Shut Up and Dance! NCL Dance Club celebrate a successful show weekend

NCL Dance Club cap the year off in style!

Roseanna Leconte
9th May 2023
Image: Roseanna Leconte
Newcastle University's very own Dance Club ended the year with a bang with their annual show last weekend. They put on three spectacular performances of Shut Up and Dance! at Northern Stage, showcasing seven different styles of dance, including jazz, street, and tap dancing. One of the dancers, Dan Finch, said: "There was definitely something for everyone".

The dancers, almost 200 of them in fact, had been rehearsing for many weeks for their biggest event of the year. Imogen Winfield, the club's Show Coordinator, said: "We've been working on the show for months now, some of the dances have been going on even since September, so it's really cool to see it come together."

Speaking of the responsibility of her role, Imogen continued: "There's been a lot of behind the scenes work with the theatre, the tech team, and the teachers who have been choreographing all the dances, so it's been a big job but loads of people in the club have helped me out."

Over 900 people attended the show, which featured group dances, duets, trios, and solos, totalling just over 40 dances altogether. There was an exciting atmosphere at the theatre as the audience cheered for all the performers, with many shouting out their friends' names in support. Speaking of his friends in the audience, Dan explained: "It's really nice to show them what I've been doing all year at dance."

The club's 14 competition teams also performed their routines in the show. The teams brought back an impressive 35 trophies across five different university contests around the UK, making it their best competition season to date. The competitions were held at Edinburgh, Newcastle, Northumbria, Manchester, and Nottingham Trent. 

Earlier this year, the Dance Club hosted a hugely successful charity event

Earlier this year, the Dance Club hosted a hugely successful charity event, Newcastle Come Dancing, of which the winning pair also performed in Shut Up and Dance! Organised by their Charity and Welfare Officer, Abbie Graham, the event raised £1,325 for The Peoples Kitchen.

Becca Horner, who has been the President of the Dance Club for this academic year, expressed her pride in all those involved with the show: "The amount of work that people have put into this show, it's just been so many weeks of progress and it's so exciting to see how happy people are and how the work has all come together and I'm really really proud of everybody involved."

Becca emphasised how important the annual show is to the Dance Club: "It's just a chance for everybody to show what we've been working on over the year, and more than anything it's something for people to express themselves and people have fun doing it and that's all that I would ever ask for." All the dances in the show were open to dancers of all abilities with classes ranging from beginners to advanced. 

The sense of community amongst members of the club is very special to them

The sense of community amongst members of the club is very special to them. Katie Alice Galvin-Keay expressed: "It's like a family, and it's just been so nice to be part of something outside my uni work." Another dancer, Tia Channon, also recounted how "if you ever feel alone or you can't do something, you have everyone around you to build you up. Everyone's so supportive, I've made lots of friends so it's great."

At the end of the third and final performance on Saturday night, Imogen gave a speech during which each member of the club's Teachers and Committee team received a gift as a token of appreciation for all their hard work in running the Dance Club this year. Members of the club then went out together to celebrate their success, and last night they enjoyed their summer ball at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

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