Many congratulations to our pupil Isobel Moseley, former pupil Millie and their teammate for winning the city-wide BiG Challenge with their new business venture, On Fire.
The On Fire Business Logo
The girls, who are pupils at Stocksbridge High School, made and sold log candles (some of which were purchased at our Berry School Bonfire Party) and have gone on to win the categories for KS3, Made In Sheffield, and Biggest Profit Made. Most importantly, they have won the competition overall, teams from across Sheffield going up to age 17-18!
Their prize? An all-expenses paid trip to Warsaw, sponsored by DLA Piper. Wow! Enjoy the trip ladies, and keep up the hard work.
You can imagine our delight on Saturday night as we watched our very own former pupil, Devon McKenzie-Smith, breeze onto the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV1!
Dev looking fantastic on the far left
Devon appeared to promote the West End’s latest fabulous production, Motown: The Musical, written by legendary Motown record producer and songwriter, Berry Gordy.
Performing as 1/5 of one of the most famous and popular Motown acts ever, the Jackson 5, we were thrilled to see Dev donning an afro and flares – it took us back to our own great 70s show numbers!
Keep your eyes peeled for Devon and the cast of Motown: The Musical on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
To watch Devon in action, take a look at Motown: The Musical‘s segment on the show on Saturday. Dev makes his appearance at 12:00.
As usual the Berry Babes have been performing with grace, hard work and beautiful smiles at in the Dearne Valley this weekend.
Our Inters not only danced a lovely Trolley Song and Hairspray in the troupe section but took home the first prize gong for their fabulous performance of Comin’ Home.
Well done to our younger pupils, particularly Hannah Braithwaite who earned a 2nd place for her Character dance, and Alycia Mayfield who took 1st place for her National. Our bendy wendies in the Gym section, Aliyah Xaba, Maisie Ganley & Megan Thorpe took 2nd, 3rd & 4th places respectively. Well done to Lilli Walker for winning her National section!
We were very strong in many Modern sections this weekend, with Eva Cadet and Bridey Bonnet taking gold and bronze in their category and Lucy Holcroft and Kayla Barnes doing the exact same in their age group. Sunday saw a clean sweep of medals in two Modern sections; Junior Modern had Megan Bridger in first place, with Abigail Bridger and Niamh Thompson tied for second place, Isabel Adshead in third and Libby Rogers in fourth, while F Modern saw Bree Quinton, Alexandra O’Brien, Rebecca Hanneman and Charlotte Stones grab 1st-4th respectively.
Our seniors also filled the podium for F Character with Rebecca in first place, Bree taking second and Alexandra receiving third place. The same goes for our ballerinas in E Ballet, as we saw Emily Gay, Liberty Shepherd and Eve Wainwright take gold, silver & bronze.
Keep on doing what you’re doing kids! See you on Friday for more comp action!
Good luck to all our pupils taking part in Goldthorpe Dance Festival over the coming weekends! The competitions begin tomorrow morning and span across this weekend and the next.
We would appreciate Grade 3 & 4 Theatre Craft pupils still attending class during this time.
The address of the theatre is below, and if you encounter any struggles, please don’t hesitate to contact us via Facebook.
Dearne Playhouse
Washington Road
Goldthorpe
Rotherham
South Yorkshire
Well, not one to be outdone, our very own Miss Alexandra O’Brien took today’s Miss Dance heat by storm! A huge congratulations to Alex on securing her place in Miss Dance of Great Britain2016.
Alex is through to Miss Dance 2016!
So, let’s count it up: Rebecca Hanneman, Bree Quinton, Bridie Thorpe & now Alex! We didn’t think it possible to top our excitement from last year when we had 3 of our pupils in this prestigious competition, but here we are: the Fantastic Four.
Rebecca, Bridie & Bree will be joining Alex in Blackpool
Miss Dance takes place in June at the Winter Gardens Theatre in Blackpool, and is a national competition hosted by the International Dance Teachers’ Association, whose syllabus we follow. After competing in heats across the country, 50 young dancers are brought together on this immense stage to perform in front of a whopping 3,500 people.
Get your sandwiches packed and your best cheering voices warmed up because this year’s Miss Dance is going to be pretty special! 4 down, 1 to go, can we make it the Famous Five? No pressure Charlotte!
Thanks to your continued support and the mammoth efforts of our fabulous Fundraising Committee we have been able to purchase these mirrors for class! Mirrors help dancers perfect their technique – a nice enhancement for our lessons!
As always, we were incredibly proud of our Berry Babes who danced in the International Dance Teachers Association’s Theatre Dance Awards at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester last weekend. To be nominated to dance in the scholarships is huge achievement in itself, and pupils who demonstrate excellence in their grade exams are invited to dance in this prestigious annual event.
