From SK Dance Inspiration

Dancers scoop awards and remember Melissa at SK Dance school show

Wigan dance school dancers win awards

Two pupils of SK Dance Studio in Appley Bridge were honored with special awards last weekend. Both awards were presented at the end of a second night’s performance of the dancing school’s show – “SK UK, the Great British Dance Tour”.

In front of a sell-out audience at Preston’s Playhouse Theatre, 14 year old Erica Walker (pictured right) was presented with the Victoria Trophy, traditionally awarded to the dancer who has shown real commitment and made the most progress during the year.

“Erica is such a hard worker and so focused during classes“, said Susan Kielb, principal of the dance school since 1974. “She’s only been dancing with us for around two years, but she’s stunned me with her progress”.

Erica, who studies ballet and modern classes at SK Dance Studio was delighted to win the award. “I was so surprised when my name was called out, I couldn’t believe it was me. When I started at SK Dance I felt totally out of my depth, especially when we started to dance en pointe,” said Erica “but through encouragement from my teachers I really gained in confidence. I’ve made many great friends whilst preparing for the show and despite my nerves, loved being on the stage”.

A special dance award to remember Melissa

10 year old Violet Stout (pictured left) was equally delighted to receive the Melissa Joyce Dancing for Joy Award, a very special trophy presented in memory of a talented former SK Dance Studio pupil from Appley Bridge who sadly died in 2001 after a battle with cancer, aged just 21.

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Melissa Joyce – a beautiful and talented dancer who always danced for joy.

Presented every two years at the dance school’s show, the award is given to the dancer who loves, lives and breathes her craft, finding joy in every single step just as Melissa did.

“Violet has a lot in common with Melissa,” said Susan. “Her beaming smile when she’s performing and the 110% effort she puts into every class, performance and rehearsal is just the same. It’s been a joy to teach them both”.

“I really want to be a professional dancer when I grow up” said Violet who studies ballet, modern, tap, acro and street dance classes at SK Dance Studio. Violet is also part of a weekly ballet associates programme in Manchester, where she’s further honing her skills with ex-professional ballet dancers who trained at the Royal Ballet School. “My mum knew Melissa well and has told me what an amazing dancer and lovely person she was. I really hope I will make Melissa proud with my dancing”.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #1 – Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly at Number 1 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Gene Kelly grew up in a working-class neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where instead of playing out with his mates, spent his free time in dancing classes. Trained in Classical Ballet and after working as both a dance teacher and a successful Broadway musical actor, Gene Kelly hit Hollywood with a bang in the 1942 film “For Me and My Gal” opposite Judy Garland.

Perhaps reflective of his working-class roots, Gene was famous for his distinctively relaxed dance style and favoured regular clothes and every-day settings for his routines over extravagant costumes and fancy sets. This common-man’s approach to choreography created some of the most memorable movie dance scenes of all time, like the unforgettable puddle-splashing, lamppost-swinging sequence in “Singing in the Rain”.

Gene was also the master of dancing with props which added technical complexity and humour to his choreography in equal measure. Take the amazing scene from the 1943 movie “Thousands Cheer” for example, in which Gene dances with both a mop and a broom. And you don’t get more complex than his outstanding tap dancing on roller-skates routine from “It’s Always Fair Weather” released in 1955. OK, so dancer and regular co-star Donald O’Connor may have tap-skated on film first, but Kelly’s interpretation a couple of years later completely blew it out of the water IMHO.

Click here to watch a video of Gene Kelly’s amazing tap-skating routine.

His technical brilliance, combined with comedic delivery and a knack for connecting with the audience, underlines Gene’s genius and puts him (now I’ve had chance to think about it), right at the top of the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #2 – Bill Bojangles Robinson

Bill Bojangles Robinson at Number 2 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

As you may have gathered from some of the other choices in the SK Dance Studio best dancers of all time list, we just LOVE percussive dance styles so there’s plenty of tap dancers in our top 10 list. And when it comes to tap-dancing in particular, Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson was the absolute godfather.

Bill’s signature dance style was so relaxed and understated, it was virtually horizontal. Apart from a natural swing of the arms and the odd tilt of his hat, the upper-body hardly featured in his choreography at all and to be honest, why would you want to take the focus off your feet when you can dance like Mr Bojangles?

