On Tuesday 18 May, students at Richard Taunton Sixth Form College took part in Portsmouth Guildhall’s Dance Live! competition.
This annual event challenges schools and colleges to perform an original choreographed routine. This year, the RTSFC entry, titled ‘The Real Emily Rose’, was based on the real life story of the young girl who inspired the film The Exorcist.
Lisa Fernandez-Adams, Teacher of Dance and Director of RTSFC Dance Live! team, said:
‘This year’s entry has been tough in many ways. The pandemic disrupted our rehearsals and our theme was incredibly demanding. Also, our soundtrack had very little in the way of time signature which challenged our dancers musically. As expected, our fantastically committed students rose to every challenge we presented them with.’
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition is running as an online event. For that reason, the main hall at RTSFC was briefly transformed into a studio space. The Performing Arts and Dance students performed their piece in front of an LED screen which displayed their thematic backdrop. A small stage crew from Dance Live! recorded their performance which will be live streamed during the final on Saturday 19 June.
Lisa continued by saying:
‘Our students performed their piece with fantastic commitment to their characterisation and we are hugely grateful to the Dance Live! team who made this event happen. Watching our students perform delighted us – it’s something we have very much missed over the past year!’
A limited number of staff members at the college were able to watch the performance live, and they praised the students for their amazing and high energy performance.
For more information about how you can watch the Dance Live! final on Saturday 19 June, please click here.
