GIRLS DANCING WITH JOY IN TV SPOTLIGHT
ADANCE group from South Wales were hoping to walk off with £50,000, an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing and the title of The Greatest Dancer when they appeared on TV last night.
Latin formation group KLA, are made up of eight girls aged nine to 11 who attend the KLA dance school based in Newbridge.
Founded in 2015 by former Latin American formation dancers Amy Booth, her sister Christie White and their best friend Laura Carpenter, the school was hoping to go all the way in the BBC TV dance show.
The school, which teaches Latin American and ballroom to children as young as three and adults of all ages, attracts aspiring dancers from the Caerphilly county and Merthyr catchment areas.
The school has also been put firmly on the dance map, after KLA graduated from an initial audition in front of a live audience in Birmingham to being picked by Strictly star Oti Mabuse as part of her team.
The show, presented by Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo, features dance captains Oti, as well as Glee star Matthew Morrison and pop star Cheryl hoping to guide their three picks to a grand final, where one dance act will be crowned The Greatest Dancer.
It has been an incredible journey for KLA – Clara, Ariella, Ava, Izzie, Nellie, Halle-Mai, Emily, and Hannah – who were chosen to audition after sending videos into the TV company who had put the word out about the TV show among dance schools.
As part of their audition in Birmingham, they performed in front of a two-way mirror, the audience members on the other side deciding whether to vote for them on their key pads.
If 75% of the audience voted for the act, the mirror would open to reveal the arena beyond and the contestants would go through to the callback stages, where the Dance Captains would each select three acts to go through to the live shows.
Thankfully, KLA not only breezed the live audition with a powerhouse Latin performance – which was eyecatching as four of the eight strong group took on male lead roles, but were chosen by Strictly favourite Oti Mabuse.
“They’ve got massive personalities and are so different in their characters,” said KLA co-founder Amy Booth. “They’re all quite bubbly in their own way. I wanted to get that across in the choreography. They are a really lovable bunch so we wanted the public to see that.”
About KLA being on the show, the dance teacher added: “It’s literally the best feeling, the best experience I’ve had so far. I’m very very proud.”
As the initial audition was last August and the call back to be chosen as part of Oti’s team was filmed in the autumn, the group have had to keep everything quiet – which is no mean feat for a group of young girls.
“We had to keep everything quiet,” said Amy. “The kids couldn’t tell their schoolfriends, they could only tell their mums, dads and close family that they had an audition for the show and had been picked by Oti. They had to keep everything tightlipped. It’s really hard for a group of nine to 11-year-olds to keep it quiet, but they did it.
“They’re still walking on cloud nine. They keep asking if they can have free food because they think they’re famous.”
The group – who are all massive Strictly fans – took working with their coach Oti all in their stride.
“It’s a dream come true for them,” she said. “Oti is definitely the best captain. She’s as bubbly as they are and she loves her Latin and ballroom.
“They’ve been spending time with her in the live studio rehearsing and training.”