Born in 1878 as Luther Robinson (a name he apparently didn’t like so swapped names with his brother – strange I know), Bill was dancing from a very early age. As a child, he worked as a “hoofer” – a sort of dancing busker, then dropped out of school to pursue his dance career with a travelling company, which eventually led to huge success on Broadway.

Bill’s career was propelled to the big time thanks to the ingenious “stair-dance” routine he created for the 1928 Broadway revue, Blackbirds. And if you needed justification for Bill’s number two spot, then watch this routine for yourself. With no set, no costumes and no big band to distract you, all you can focus on is the quality and rhythmic brilliance of the tap dancing. I mean, how many beats can you possibly cram into a riff or wing? It’s ridiculous and absolutely, utterly mesmerising!

Click here to watch Bill Bojangles Robinson’s mesmerising stair tap dance.

Bill was still amazing audiences in his fifties thanks to a successful screen pairing with Shirley Temple in a series of smash-hit musicals. Through this endearing partnership, Bill got to recreate his famous stair-dance routine in “The Little Colonel”, as well as make social history by becoming the first African American male to ever dance with a white girl on film.

Bill… we salute you.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #3 – Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire at Number 3 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

With Ginger Rogers at number 7, you don’t get any prizes for guessing that Fred Astaire must feature near the top of the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list. Although most famous for his pairing with Ginger, Fred’s primary partner in his early career was his older sister Adele and together, they enjoyed much success on the Vaudeville circuit and on Broadway. But the siblings went their separate ways and Fred set his sights on Hollywood.

Big screen success wasn’t instant though and not everyone appreciated his talents. One movie executive famously knocked him back with the summary: “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little”. A little? Are you kidding? In 1933, Astaire managed to land a small role in a Joan Crawford movie which gave him a foot in the door at RKO. There he was matched with Ginger Rogers and the rest is history.

Fred was well known as a perfectionist, in terms of both his choreography and the way in which his routines were executed. With Fred, nothing was left to chance, with every last detail of every single move carefully thought out. This was proved in the 1952 film “The Belle of New York” in which he filmed a solo dance number called “I Want to Be a Dancin’ Man”. Some time after the film was completed, movie bosses decided that the stage set and Fred’s costume needed upgrading, so had him film the dance sequence again. Watch these two versions side-by-side and you’ll see exactly how well rehearsed Astaire was – it’s like dancing with a reflection!

Click here to watch two almost identical yet separately filmed versions of Fred Astaire performing the same routine.

Fred insisted that his dance sequences were shot from a stationary camera which held the dancers in full view. This meant limited cutting away, no camera trickery and no fancy editing to help make the sequence more engaging for the viewer. Combine this with Fred’s preference for filming routines in one single take and you’ve got proof of both his technical brilliance and how utterly mesmerising he was as a dancer.

As well as the snappy tap routines and stunningly smooth ballroom numbers for which Fred and Ginger were famous, Astaire’s capacity for mastering a wide range of dance genres allowed him to continually re-invent himself and keep his choreography super-fresh. With Rita Hayworth for instance, he fused his signature tap style with Latin-inspired moves, whilst with Cyd Charisse in the “The Band Wagon”, Astaire performed an all-together more avant-garde piece in the “Dem Bones Café” scene with enormous flair. It’s said that Michael Jackson was heavily influenced by Astaire – kind of obvious when you compare this sequence with the Smooth Criminal video.

Whilst not quite in my number one spot, Fred Astaire is a complete dancing legend and totally warrants a high ranking place in the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #4 – Margot Fonteyn

Margot Fonteyn at Number 4 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Dame Margot Fonteyn is undoubtedly one of the best known names in British dance history and if this list was just about Ballet, she certainly be right at the top.

For many, Fonteyn was just about as close to perfection as you could possibly get in a ballerina, looking every inch a super-star from whatever angle you looked. Watch clips of Margot’s performances and you’ll never see a bad line. She extends every last movement through to its full potential and creates a constant stream of picture-perfect poses that somehow merge into the most beautiful moving portrait. Watching Margot dance is a bit like watching your most perfect dream.

