Keep on Moving

Harrodian's spectacular dance show, which took place on Tuesday 23rd November, had the audience tapping their feet to jazz classics old and new. 

Harrodian's Dance Show has always been a hugely popular date in the school calendar and even more so this year after 2020's show had to be cancelled. Entitled Just Dance, this year's event included 18 spectacular numbers performed by over 100 pupils ranging in age from 8 - 17 either dancing solos, in pairs or in bigger dance club groups. Masterminded by Melanie Edwards, Harrodian's Head of Dance and dance teacher Alice Jarvis, the show was both uplifting and inclusive with a mix of boys and girls of all ages and ability taking to the stage to strut their stuff. 

Having joined Harrodian in 2000, Ms Edwards is celebrating an impressive 21 years at the school. She has been running dance clubs for the different year groups in the Prep School every year since and is also responsible for forming and overseeing the Senior Dance Troupe. She has also choreographed many of our Harrodian plays and productions including Legally Blonde, School of Rock, Addams Family, Twelfth Night, Bugsy Malone, West Side Story, Sound of Music, Joseph, Honk! and many more over the course of the school's history. So after a year of limited dance opportunities due to Covid, Ms Edwards was only too keen to revive Harrodian's dance show and her comeback was an undisputed triumph!
 

Featuring a bit of a jazz theme, this year's show was shorter but slick. Lower Sixth Formers and members of the Senior Dance Troupe - Grace and Romy - were a great double act as compères for the evening. With a complementary mix of humour and humility, the girls introduced the acts, congratulated them on their performances and provided the audience with amusing commentary. There were lots of jazz-inspired moves on display with dancers performing to music ranging from classic swing and blues tracks like Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', Mayfield's 'Hit the Road Jack' and Benny Goodman's 'Sing Sing Sing' to more modern jazz numbers from the musicals La La Land, and songs by Amy Winehouse and Jamiroquai. 
 

There was an abundance of dance enjoyment on show. Among first-time solo performers who impressed were Sixth Former Amber dancing to Sia's 'Unstoppable,' and 11s pupil Otta with her foot-tapping, funky rendition of Jamiroquai's 'Canned Heat'. Eye-catchers among the duos were a well-synchronised and lyrical performance of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good' by two 12s girls - Isadora and Farah - both new to Harrodian last year and 9s boys James and Freddie's humorous and well-acted take on Chicago's 'Hot Honey Rag'. Standouts amongst the groups were the 8s, who put a smile on everyone's face with a happy and upbeat 'Bare Necessities', the 12s girls who opened the show with a joyful and accomplished dance to La La Land's 'Another Day of Sun' and the Harrodian Senior Dance Troupe drawn from the 13s upwards whose captivating performance of 'Le Jazz Hot,' (from the musicals Victor/Victoria and more recently Glee), left the audience spellbound. 

The Staff Dance Group always gets the biggest cheer of the evening and this year was no exception. The teachers donned top hats for a classy rendition of Benny Goodman's 'Sing Sing Sing.' Led by a slick Mr Maybury and light-footed Mrs Morgan, they gave the most professional and impressive performance to date (please see the video link below). 

Thank you to Pre-Prep's Miss Daisy Mackay for the wonderful photos.