Rebecca, Bree, Bridie, Alexandra, Jack, Charlotte & Eve
Our young dancers were nominated for the following grade exams:
Grade 4 Modern Jazz – Jack Skelton, Eve Wainwright
Grade 5 Tap – Jack Skelton
Grade 5 Theatre Craft – Eve Wainwright
Intermediate Tap – Rebecca Hanneman, Bree Quinton, Charlotte Stones & Bridie Thorpe
Advanced 1 Modern – Rebecca Hanneman, Alexandra O’Brien, Bree Quinton, Charlotte Stones & Bridie Thorpe
We were delighted to see our students perform as marvelously as ever with, of course, lots of support from their number 1 fans, Team Berry! Congratulations to all of our pupils who performed, particularly Rebecca Hanneman & Bridie Thorpe, who were awarded Special Commendations in the Tap Performers category.
Rebecca & Bridie with their Tap certificates
The highlight of our weekend (and quite probably the month, at least) was the Modern Jazz Performers category. You can imagine our delight when our very own Bree Quinton was announced as winner!! Cheers and screams all round from Team Berry. A massive well done to Bree and her teachers & family, particularly mum and former pupil Stacy – a hard-earned victory.
Bree and the very proud Miss Rebecca & Mrs Berry
Of a possible 6000 pupils across the IDTA network, 300 are nominated to dance in the scholarships. The standard is incredibly high, and our girls & boy lived up to that. Well done to all of you, not to mention your teachers for their hard work! Thanks to the mums, dads, nans, aunties, siblings, cousins, friends (etc.!) who continue to support the children and the school in every new exciting chapter.
We’re looking forward to getting back into the swing of things tomorrow, Monday 4th January, and would like to let you know that some class times have changed.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via Facebook (www.facebook.com/SBSOTD) or email at sharonberryschool@gmail.com
Please note that all private lessons are not running the first week back, and will begin week commencing 11th January.
Saturday Timetable – First Class Back 9th January 2016
10.00-10.30
Juveniles
Prep Theatre Craft
Primary Theatre Craft
10.30-11.00
Prep Tap
Primary Tap
11.00-11.30
Grade 1 Ballet
Prep Ballet
Primary Ballet
11.30-12.00
Grade 1 Modern
Prep Modern
Primary Modern
12.00-12.30
Stretch
12.30-1.15
Grade 1 Theatre Craft
Grade 2 Theatre Craft
Grade 3 Theatre Craft
1.15-1.30
Lunch
1.30-2.15
Grade 1 Tap
Grade 2 Tap
Grade 3 Tap
2.15-3.15
Grade 4 Theatre Craft
Intermediate Theatre Craft
Advanced 1 Modern
3.15-4.00
Intermediate Tap
Advanced 1 Tap
Monday Timetable – First Class Back 4th January 2016
Well, what a year 2015 has been – perhaps one of the best? While Christmas has been creeping up on us we’ve been getting into the mood with some fantastic events; special mention for the Christmas Fayre organised by our fabulous Fundraising Committee and not forgetting the fandabbydozy Christmas Concert! We were thrilled to sell out all the tickets and see so many friends and family there to support us, and well done to the pupils and staff for putting together a brilliant show.
In the spirit of the new year we’re reflecting on this one. So here goes, we hope you enjoy looking back. In 2015 we’ve been…
Raising the roof at Miss Dance 2015…
Three of our very talented cohort, Misses Rebecca Hanneman, Bree Quinton & Bridie Thorpe performed in the Final of Miss Dance 2015 held at the immense Winter Gardens Theatre in Blackpool.
Bursting with pride at Billy Elliot’s latest cast member…
This year our pupil Bradley Mayfield took on the role of Michael, Billy’s best friend, in the smash hit Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre in September. After an extremely successful 11 years on the West End, the show will close its doors in April 2016 – we’re very proud to say that the very first Billy was a Berry Boy and so is the last Michael!
Backing up Gary, Howard & Owen to 40,000 people…
In June Mrs Berry was given a very special mission: Get together an ensemble, a troupe if you like, of adults to perform on the stage with Take That during their 3 dates at Sheffield Arena. Like with most challenges, Mrs B tackled this one with aplomb, and the choreography was learned, the songs already tattooed into our brains, and the performances were smashed.
Strutting to Burlesque success…
Our former pupil, Miss Alice Wilson, alias Didi Derriere, stormed to victory in the national grand final of Miss Burlesque Idol 2015. Congratulations!
Getting engaged…
Congratulations to Miss Alicia and her new fiancé Dan on their engagement! We can’t wait for the wedding.
Waving off (temporarily we hope) a very talented young man…
One of our pupils, Frankie Beetlestone, had his talent recognised by the clever folks at Sylvia Young Theatre School; after a competitive entry process, Frankie was invited to carry out intensive musical theatre training alongside his studies at the school in London.
Frankie and Mrs Berry
Training the teachers of tomorrow…
Our class helpers undertook their first teaching qualification exams and passed with flying colours (Honours). Well done to Molly Barrrowclough, Megan Clixby, Elle Longden-Lyons, Charlotte Stones & Leah Tucci for achieving their Pre-Associate Theatre Craft Part 1.