After training with the Vic-Wells Ballet, which later became the Royal Ballet School, Margot rose through the ranks to become Prima Ballerina of The Royal Ballet aged just 20. In her career, she danced the lead role in all the big Ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella and most notably, The Sleeping Beauty. Fonteyn’s portrayal of Princess Aurora in this well-loved ballet raised the bar so high in terms of technical ability and captivating performance value, that it became the standard for which every ballerina since has aimed.

Click here to watch Margot Fonteyn with Michael Somes in The Sleeping Beauty.

Though still at the very top of her game in 1961 at the age of 42, many expected that Margot was perhaps getting ready to retire from the spotlight. But in that year, she first met Rudolf Nureyev who was 18 years her junior. The incredible rapport and deep connection the two shared sparked a period of incredible creativity and remarkably, a revitalized Margot went on to dance the lead with Rudolf for many, many more years. In fact, Margot only finally hung up her pointe shoes in 1979 at the grand old age of 60.

They say that dancing is a short career, but not if your name is Margot Fonteyn. So for amazing longevity and achieving utter balletic perfection, Margot rides high on the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #5 – Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev at Number 5 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Without question in our eyes, Rudolf Nureyev was (and still is) the most magnificent male Ballet dancer of all time who left a legacy for which every dancer since should be eternally grateful… he brought Ballet to the masses.

Born in the Soviet Union in 1938, Nureyev overcame crippling poverty and the disapproval of his macho father to pursue his passion for Ballet, having become hooked after stealing into a performance of the Ballet “Song of the Cranes”. Undeterred he sneaked off for Ballet lessons, earning money by dancing as an extra at the local Opera House to pay his way.

At 17, he won a place at the Leningrad Ballet School where he worked incredibly hard to perfect his craft. This led to a soloist contract with the Kirov Ballet in St Petersburg where he danced in 15 major productions, including taking the lead in Don Quixote, Giselle, La Bayadère, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

But above all else, Nureyev understood that Ballet was about much more than flawless technique. He put his absolute heart and soul into his performances, giving him a totally magnetic appeal which made him the toast of Russia. In 1961, Nureyev went to Paris on a European tour with the Kirov, where he electrified audiences and critics alike. That year, he also made his London debut where he partnered Margot Fonteyn at her annual gala for the Royal Academy of Dancing.

Soon, audiences in theatres all over Western World were mesmerised by Nureyev’s expressive performances, but his appeal didn’t end there. TV and film producers quickly cottoned on to how well Rudolf’s magnetism translated to the screen and so filmed his performances for transmission all over the world, opening up an appreciation of Ballet to literally millions of people. He even danced a pas de deux with Miss Piggy in “Swine Lake” – How very un-high brow!

Click here to watch Rudolf Nureyev with Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake.

Nobody did more for the reputation and appeal of Ballet than Rudolf Nureyev, so for this reason, he thoroughly deserves his place in the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #6 – Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson at Number 6 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

When it comes to performance values, Michael Jackson really did have the art of showmanship all sewn up – little wonder given he’d been headlining with the Jackson Five since he was knee-high to a grass-hopper.

Whilst always a groover, his talent as a dancer really came into its own during his solo career, with infectious disco-inspired tracks like “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” giving audiences a taste of what was to come.

It was Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller” that really changed things. Thriller broke all records for album sales and spent over two years in the charts, crowning Michael the undisputed King of Pop. But his legacy didn’t end there. With compelling plots, eye-popping routines, amazing costumes and armies of supporting dancers, Michael Jackson turned the concept of the music video completely on its head.

I was about ten when the video for the Thriller single was released in 1983 and I still remember the mania that surrounded it. It was even launched with a prime-time ‘premiere’ on national TV… a MASSIVE deal given we only had four telly channels to choose from back then! Half petrified, half amazed, I watched open-mouthed as a zombified Jackson and his corps-de-undead made shapes like I’d never seen before, nor since.

Click here to watch Michael Jackson in the video for Thriller.

