Luna a journey of life through dance

Many moons ago I reviewed a beautiful dance production from the Gibraltar Academy of Dance called ‘Book of Spells’ and last weekend I attended their most recent one called ‘Luna’ which graced the stage of John Mac Hall for a few sellout evenings last week.

Thankfully not a lot changes when you are in the business of making magic through dance and happily, director Paulette Finlayson Poggio has lost none of her magical powers when putting on stylish and graceful dance productions which showcase young dancers, from tots to pre-primary and primary/ grade one to seniors, over many years.

Dance does not stay the same, it always evolves and the power of it to engage with us via sublime motion, elegance and poise, not to mention beautiful costumes, music and song, is what makes us happy and proud that we have an arts academy here which for over forty five years has excelled at presenting the magic of dance on stage.

Sixty four dancers graced the stage in ‘Luna’, an original story inspired by the moon and its changing phases. The moon’s influence and in particular the part it plays in the journey of ‘Luna’ a young girl who strives to find her path and purpose in life is at the heart of this production.

With a wide repertoire of well chosen music and songs to convey the spirit of the journey, we were riveted by the image of a constantly changing colourful moon as the central backdrop image on a bare stage, and also by hearing the short positive affirmations narrated by the moon herself, which preceded each dance, we were invited into the story of the journey told by fourteen dances, in two halves of a programme which had five curtain calls and a long held standing ovation at its conclusion.

That is the power of dance and the magic that Paulette Finlayson and choreographers Chelsey Celecia and Jolene Gomez brought to the stage.

The mood lighting and the costumes in particular were exquisite. Bespoke where it had to be, for Luna and colourful, glittering and Jazzy to enhance the visual impact of groups of sixteen dancers on average per dance. Just a thought, if we were to extend the average number of young dancers who have come through the Gibraltar Academy of Dance over forty five years to just fifty per year, that would produce an impressive total over two thousand.

Dance students who have learnt the joys and tears of discipline, poise, elegance and self-expression, which are good values for life and which were on show during the performance of the sixty four dancers who filled the stage of the John Mac Hall last week.

During the interval I spoke briefly to Paulette and told her that she still has that joy and skill for elegance and magic through dance, I didn’t wait for her reply, it was written on her smile.

Well done to all involved bringing ‘Luna’ to life on stage and we can only hope that dance continues to inspire more young people in Gibraltar. We already have a few success stories internationally and that is a good thing to be proud of.