OUTREACH – FIT TO DANCE PROJECT

RATING *****

This fantastic company, which provides performance opportunities for aspiring Dancers, is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year and has seen many of its pupils graduate to professional companies.

Tuesday’s lunchtime event gave a short glimpse behind the scenes of how the NYB came into being and allowed the audience to see a workshop with local primary school children plus a couple of short excerpts from the current repertoire.

Having enjoyed the company’s appearances at this venue for several years it was interesting to hear from founder Jill Tookey what inspired her to start the NYB, how it is run and funded and what she considered to be some of its highlights.

A DVD presentation elaborated on this and included brief scenes from ‘The Old Man of Lochnagar’, a ballet inspired by Prince Charles’s book of the same name.

Ballet mistress, Judith Harris, put a few of the younger dancers through some exercises, then outreach workshop teacher, David Rhys, (originally from Croydon and having gone from strength to strength since dancing the part of a lizard in NYB’s ‘Cinderella’ as a boy) showcased what he had been teaching a bunch of youngsters on the ‘Fit to Dance programme.

The company wants dance to be accepted as being as important as sport in the lives of our children and here Rhys used sporty moves to weave together the foundation of a dance.

Finally, Charlotte Perry danced the Firecracker, choreographed by herself, and a group of ducks, in wonderful feathered costumes, performed Ducks’ Ditty from TOAD, choreographed for NYB by Wayne Sleep.

I would have liked to see more dancers, but appreciate the practical difficulties involved in getting the dancers together since they come from all over the country.

This was a delightful absorbing concert. Let’s hope the company is able to make a long overdue return to Croydon for a full ballet divertissement very soon.

Diana Eccleston