Continuing to represent on the West End…
Former pupils and part-time teachers Matthew Croke and Devon McKenzie-Smith continue to divide their time between musicals in London and our pupils up here in Sheffield. Matt finished his second stint in Wicked as understudy for Fiyero and has gone on to join Sheridan Smith in Funny Girl at the Chocolate Menier Factory. Dev has been performing alongside Beverley Knight in Memphis, a brand new musical which took place at the Shaftsbury Theatre.
Enchanting audiences in a little place in France…
One of our biggest achievements this year was transporting a group of 36 very excited young dancers to Disneyland Paris in the summer to perform to park guests on the Videopolis stage. The children performed magically, the staff put together fantastic routines, and as per usual, the fans (mums, dads, nans, grandads, brothers, sisters and friends) were their usual, enthusiastic (if a little wild) and noisy selves. What a wonderful few days, we hope you treasure the memories as much as we do.
Sparkling in Blackpool (again)…
A little group of our pupils this year took part in Northern Star, a talent competition held in Blackpool incorporating the disciplines of dance, singing and musical theatre. Not only were we thrilled to see all our pupils put through to the final, we were incredibly proud to see Eleanor Jackson take runner-up!
Oh no you don’t-ing across South Yorkshire…
This year our pupils make up the Junior performers in three pantomimes in the area. At Rotherham Civic, going to the ball with Cinderella, are Abigail Bridger, Megan Bridger, Grace Mitchell, Leila Steer, Lilli Walker, Evie Wright & Laylah Xaba. Back in Sheffield at the Lyceum, Eva Cadet, Maddie Dunn, Maisie Ganley, Lucy Holcroft, Eleanor Jackson, Megan Moore, Megan Thorpe, Renée Warren and Aliyah Xaba are performing in Aladdin. Up the road at City Hall are Ewan Revill and Jack Skelton, also performing in Cinderella.
Competing at dance festivals around the region…
Whether at Goldthorpe, Cantley, Two Counties or Penistone Festival – we’re very proud of our pupils in the hard work they put in and the good sportsmanship showed throughout these competitive events. Particular mentions to Miss Isabelle Sykes, winner of Senior Bursary at Two Counties Festival.
‘Working’ overseas in places exotic and beautiful…
Miss Lois was missed this year as she took up her 9 month contract in the Costa del Sol working as part of the hotel entertainment team. Our former pupil Hollie Glossop was also the dance captain on a 6 month contract in Malta. Since then she has embarked upon the Marco Polo as part of the cruise ship’s entertainment, recently checking in from Portugal.
Channelling our inner Kate Moss…
Four of our pupils, Abigail Bridger, Maisie Ganley, Rebecca Hanneman and Jack Skelton were selected by to appear in Images Dance Costumes’ 2015 catalogue. Further to this, Jack, Rebecca, Bridie Thorpe and Conner Povey have been modelling for the 2016 catalogue, which is out now.
Dancing our socks off in Manchester…
At the International Dance Teachers Association’s Theatre Dance Awards, pupils who were specially selected during their grades exams danced in front of adjudicators and choreographers at the Dancehouse Theatre. Emily Gay, Liberty Shepherd and Eve Wainwright were beautiful in their Grade 5 Ballet section. Meanwhile, Rebecca Hanneman, Alexandra O’Brien, Bree Quinton, Charlotte Stones and Bridie Thorpe were fantastic in both Intermediate Modern Jazz and Intermediate Theatre Craft. We were especially thrilled when Rebecca, Bree and Bridie were awarded special commendations for their Theatre Craft, and Bree and Bridie also received the honour for their Modern Jazz performance.
Breaking records left right and centre…
Bridie Thorpe has smashed the record previously held by Rebecca Hanneman for IDTA grade exam results; our extremely talented young lady achieved her Advanced 1 Modern Jazz qualification with a stunning 96 marks.
Ramping up for a spectacular 2016…
Our pupil Jack Skelton has two nominations under his belt for Grade 4 Modern Jazz and Grade 5 Tap, while Rebecca Hanneman, Bree Quinton, Charlotte Stones and Bridie Thorpe were nominated for their performance in their Intermediate Tap exams. These four girls and Alexandra O’Brien were also nominated for their Advanced 1 Modern Jazz exam – so we’re looking forward to Scholarships next Spring.
Alexandra, Bree, Bridie, Charlotte & Rebecca are also working towards Miss Dance 2016. Bree, Bridie & Rebecca have won heats and already secured their places in the final next June, while it can only be a matter of time for Alex and Charlotte; we wish you all the best girls.
Well there you have it. Coming up in 2016, All Good Things, our bi-annual school production – stay tuned for more details. We wish an incredibly happy and prosperous new year from our family to yours.
Berry Academy of Dance 