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Danza Academy’s talent and hard work on display at Move It dance convention

Danza Academy was well represented at the Move It dance convention in London’s Excel Centre with their youngsters chosen, ahead of hundreds of other acts, to perform on the Main Stage.

The 7- to 10-year-olds Alexander Perry, Amy Holmes, Emi Takahashi, Jada Mascarenhas, May Montegriffo Santos, Rihanne Goldwin, Robyn Xiberras performed their Global Dance Open-winning Jazz Group piece ‘Greased Lightning’ in front of an appreciative audience.

A spokesperson for Danza Academy described their selection as a “rare” event, as the Main Stage is usually reserved for the larger Vocational Dance groups and world-renowned companies, a reflection of the “the truly exceptional talent and standard of the children.”

For Danza Director/Choreographer Anne Marie Gomez this marks the second time that a work of hers has been selected for the Main Stage.
“Having taught dance for the past 31 years I feel privileged and proud that my work has stayed current and that my Mini students enjoyed performing in this exceptional event,” she said.

“They were truly impressive and delivered their work with great professionalism and charisma.”
“Being so young they were in awe for a great part of the day after the performance.”
“The chosen children are amongst the best I have taught in my long career. They are exceptionally receptive to any idea thrown at them and very appreciative of any advice given to them.”

“Obviously they were spotted by the program team who deal with hundreds of applications for this event.”
She added, “I was also delighted that on both occasions at the Main Stage my chosen pieces have been totally different in nature and delivered by different age groups,” referring to her piece chosen for 2019’s Main Stage, Libertad.

“I believe this exhibits the high quality of versatile teaching that happens at Danza and how our students outshine in a variety of styles.”
“We believe this to be incredibly important in the training of young dancers especially for those having dreams of being professional performers, teachers and choreographers.”

“In this London trip I also visited two of our legendary past students currently performing at the West End. Simon Antony at The Bridge Theatre in Guys and Dolls and Jonathan Lutwyche in The Lyceum Theatre in The Lion King, daily they expose the importance of versatility on stage at first division level,” she said.
Ms Gomez also taught a sold out class at the convention for the second consecutive year.

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