What's On Page Navigation
School of Dance Annual Showcase
Dance
Page Navigation
Our Juniors Young Ballet Company will be showcasing classical ballet repertoire as well as original ballet and contemporary work. They’ll perform alongside our Juniors Contemporary and Jazz technique dancers and there will also be performances by our BA Modern Ballet students. Performances will take place at 4pm and 7pm on Sunday 18th May.
Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes
Welcome to the New Atheneum Theatre and the School of Dance Annual Performance 2025.
It has been an exciting first year for the RCS School of Dance. Dancers from across the School came together for the first time to perform in our Winter Showcase to an intimate audience of family and friends. Young Ballet Company performed in Go Dance at the Theatre Royal and BA Modern Ballet students have taken part in numerous performances this year including Glassworks (with the RCS brass orchestra), Festive Ballet at Gleneagles, Scottish Ballet’s The Nutcracker, RCS Piano for Dance Festival and their Annual Performances.
We’re also delighted to share that third year BA Modern Ballet student, Antonia Cramb, was awarded the Genée gold medal at the Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, an outstanding achievement, and has just joined Scottish Ballet as an artist. Antonia was part of the Junior Conservatoire and it’s been inspiring to watch her journey.
During today’s performance our Young Ballet Company will showcase excerpts of classical ballet repertoire as well as original ballet and contemporary choreography. They’ll be performing alongside our Junior Contemporary and Jazz dance technique students.
We also have classical and contemporary solos by our BA Modern Ballet students as well as the winner of the BA Modern Ballet choreography competition, Dead Boogie by Tamsin Ahmad-Hambling and original choreography by BA Modern Ballet third year student, Mabel Blair – all of which combines to create a wonderful showcase of talent from across the whole School of Dance.
We hope you enjoy the performance,
Suzanne Shanks
Junior Conservatoire Coordinator (Dance)
Programme
Class Progressions
Dancers – Young Ballet Company and Aya Nishimura
Choreographers – Georgina Morphet and Kerry Livingstone
Music curated and accompanied by Anna-Madleen Poll
This classwork inspired piece showcases the journey of the dancers as they progress through their training, developing more complicated choreography and enchaînements with each level of study.
Dead Boogie
BA Modern Ballet Choreography Competition Winner
Dancers – BA Modern Ballet students (Year 2)
Choreographer – Tamsin Ahmad-Hambling (Year 2 Modern Ballet student)
Music – Ghost Town by The Specials
Dead Boogie shows a human happening upon a ghost town and experiencing their world, eventually becoming one of them. This piece was inspired entirely by the music, with contrasting movement typical of the ballet studio.
Swanhilda ‘Wedding’ Variation from Coppelia Act III
Dancer – Ruby Chisholm-Beyer (Year 3 Modern Ballet Student)
Choreography – after Marius Petipa
Composer – Léo Delibes
Accompanist – Anna-Madleen Poll
Excerpts from Raymonda Act III
Dancers – Young Ballet Company Level 2
Inspired by original choreography and arranged by Kristen McGarrity
Composer – Alexander Glasunow
Were You Dreaming?
Dancers – Young Ballet Company Level 1
Choreographer – Sotirios Panagoulias
Music – Koniali (Part B) by Thrax Punks
Some days you can hardly distinguish the reality from a nightmare.
Sandbags, barricades and rubble. Whose child is this? Is it sleeping? Wake up!
The Light
Dancer – Evie Ryles (Year 3 Modern Ballet student)
Choreographer – Gemma Grayson Lee
Music – Near Light by Ólafur Arnalds
Marvellous Party
Dancers – Jazz dance technique students
Choreographer – Lauren Gow
Music – from the television series The Halcyon by Samuel Sim
This piece draws inspiration from the opulent and energetic 1920s Gatsby era, blending classic jazz with a modern edge to evoke the spirit of the Roaring Twenties.
