This very professionally-delivered dance show by Oxford/Berkshire stage school Dance Connection was extremely impressive, if a little confusing. Clearly, a huge amount of work has been put in by everyone involved. It must feel absolutely amazing to dance like this in a synchronised troupe and it was mostly wonderful to watch – except - I felt – in awkward moments when parts of the audience were moved to “woop” at some particularly sexy dance moves, and one wondered with a cringe whether the mums, dads and grandparents were entirely on board with the mood.
The first part of the show was an exciting adventure through a dangerous fairyland – Lily Clifton danced the lead with wonderful confidence. There were cute munchkins, tap-dancing trees, twirling sweeties, and beautiful undersea sequences with wave-inspired movements, but that was before we met the scary Cruella de Ville and the evil horned queen, both clad in tight black cat-suits. Some of the dancing seemed to be inspired by the kinds of music videos which I try to prevent my own child from watching. I was glad that the show didn’t actually include that particularly offensive song ‘Blurred Lines’. However, they played it in the interval, whilst one of a number of pre-teen audience members did impressive backflips along a row.
The second part was an interpretation of the Hunger Games in dance – with brilliant tap-dancing by black leather boot-clad Capitol guards, and Lady Gaga-esque sequences led by the amazing Astrid Tozer. Roseanna Hackett was Katniss Everdeen and skilfully dispatched all the other tributes with strength and virtuosity. It was cool ultra-violent gorgeousness.
The final section show-cased some award-winning competition pieces – these were introduced X-factor style with an inspirational showreel. It went a bit Las Vegas at this point - chorus girls, tasselly carnival costumes, and cheeky looks over the shoulder. I want to end by saying good luck to these talented young dancers. I hope that they really enjoy their experiences of dancing and being themselves, and that they are well-supported as they are ushered into what some would call our hypersexualised culture. But maybe I’m just an old prude and secretly wish my legs could do that!