We know that show time is the highlight of the year for our dancers. The Downland Dance Performance Academy allows students of any age or ability to get up on the stage and showcase their talent in front of family and friends. Our 2024 production will be a full-length interpretation of ‘The Nutcracker’, with performances at Cornerstone Arts Centre on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th July, and choreography by our very own Maryna Yegorova. As a DDPA first, the title roles this year will be performed by Mutsumi and Adam Harris – both Soloist dancers from the Croatian National Theatre. Sharing the stage with professional dancers, as well as performing in a real-life theatre, will be a unique and exciting experience for our dancers!

The programme will run over the 2024 Summer term, with the bulk of rehearsals every Sunday. Some dancers will also have rehearsals during the week, including, if necessary, during their normal dance classes. There will be 3 performances and a General Rehearsal split over the show weekend (a matinee and evening performance will be held on Saturday 27th July), and our annual awards ceremony, where we acknowledge the achievements of our hardest working and most talented dancers, will conclude the final performance.

During the process, dancers will learn how the casting and rehearsal process works in a real dance company. The dances will be choreographed directly with them during their weekly rehearsals, and they will be able to draw on their creativity as they contribute to the choreographic process and put their artistic spin on the roles they have been assigned. Each dancer will have their costume (or costumes!) made to measure especially for them by our fantastic head of wardrobe, Rebecca Coles, and they will get to interact with the magnificent scenery and props being created by Maggie and Tim Morris.

In the final days before the performances, all of the performers will come together for our ‘full call’ rehearsals at Aureus School, where we will piece the show together, and give each dancer an understanding of how the story is told through their dances. On the afternoon of Friday 26th July, the dancers will meet at Cornerstone Arts Centre for a ‘General Rehearsal’, where they will get to experience the lights, costumes, sets, props, stage, and music all coming together to create the magic of theatre for the first time before the performances start.

Anyone who loves to dance can take part in the DDPA (including adults and beginners)! We only ask that you fill in and submit a participation form before the closing date of Wednesday 10th April 2024, and pay the participation fee by the end of half term (Friday 31st May).

Dancers who take part will get to learn new ways of moving their bodies, and understand how the steps they’ve learned in their normal ballet classes relate to the fun routines they can perform on stage. They will also learn how to pick up, retain and perfect dance routines, just as professional dancers do, in a way which will help improve their versatility in dance, and boost their confidence in life, and on stage!