Interview: The Dance Club

An interview with the President and the Show Coordinator of the Dance Society ahead of their biggest event of the year!

Katie Siddall
28th February 2022
Instagram: @ncldanceclub
I had a fantastic time this week interviewing Phoebe, Show Coordinator, and Nicole, President of the Dance Club, ahead of their show Blame it on the Boogie! The show is at The Tyne Theatre & Opera House on the 16th and 17th March 2022.
Instagram: @ncldanceclub

Your show is named Blame it on the Boogie!, what does this entail?

Phoebe: It's pretty much all of the dances we do in the club, so we have: ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, street and then some wild cards. It really is just a mix!

What can people expect from this then?

Phoebe: We have both of our competition teams, so the teams that compete across the country - that have been doing really well - and our show classes, that everyone can go to. We have classes that range from beginners, where it could be their first time dancing, to completely advanced people, who could definitely become professionals, if they really wanted to.

How are rehearsals going?

Phoebe: We have rehearsals tonight, it is for our show opener. One of our alumni's is coming back to choreograph - it is a little tradition we have every year where we get someone back to choreograph.

Do they choreograph the whole show or just the show opener?

Phoebe: We have our teachers for each class, which are students, that choreograph each of the dances. Then we have the alumni, who comes to do the show opener, who comes to watch the show and doesn't participate on the night.

How often do you train? And how often personally?

Phoebe: It depends how many classes you are in - we have classes everyday bar Friday. Obviously, it depends on your own classes so you could be in everyday but Friday. Most people aren't.

Nicole: I'm pretty busy. I am competing in Leeds this weekend, so this week I am dancing every day except from Sunday.

Phoebe: I was a little bit strategic this semester, I believe I'm only dancing Sundays and Thursdays.

What are your roles in the show?

Phoebe: I'm the show coordinator. It contains booking the venue to scheduling the running order - which can be a nightmare - whilst coordinating the 208 people within the show, to make sure they are not on and off without time to get changed. I will also be working with photographers and videographers and, hopefully, NUTV will be filming for us. Basically, talking to everyone involved. The committee have been very helpful with everything!

Instagram: @ncldanceclub

You said there were 208 people on stage, how many are there backstage?

Phoebe: Most of our backstage people are dancers with fewer dances. They will be backstage telling the other when to be ready and go onto the stage.

Will everyone be on the stage at the same time, all 208 people?

Phoebe: The opener has about 20 of us in. Each dance varies in size, the smallest being advanced contemporary.

Nicole: The dances vary from six people to 70 people, so there is quite a range. The Tyne Theatre staff have been great, very helpful.

How did you manage to book the Tyne Theatre & Opera House for your show?

Nicole: It's been a long time in the making. With Covid, there's been a lot of cancellations at other venues to back track. Eventually, they were able to sort us out. That was Phoebe's role, bless her, it was a big stress at the beginning of the year for her.

Phoebe: Everywhere has been so full. We looked at different venues and needed to know what day suited us all the best. I think this is going to be really good. It's a beautiful venue.

Nicole: The Tyne Theatre is a Grade One list theatre, it's gorgeous inside. As this is our first show since 2019 due to Covid, our aim is to make the tickets as affordable as possible, for students, to make it accessible to everyone. It has a capacity of around 1,100 seats so to see lots of faces would be amazing for us.

Please see ticket information below.

How long has this show been in the works?

Phoebe: I took over in August, so it's been going since then. It properly kicked off in November. Our last show, in 2020, got cancelled due to covid, I believe we went into lockdown the week of the show.

Nicole: It was very surreal, we had the dance rehearsal on the Saturday then I was on the flight home on the Tuesday.

…to see lots of faces would be amazing for us

I suppose the big question is, are you excited to be on stage?

Nicole: So excited! It will be amazing to see everyone on stage in such a massive venue, particularly considering the difficult couple of years everyone has had. It’s our biggest event of the year, and a result of all our work throughout the year. Having my friends and family there will be so special, some are even flying over for it, no pressure!

Phoebe: Nice little anniversary.

Are there any performers you are particularly excited to see? Friends or exceptional dancers?

Phoebe: For me, I'm excited to see the wild cards. We have put it out to everyone that they can come up with their own dances: solo or as a team. I'm excited to see what they'll come up with as we haven't seen the dances yet as the auditions are in two weeks. What makes it more exciting is that they'll be show casing different dance styles, which others may not have known individuals can do or would even like.

What do you want to see from the Wild Cards?

Nicole: Anything and everything! We want to appeal to a diverse audience, from children, to the elderly so we are hoping for something different. In the past we have had Irish Dancing, Bollywood and Latin, so I am definitely up for something like that again, I have heard someone mention acrobatics!

Phoebe: Someone's messaged me saying they want to do K-Pop, which really got me excited.

Nicole: Just things that are different, we want variation really.

Are there other shows/competitions you are currently doing?

Nicole: We have a busy couple of months. We have Newcastle Come Dancing, our take on Strictly, and we are competing in Leeds this weekend. We also have an upcoming charity event with RAG and we are hosting our own competition in Northern Stage and then we are going to Manchester for a competition, just before the show. A very busy schedule!

Instagram: @ncldanceclub

If you are wanting to buy tickets for this event, then you can click here or go and find the link in their instagram bio (@ncldanceclub). Tickets for students are £6 a ticket or 6 tickets for £5 each.

If you are wanting more reason to go see this incredible show: the Dance Club was voted, by other universities, to receive the Dancers Choice Award. Additionally, they went to Edinburgh for their first competition in almost two years are received the following:

First place in Inter Tap and Inter Jazz. Second in Advanced Ballet. Finally, third in Inter Street, Lyrical, Inter and Advanced Contemporary.

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