Michael Jackson wowed the world with his cutting edge dance style in lots of other videos like Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean and Beat It, not to mention his explosive live stage-shows. So for his breath-taking choreography peppered by signature moves such as the famous moon-walk, crotch-grab and gravity defying leans, Michael Jackson makes it onto the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #7 – Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers at Number 7 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Born Virginia McMath in 1911, Ginger Rogers was best known as the beautiful and graceful dance partner of Fred Astaire. Alongside Fred, she demonstrated her versatility in 10 smash hit Hollywood movies, showing us everything from the romance and liquidity of a perfectly executed waltz, to the highest of high energy tap routines.

Ginger was an accomplished dancer in her own right long before she ever met Astaire. She’d been a state champion Flapper dancer, had a very successful Vaudeville act, achieved critical acclaim as a Broadway performer and appeared in several Hollywood movies in the pre-Fred years. But it was the pairing with Astaire that gave Ginger the platform to show the world her dancing mettle.

Although Astaire was the creative force behind the pairing and commanded control over the choreography, Ginger did often contribute to the process. And when it came to the performance, she proved herself more than a match for Fred’s technical brilliance and that’s no mean feat given she was dancing his steps, backwards – and usually in high heels!

The thing I most love about Ginger was her ability to make the complex, look really easy – and that’s the mark of a truly accomplished dancer. And because she was a great actress too, she helped to boost the appeal of her famous dance partner. Dance critic John Mueller once said that “the reason so many women have fantasised about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable”.

Click here to watch Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Swing Time.

Ginger earns her place on the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list because behind every great man, there’s a great woman. And in Fred Astaire’s case, it’s certainly true.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #8 – Michael Flatley

Michael Flatley at Number 8 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Thanks to a Eurovision win in 1993 by Niamh Kavanagh, Ireland got to play host to the famous song contest in 1994 and in line with tradition, was expected to put on the ‘half-time’ entertainment. Keen to impress, the organisers wanted to create a show that people would really remember, incorporating the very best of Ireland’s musical and cultural heritage.

Enter Michael Flatley. Although born and raised in Chicago, Flatley had already made a big name for himself in Irish Dance circles, having become the first non-European ever to win the Irish Dance World Championships in 1975. He even broke a Guinness World Record in 1989 having knocked out an incomprehensible 28 taps per second.

The seven minute Irish dance spectacular created for Eurovision was the catalyst to global success for Flatley, showcasing his undoubted talent as both a choreographer and dancer. Audiences simply couldn’t get enough and flocked in their droves to see the full length Riverdance show that spawned from the Eurovision number. Flatley went on to create and star in many other amazing shows including Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames. These shows were so big that in many cities, they played in arenas instead of theatres to meet the demand. All this made Flatley a multi-millionaire who reportedly insured his dancer’s legs for a whopping forty million dollars.

Flatley’s brilliance completely re-invented Irish dancing, taking it from the twee domain of mop-haired little girls, to the hottest, most exciting ticket in town.

Click here to watch Michael Flatley in the Riverdance Finale.

And for that, Michael Flatley well deserves his place in the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.

Our top 10 dancers of all time: #9 – The Northern Soul Movement

Northern Soul dancers at Number 9 in SK Dance Studio Top 10 dancers of all time list

Not a dancer per se, but more a whole dance genre, I simply couldn’t ignore the spinners and sliders of the Northern Soul scene. SK Dance Studio is based in Wigan after all!

Broadly based on the Tamla Motown sound, the Northern Soul scene emerged in the late 1960s out of nightclubs such as Manchester’s Twisted Wheel. By the early 1970s dance-halls across the North of England, like Wigan Casino, were jam-packed full during their famous all-nighters.

As the Northern Soul sound developed and the beats got faster, the energy and athleticism of the movement’s dancers stepped up too. Spins with more turns than a Prima Ballerina; Kung-fu style high kicks; the splits; Cossack squats and legs that looked like they were made of elastic, these boys and girls really did have ALL the moves. In fact, Northern Soul dancers were break dancing years before a ghetto-blaster and three foot square of lino ever graced a street corner.

I just LOVE watching people dance to Northern Soul – and in Wigan, there’s always a few old-schoolers working their slide-step around the dance-floor at a wedding or family do. Long may they shuffle!

Click here to watch some amazing Northern Soul moves in footage from Wigan Casino.

Would the Northern Soul dancers make your Top 10?