Viva Las Vegas – dancers in the bright light city
A young dance troupe will travel from North Wales to the “Entertainment Capital of the World” as one of just three UK groups performing at a special variety show.
Barton Dance & Drama Academy, which is based in Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy, are heading for the glittering lights of Las Vegas to dance in V – The Ultimate Variety Show at the V1 Theatre in Planet Hollywood on Wednesday. The academy is taking 21 girls aged eight to 15 to the US and will be joined by dance companies from Liverpool and St Helens.
Principal Helen Barton said: “We were asked about 12 months ago. We did a show in Liverpool with a company called Smile Productions and, after seeing us dance, they invited us to Vegas to dance with them there.
“We’ve been rehearsing every Sunday since Christmas.
“We’re really pleased to be representing Wales. We performed in New York two years ago and we’ve performed at Disneyland Paris and Disneyworld in Florida, but that was a different group of girls.They’re really excited. They can’t wait. Some of them haven’t been to America before.”
The girls will perform four dances choreographed specially for the occasion: a Robbie Williams medley, a Greatest Showman medley, an Abba medley and a Wizard of Oz dance.
The dances will showcase a range of styles including hip hop, tap, ballet, modern and lyrical.
Last week, the group had a dress rehearsal for the show, inviting any family members who can’t make it to Las Vegas. They also previewed one of the dances at the annual Happy Faces charity fundraising shows in Venue Cymru and Rhyl’s Pavilion Theatre.
Ms Barton said: “We did the Wizard of Oz dance at the Happy Faces show. It went down really well.
“I think the Vegas show is being filmed professionally, and if not I’m sure parents will film it if anybody wants to watch.”