Step Into Dance, Step Live

londondance.com - Libby Costello

Performance: 11 July 2010

The Jack Petchey Foundation has given grants of over £65 million to youth projects, supporting thousands of young people by providing opportunities – and also in helping them to take advantage of what's on offer.  One of the projects it supports is Step Into Dance – a fully inclusive, open access dance programme, offering weekly dance classes, in and out of school hours to secondary schools in some London boroughs - managed by a dedicated team at the Royal Academy of Dance.  Mr Petchey himself was at Sadler's Well last Sunday to see the real joy on stage his Foundation has made possible in Step Live, the 2010 showcase for Step Into Dance. 

Of the 13 London boroughs involved in the Step into Dance project, 23 school groups plus the STEP Company, a group made up of some of  the project’s gifted and talented dancers, rewarded the audience with a fast paced eclectic show of styles from hip hop to rock 'n' roll, cleverly programmed by Artistic Director Sue Goodman.

Performing in part one were Kingsmead, Burntwood, Ravens Wood, Cricket Green, Edmonton County School, Virgo Fidelis Convent School, Queen Elizabeth's Girls' St Marks Church of England Academy, The Compton School, Mulberry School for Girls, Harris Academy South Norwood, Townley Grammar School - Juniors, St Columba's Catholic Boys' School, Hayes School and Coloma Convent School. 

Bang Bang, choreographed by Joanna Meredith for Ravens Woods all male group, stood out in its relevance for the participants, the polished presentation and the groups obvious dedication as their performance was slick and professional. Playing the part of Western cowboys the group displayed their masculinity through their movement, whilst not being afraid to offer the audience a laugh or two with rhythmical horse steps and dramatic shootouts capturing the atmosphere of the song.  Virgo Fidelis Convent School set the stage alight with their rendition of Fever, choreographed by David Lyons.  The girls team work and sheer delight on sharing the stage with each other was great to see and with true joy presented on stage it was hard not to want to join in! 

Part two brought The Vale and Northumberland Park Community School, Ricards Lodge High School, Riverside, Beths Grammar, Townley Grammar School - Seniors, City of London Academy Islington, Battersea Park, The London Oratory, STEP Company and Camden Girls School to the stage.

Ricards Lodge High School performed an exquisite contemporary dance piece choreographed by Lee Davall, only rivaled by Townley Grammar School - Seniors Colloquy, showing Step Into Dance teacher and choreographer Joanna Meredith's skills for the second time.  Both groups displayed highly developed dance technique and performance skills - both mesmerizing to watch.  The hip hoppers of the second half were Beths Grammar School with i Dance, which for a self choreographed piece showed tremendous amounts of dedication and skill; City of London Academy Islington with Vesna Grandes-Howards Money is a Problem displayed all of Dean Martin's smooth characteristics through to 50 Cents self-assured style in a piece that mixed hip hop with blues.  The London Oratory gave the final street dance number of the evening with Jade Shaw’s Gamer Boi.  This was lyrical hip hop that from the theme and title you just didn't expect.  As the familiar tunes from iconic video games chimed out the boys became Sonic the Hedge Hog or contenders in Street Fighter, showing the lighter side of the street dance genre and hood culture.

The STEP Company, performing Wonderful World by dancers from Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company, showed that they were not just accomplished dancers but also excellent vocalists.  As they opened with an acapella version of What a Wonderful World, the versatility of the dancers on stage hit home.  It is doubtful that without Step Into Dance any of these young dancers would have has the opportunity to work with an internationally acclaimed choreographer or perform at Sadler's Well.  Tying in with the Jack Petchey Foundation's 10th anniversary, Step Live was an excellent tribute to the work and generosity of it's founder.  To the 400+ performers on stage Mr  Petchey concluded they performance saying 'it's phenomenal what they've [the dancers] achieved.  They will go home knowing they've done a good job."

To judge a youth dance project on its final performance alone can often be disastrous.  Many of the ideals built within such projects from building self-esteem, teamwork and confidence, do not translate well in to an artistic production.  Step Live knocked this assumption out of the water.  This partnership project between the Royal Academy of Dance and The Jack Petchey Foundation is a beacon of success -  and a benchchmark for youth dance initiatives.