What a day!!

Our staff all arrived at the school to prepare bright and early, unloading all the boxes and setting up registration and refreshment areas. The children came bouncing in around 11am with mixed feelings of excitement and nerves as they set themselves up in the auditorium. After a run-through of the group dances and bow, they all shuffled into the changing room to get their costumes ready, tidy up any loose hair and cover themselves in clouds of glitter!

The nerves were building as they were informed the parents were starting to enter the canteen area. Once the audience had grabbed their refreshments, they headed into the auditorium to take their seats. It seems like everyone had a great view of the stage as we had both tiered seating and also loose seating in front.

By 1pm, the children were lined up on stage ready for the first group dance, the stage lights illuminated and the curtains opened…

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At the interval, there was such a buzz as the audience members all praised the effort from the various groups that had already danced. Whilst the audience fetched more refreshments or took a stroll outside (the auditorium was rather warm!), the children were all squeaking with excitement and adrenalin in the dressing room and getting prepared for Act 2.

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The second half went just as amazingly as the first half, with lots of sparkly costumes and powerful moves. I’m sure the audience members will have had sore hands from all the clapping!

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The children were collected at 3pm when the first show ended and they went for some well-earned rest and some food so that were were refreshed for the next show. The stage, props and costumes were reset ready for when the children returned and then the staff went off and had some food themselves. At 4pm, some of the adult dancers from Markham joined us to have a quick run through of their dance as they were only performing in the evening show. 5pm came round quickly and the children returned looking a little more tired than in the morning but still excited! Group photos were taken and it wasn’t long before everyone was back in the dressing room getting ready for the next show!

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Another fabulous show with some wonderful reviews from the audience! At the end, the children stayed on stage after the tear-jerking singing of One Night, One Moment (from Nativity) and Emma made a speech thanking and congratulating the children, parents, audiences and staff for all the effort put in on the lead up to the show and for how well the shows went. As the curtains closed for the final time, the teachers and children all cheered and hugged each other, and there were even a few tears that it was all over.

The children collected (most of!) their bits and pieces and were signed out, leaving just the tidying up and packing everything back into the cars to take back to the studio. The staff then said their goodbyes and went home to relax after a very long, but rewarding, day!