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 2025 production will be a full-length interpretation of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, with performances at Cornerstone Arts Centre on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th July, and choreography by our very own Maryna Yegorova. After the success of last year’s performances, we are delighted to once again be inviting professional dancers to appear as guests dancing the leading roles. 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 2025 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 2 performances and a General Rehearsal split over the show weekend, and our annual awards ceremony, where we acknowledge the achievements of some of our 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 25th 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 Friday 28th February 2025, and pay the participation fee by the end of the summer half term (Friday 23rd 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!