Choreography competition 2019

Our 2019 Choreography Competition was a great success in it's new venue of the Leapark Hotel...

After a last minute flurry of entries, we had 70 competitors, aged from 4-16 years old. They showcased an entertaining variety of solos, duets and group dances in ballet, jazz, tap, musical theatre and acrobatics. All the dancers had choreographed their routines themselves with their own choice of music and costumes with a total of 116 routines! We had 25 dancers of all ages trying the competition for the first time, as well as 5 little stars in the demonstration section. 

Little Stars section

A wonderful highlight of the day was the 'Little Stars' section for children under 6. Five little dancers performed a dance routine for the judges and the audience and received the biggest applause of the day! After their performances, they were each presented with a certiicate and medal by Bill McDonald, chairman of the Falkirk District Arts and Civic Council. (pictured below) We also enjoyed watching former student Anya Phillips performing a solo as a demostration while she was there supporting her younger sister.

Guest judges and prizes

On our judging panel, we had, Sarah Ballinghall (Southside School of Dance), Amy Hart (Professional dancer) and Andrew Coleman (Professional dancer; former CSBS). They all thoroughly enjoyed their day and were very impressed by the high standard of technique and performance across all the age groups. They also commented on how friendly the day was and how many talented young dancers we had take part!

After each genre, Mrs Jacqueline Clark, Director of Central Scotland Ballet School, presented the competitors with a certificate for each routine they had performed. In total, 154 certificates were presented. At the end of the day, the judges presented medals to their winners from each section; 25 second-place medals, 42 first-place medals, including duets and groups, and 5 little stars medals were presented.

Trophy winners

We were delighted to present additional trophies for the highest score in each section. Well done to the winners:

• Highest Score Ballet - Jill Russell (10)
• Highest Score Acro - Rachel Dagger (10)
• Highest Score Tap - April Beattie (13)
• Highest Score Musical Theatre - Violet Beattie and Rachel Dagger (10)
• Highest Score Jazz - Sarah Firth (16)

We also presented a trophy to the dancer the judges considered the 'Best Newcomer', someone who had not competed in the competition before. It was awarded to Ellie Stenton (15) who performed excellent solos in jazz and hip-hop.

The Millennium Trophy for the most outstanding performer of the day was awarded to Iana Phillips (13) . Iana won 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal for her routines and will perform a solo in some of our dance displays.

The "Spirit of Dance Award" for performance and love of dance was awarded to Violet Beattie (10) who performed fun and lively solo and duet routines in jazz and musical theatre.

You can view a complete list of the prizewinners here, and view a gallery of photos from the Choreography Competition on our CSBS Facebook page:

• Photos of the morning session (ballet / acro / little stars)
• Photos of the afternoon session (tap / musical theatre / jazz / hip-hop / prizegiving)

Thanks to...

Many thanks to everyone who supported the event, including the students, parents, friends and staff who just came along to watch and cheer on their friends and family. Special thanks to: CSBS teacher Hayley for operating the music; Kiera Paterson and Romy Phillips for manning the tombola which raised £90; our judges who gave up their full Sunday; CSBS teacher Sammy for running the day and tallying the marks; CSBS teacher Amanda for organising the day including the programme, designing the certificates and medals, photographing and videoing the day; Mrs Clark for presenting the certificates; the staff of Leapark Hotel for all their assistance.

We were very impressed by the positive and encouraging atmosphere throughout the day as well as the excellent standard of dancing and the wide range of ideas, and hope everyone is keen to join in again next year!