2015/16 marks the eighth year of Dance Club. Since beginning, it has grown in numbers and has gone from strength to strength. Overall around 80 pupils attend the Junior and Senior Dance Club, held on a Tuesday afternoon for Year 8-10 and Wednesday for Year 11-14.
Each week pupils are eager and enthusiastic to attend in order to learn new choreography for our main event held in March – the Northern Ireland Creative Movement and Aerobics Championships (NICMAC).
After learning part of a routine, auditions are held early in the academic year to choose teams for NICMAC- teams can have a maximum of 20 pupils in each. When teams are chosen, the rehearsals, preparation and final touches are made; of course, choosing and fitting costumes is a key part of competition preparation.
In 2015, the Royal School Dance Club had more teams entered into NICMAC than any other school, with teams in almost every category!
The results were as followed:
Junior team: highly commended
Intermediate team: 3rd place
Senior team: 3rd place
Junior duet: 1st place
Senior duet: 3rd place
All the pupils should be congratulated on their success against very strong competition! The success of Dance Club is well recognised in school with Dance Honours Blazers being introduced in 2013- an achievement for any pupil to receive. Dance Club made history in 2014 as the team was presented with the Ulster Bank Cup for ‘School Team of the Year’ on Speech Night.
Not only is Dance Club a great way to build stamina and strengthen friendships, it is a lot of fun and develops confidence and teamwork, along with a wealth of other skills and qualities to be a well-rounded person.
