JERSEY’S young dancers showcased the island’s talent on the world stage after producing a series of impressive performances at the Dance World Cup finals in Dublin.
More than 11,500 dancers from 74 countries competed across the 11-day event, with Jersey represented by 171 performers from five dance schools following their qualification earlier this year.
Essential Dance, Etoile Studios, Jersey Academy of Dancing, JM Dance Studios and Silhouette Studios of Performance all flew the island flag, with competitors producing a string of high-scoring routines across the mini, children’s, junior and senior age groups.
The highlight of the championships came courtesy of Siobhan Misumi from Essential Dance, who claimed a bronze medal in the Children’s Street Dance category with her routine ‘Pon De Replay’, earning Jersey a place on the podium at one of the world’s biggest dance competitions.
Several other island dancers came agonisingly close to medals, underlining the strength of Jersey’s contingent.
Week One
The opening week saw the Minis and Children’s sections compete, before the Juniors and Seniors took centre stage in week two.
Among the island’s standout performances during week one, Aria Elliott (left) achieved Jersey’s highest Mini solo score of 89.1 with both her lyrical routine ‘Ave Maria’ and her acro solo ‘Smile’.
The Mini Acro Trio of Ingrid Patrascu, Rhesa Amooti and Carla Kovacs’ ‘Three Little Birds’ posted Jersey’s highest duet/trio mark of 89.6, which resulted in an excellent fourth place finish.
Silhouette Studios recorded the best group scores with ‘Goodship Lollipop’ (Mini Small Group, 86.5), ‘Annie’ (Mini Large Group, 87.4) and ‘Valar Morghulis’ (Children’s Large Group, 87.5).
Elodie Field, Mollie Griffiths and Isla Khoury returned an excellent fifth place finish in the Children’s Lyrical Trio with ‘Emi’.
Essential Dance’s ‘Mega’ was Jersey’s top Children’s Small Group.
There were also sixth-place finishes for Matilda Howe, Carla Kovacs, the Mini Madness large street group, the Goodship Lollipop tap group, the Mega street group and Milleigh Milner (below).
Milner who also recorded Jersey’s highest individual score in the Children’s section with 89.8 for her Song and Dance solo ‘My Name in Lights’.
Week Two
Week two brought more strong displays from the junior and senior competitors.
Mary Wild topped Jersey’s junior solo rankings with 88.2 for her lyrical performance, while she also teamed up with Darcey Cronin to record the island’s best junior duet/trio score of 88.1 in the jazz routine ‘Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries’.
Silhouette Studios’ Heart of Stone (right) was Jersey’s highest-scoring junior small group, while Essential Dance’s The Essentials led the junior large groups.
In the senior ranks, Olivia Rose Raphael posted Jersey’s best solo score and Essential Dance’s Vanguard Crew topped the senior group standings.
Team manager Lisa Hobbs praised the efforts of every dancer, teacher and parent, saying the performances reflected the exceptional standard of dance on the island.
She also highlighted the camaraderie between the five schools, describing the sight of dancers from across Jersey supporting one another throughout the championships as one of the most memorable moments of the trip.
Hobbs also expressed her pride in Jersey’s performance, saying that “Jersey has made its mark”.
On a personal note, she shared a special note of her own experience: “A most beautiful moment and memory for me personally was being in the room allocated to Jersey for schools being together, all of them having the best fun time together, that was a very special moment for me and something I will not forget.
“I am so incredibly proud of every dancer that has stepped on stage, every teacher and parent for their support.”