A Point of Collapse
Dancer – Devon Martirez y McFarland (Year 3 Modern Ballet student)
Choreographer – Christopher Bruce
Music – Light is Calling by Michael Gordon
Lucid
Performed by Contemporary Technique Dancers
Choreographer – Laura McLaughlin
Music – Soft by Lemon Jelly/Drawn by Kiasmos
Rubric
Dancers – Young Ballet Company Level 2
Choreographer – Mabel Blair (Year 3 Modern Ballet Student)
Music – Rubric by Philip Glass
This piece is inspired by the title word ‘Rubric’, which can refer to a set of rules or restrictions that a person should follow. The piece sets up these ideas of restrictions through its movement motif’s and as the piece goes on the dancers gradually find ways to bend and eventually break free of these rules. The movement and themes are heavily influenced and inspired by the repetitive nature of the music.
‘Tambourine’ variation from La Esmeralda
Dancer – Aya Nishimura (Year 3 Modern Ballet student)
Choreography – after Jules Perrot
Composer – Romualdo Marenco
Accompanist – Anna-Madleen Poll
A Far
Dancers – Young Ballet Company
Choreographer – Diana Loosmore
Music – Nils Frahm and Julia Kent
Dancers
Young Ballet Company
Benjamin Brett, Ava Church, Lucia Conetta, Lori Cunningham, Rika Dawson, Pippa Forbes, Mia Fraser, Sofia Skye Gatto-Garzoni, Nieve Halliday, Remy Hamilton, Kate Henderson, Ruby Kellas, Serena Lees, Izzy Longstaff, Lilly Macintyre, Alyssia McGuire, Peadar McIntyre, Lucy McLean, Iona McQuade, Marcus Miller, Archie Murray, Esme Noronha, Alexa Philippou, Emma Pilsworth, Freya Russell, Dahlia Segat, Dara Thornton, Poppy Watson, Hope White
Contemporary Dance Technique
Lily Appleton, Cataleya Barrie, Katherine Bennett, Heather Black, Edie Campbell, Lucia Conetta, Alba Craig, Jessica Dennis, Sally Donnelly, Ella Fontaniere, Albie Gaizely-Gardiner, Callie Graham, Emily Rose Grant, Sophie Lewis, Alexandra McCann, Sophie McCleary, Ava McDonald, Amiah McRae Campbell, Sophia Munro, Abigail Seaton, Dahlia Segat, Evan Steel, Bethany Stoner, Olivia Thomson
Jazz Dance Technique
Cataleya Barrie, Katherine Bennett, Violet Carroll, Lola Charalambous, Lucia Conetta, Emily Rose Grant, Anna Loughran, Alexandra McCann, Esme Noronha, Alexa Philippou, Seorias Piper, Abigail Seaton, Dahlia Segat, Poppy Watson
BA Modern Ballet
Tamsin Ahmad-Hambling, Jemima Bath, Mabel Blair, Bonnie Bradfield, Ruby Chisholm-Beyer, Rowan Craske, Woody Freeman, Selene Guasti, Ines Lindemann, Devon Martirez y McFarland, Ryan McBride, Lucie McLaughlin, Aya Nishimura and Evie Ryles
Production Team
Production Manager Kevin Murray
Stage Manager Anne Peart
Deputy Stage Manager Joshua Hanover
Lighting Designer & Operator Neil McDowell-Smith
Sound Engineer Ana Carolina Sabino Cortes
Junior Conservatoire Dance Team
Head of School of Dance Kerry Livingstone
Juniors Dance Coordinator Suzanne Shanks
Juniors Dance Administrator Alexine Mitchell
Thank you to the following people:
To all the dance lecturers and musicians who work across our Juniors and Pre-Juniors dance programmes. Our classroom and programme assistants who support the lecturers and young people in their classes each week.
A special thank you to Rhonda Barclay, Michael Barnett, Lynfryn McKenzie, Anna-Madleen Poll, Louisa Ross, Nicola Russell.