West End collaboration for Moate's Dancezone
The members of Dancezone Stage School recently had chance to learn from some top West End talent when two visitors with experience of the famous London theatre district came to host workshops in Moate.
On Saturday and Sunday, November 29 and 30, West End director Dan de Cruz and performer/choreographer Karina Hind hosted 'Matilda' and 'Mamma Mia'-themed workshops for the stage school students in Moate's Pastoral Centre.
Sandra Julian of Dancezone said it was an "incredible" experience for the Dancezone members and a rare opportunity to "learn directly from performers who've lived and breathed" the West End.
She added: "This collaboration is the first of its kind with the West End crew and it was a gigantic success. The team that travelled over from the UK were so impressed by the high standard of the two groups that participated in the workshops.
"Day one saw members take on the singing, dancing and acting from 'Matilda', and the second workshop on Sunday saw the senior level members do 'Mamma Mia'.
"They did eight-hour sessions working in real-time West End training for shows. Parents had the opportunity to come and see a performance at the end of each day, and were blown away by it all.
"Huge thanks has to go to the Pastoral Centre in Moate for hosting us, especially manager Josephine Donoghue, herself a seasoned performer with Moate Variety Group," added Sanndra.
"More than 60 exhausted members left the building tired but buzzing from the events of weekend. We were delighted that this weekend was such a success and we look forward to our next venture!"
The workshops were delivered by Dan de Cruz, who was recently the musical supervisor for 'CAKE - The Marie-Antoinette Playlist' and associate musical supervisor for 'La Bamba! A Musical'.
He was also part of the music team for 'Operation Mincemeat', which won the Olivier award for Best Musical, and has worked extensively around the UK as a musical director; most recently on the successful tour of 'Beautiful - The Carole King Musical'.
He was joined by Karina Hind, a West End performer whose credits include 'Matilda the Musical' (Cambridge Theatre), 'American Idiot' (Selladoor) 'Club Tropicana' and 'Ghost'.