Being part of the GDST provides so many wonderful opportunities for our girls, and the recent Day of Dance was a perfect example.

On Monday 9 December a group of girls traveled down to London to take part in the GDST Day of Dance at the Pineapple Studios. 178 girls from across the 25 GDST schools met in Covent Garden to go along and take part in workshops taught by successful industry professionals who have choreographed for stars such as Beyoncé and Dua Lipa, and worked on TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and the X Factor – wow!

The girls took part in various workshops including musical theatre, ballet, hip hop, commercial street, lyrical jazz and contemporary dance. They also had the chance to chat to the choreographers and ask them all about life as a dancer. One of our participating girls, Eleanor, had this to say about the event:

“I really enjoyed the Day of Dance at Pineapple Studios as it gave me a chance to meet others from different schools in the GDST who share my passion for dance, and also allowed me to gain more experience as a performer.

I had a thoroughly good time at the workshops because they gave me a chance to learn from someone other than my dance teacher and try to adapt to a different style of choreography. The staff at Pineapple Studios and choreographers were extremely welcoming and approachable. I took part in the ballet and contemporary workshops, which I found quite fun and I particularly liked that we had the opportunity to ask all the choreographers questions during lunch.

We came runners-up in the showcase; it was beneficial to me to be able to watch other schools perform as I could use their routines as inspiration for my own dance. We came up with our routine during PE lessons, one of which we used as a sort of audition to pick people to perform in London. Some of our choreography was first suggested by a teacher, and some of it we choreographed ourselves.

I was very happy with the outcome of the day as I felt we performed well and were proud of our achievements.”

Take a look at the routine that secured our dancers the runners-up slot. Well done girls!