Category: News

We attended the Can You Dance Masterclass Games 2023 in Liverpool this weekend.

A big well done to Abi, Isabel, Laylah, Evie, Alycia, Luella, Heidi, Lauren and Neve for a fantastic day competing. You have all been amazing and really should be proud of yourselves.

A special mention to pupils who were selected by the class teacher to receive an award;

Bronze medal winner for Inter Musical Theatre Jazz Luella Smith

Bronze medal winner for senior commercial

Laylah Xaba

We are so proud of you all, just amazing!

#berryacademyofdance#TeamBAD#cyd_uk

Congratulations to our girls at the TDCI Sheffield Senior Modern Championship.

Laylah Xaba – 4th place

Abi Bridger – 6th Place

So proud of you both, well done!

Good luck to Max and Freddie on their opening night of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Teen Edition.

They are performing at Rotherham Civic Theatre this week with Yorkshire Performance Preparation Academy (YPPA).

We hope you have an amazing time and enjoy the experience.

Wishing our pupils the best of luck in their opening performance of Grease at the Sheffield City Hall.

Evie Bradford Alycia Mayfield Abi Bridger Lauren Daly

It’s a sell out show, for those who are lucky enough to have a ticket, you’re in for a real treat!

We hope you have a fantastic run and enjoy performing in such an amazing theatre. A big thank you to Manor Operatics Society for the opportunity and support, we can’t wait to see you all on stage! Good luck to all the cast and crew, you’re going to be amazing!

If you’re planning a trip to the theatre over the festive period then you may spot a few familiar faces. We have 10 pupils from the school appearing in local pantomimes this year.

Here’s where you’ll find them;

Sheffield City Hall – Cinderella (27th Dec-8th Jan) With Manor Operatics Society.

Megan Bridger

Abi Bridger

Isabel Adshead

Evie Bradford

Laylah Xaba

Alycia Mayfield

Rotherham Civic Theatre – Beauty & The Beast

(1st Dec-8th Jan) with Imagine Theatre.

Nevaeh Brook

Abbie Braithwaite

Summer Griffin

Chesterfield Theatres – Sleeping Beauty

(6th Dec-3rd Jan) with Paul Holman Associates.

Annabel Seymour

Special mention to BAD graduate, Jack Skelton who has also started his first professional pantomime contract and will be appearing in Aladdin at The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.

We are so proud of you all and hope you have a fantastic time, enjoy every minute of this special experience.

Tickets for all shows are now on sale, we can’t wait to see you all!

#berryacademyofdance#whosbad#feelingfestive

October 2022

A big CONGRATULATIONS to our amazing competition team who have performed at the Penistone Theatre Dance festival, over the last two weekends.

As always, they have made us very proud teachers and parents! Thank you to all our competitors for your hard work, enthusiasm and encouragement for each other. It really is lovely to see you all supporting each other and having fun.

We have won an incredible 91 medals over the 4-days and lots of trophies;

1st Place – 18

2nd Place – 21

3rd Place – 19

4th Place – 33

Congratulations to Abi Bridger, Isabel Adshead and Leila Steer for being selected to dance in the Senior bursary, what a fantastic achievement!

Our Junior and Inter groups winning gold!

Special trophy winners;

Highest Mark Cabaret solo – Isabel Adshead

Senior Potential Trophy – Abi Bridger

A big thank you to the teachers at BAD for all your hard work and making this all possible. What a team!

#berryacademyofdance#TeamBAD#dancefamily

A happy and much belated birthday to our wonderful Charlotte Stones, who turned 18 in September.

Charlotte began dancing at the age of 4 and joined us when she was 8. This was following her first appearance in Sheffield Theatres’ pantomime, Aladdin, where she met Isabelle and Lisa.

She took her first exam 3 months after starting and competed in her first dance festival at Cantley where she was in the Mr Blue Sky troupe… apparently the music stopped half way through!

Charlotte was a regular in productions at Sheffield’s Lyceum stage through the years, performing in their pantomimes until the age of 15, but also performing in Never Forget, Annie, and the Sound of Music, where she played Brigitta.

From an examination point of view, Charlotte has always performed highly, being nominated to dance in the IDTA’s Theatre Dance Awards 8 times in the disciplines of Tap, Theatre Craft and Modern Jazz. She has the title of being the our first ever Theatre Dance Awards Winner, taking home the trophy for Tap Grades in 2014, an exciting day none of us will ever forget.

Her Tap skills have not gone unnoticed, and in recent years she has been part of Tap Attack, an elite Tap academy.

From the point of view of her contribution to the life of the school, Charlotte is known as Miss Charlotte in many circles (aging from 3-12), as she has given up her Saturday morning lie-ins to assist classes. She has taken teaching qualifications in Theatre Craft and is known as a cheerful and smiley presence to our younger pupils.

The cherry on the top of Charlotte’s many achievements came this year. She has qualified for the IDTA’s Miss Dance of Great Britain twice in a row (2016, 2017) with her colourful Tap routine. This year however, we were absolutely delighted to see Charlotte to join the ranks of semi-finalist on Blackpool’s enormous Winter Gardens stage. This positions her among the top 12 young dancers in the UK.

Charlotte is currently studying A Levels at Notre Dame and is hoping to pursue a career in dance where her ambition would be to perform in the West End.

Just keep on what you’re doing Miss Stones, we can’t wait to see what the future holds.

 

Many happy returns to our lovely Alexandra O’Brien who turns 18 today.

Following in her mum Keeley’s footsteps, Alex joined the school at the age of 3 in Baby Class being well-looked after by Miss Lisa. She began her dance festival career in a category that would always serve her well throughout, Tap. By the time she was 6 she was in the Open categories for Tap, Ballet & Modern at dancing competitions and at the end of her festival career, she can look to several Bursary awards.

From the age of 7, Alex was a regular on Sheffield’s Lyceum stage, appearing as part of the juvenile chorus in Never Forget and every Christmas in the pantomime until she grew too tall – something she has always resented! Mum Keeley promised her she wouldn’t hate her height when she was older and she was right – Alex’s leg lines are often envied at class.

Alex has been nominated several times for the IDTA’s Theatre Dance Awards, an annual event to celebrate the very best examination syllabus performances. She has competed there on behalf of the school for the last three years.

To speak of this year’s seniors without mentioning Miss Dance of Great Britain would be remiss. This competition is an annual national competition bringing together Britain’s 55 top dancers. A place in this competition is hotly contested and we couldn’t be more proud that Alex qualified for this in both 2016 & 2017.

Towards the end of her time with us, Alex has attended summer schools at professional dance colleges in London, including Performers College & Urdang. This has only confirmed her dreams of pursuing a career in the performing arts, either on the West End or with the opportunities to travel.

Her mum assures us that she has enjoyed every minute of her training and is very much looking forward to the future, which seems particularly bright.

Alexandra will take up her place at Laine Theatre Arts, a prestigious performing arts college in Surrey this coming September. We wish her all the luck in the world and can’t wait to see what she does next.