Darlington’s Big Dance Festival, which took place in July, was a great success with about 600 people taking to Darlington’s market square and dancing together to the popular pop hit Lady Gaga’s ‘Judas’. The spectacular dance was a highlight of the festival as it was also choreographed by ‘Strictly Dance Fever winner Darrien Wright’. Darrien secured funding from the Arts council and has been working with schools and community groups to teach them the routine and prepare them for the dance festival. Later on in the day, the dance was repeated so that the public could also have a go and get involved with the dance.
Some of the events were cancelled or moved due to the bad weather, however this did not stop all the talented dancers from putting on a great show; for instance, there was a fantastic performance from ‘Britain’s Got Talent Finalist’ 11 year-old James Hobley, organised by Mr Wright and Darlington Borough Council. The rain also did not stop the main event, The Caribbean Dance Party. Dances which took place over the weekend included Line dancing, Street dance, Clog dancing, Salsa, musical theatre and the ever growing popular dance craze Zumba.
As well as the public being able to join in the dancing, professionals also took part in the entertainment such as Bionic Funk, Gregory Abouna, Lafuzion, Urban Kaos, Sadie Flower and Ruff Diamond.
The dance schools which took part were Sonya Marie Academy of Dance, Toni’s Dance Academy, The Rachel V Harrison School of Dance, ArtSpark Youth Dance, Severn Performance Dance Company, Born to Dance, Tiffany School of Dance, Red Hall Dance Company, Rachel Coad School of Dance, Happy Tappers, Dance Wright Studio, Keep Fit Association, Dimensions Dance Academy, Clare Fawcett Academy of Dance, 6th Street Swing, Stagecoach, Bollywood Divas, Community Dance Groups and Darlington Gymnastics.
“It has been fantastic. Darrien has done a brilliant job and it has brought everyone together,” said Marian Ogle from the Council.
Mr Wright confessed how proud he was with the dancers, “It was brilliant. I nearly cried. I’d like to thank Joanne Scott, who has been a brilliant help and volunteered a lot of time to this project. I organised this because I wanted to show all the talent we have in Darlington. I think they have really shown that here today.”