic year, split into three categories; ballet, tap & modern.  The Jemma McRae Memorial Shields will be awarded annually, her love of dance and dance teaching will continue, and I am certain she would have loved the recognition given in this way.

Enjoy the photos!

‘Til next time,

Miss Laura