World Cup Dancers from The Mount Help Team England to Global Victory!
Huge congratulations to Lilia (Year 12), Holly (Year 9) and Hope (Year 6) who were selected for Team England and recently performed at The Dance World Cup in Prague where they competed against teams from over 60 countries, against 9,500 competitors. Team England won!
This super talented trio qualified in the top four in the English National Heats in order to represent their country at the World Finals.
After qualifying in the top four teams nationally, as part of their dance school at Lisa Marie Performing Arts, they travelled to Prague in the last week of term for a week of competing in various dance genres with the most elite dancers from across the globe.
Also part of the team was future Year 12 pupil Isabelle, from Manor School, who joins College in September and we can’t wait to welcome her to school and our supportive dance community.
There are 14 girls across The Mount that train at Lisa Marie Performing Arts, a leading dance school in the region.
Lilia competed in five sections, Holly in six and Hope in one. The competition was fierce and Lilia and Holly, aged 16 and 13, competed against vocational Performing Arts Colleges in the over-18s Senior category.
Each section has up to 1000 dancers performing in up to 70 entries in category, therefore a top ten position is prized, with a Top 6 placing reserved for the most exceptional talent.
The results were outstanding:
Senior Large Group Jazz – 4th in the world
Junior Large Group Jazz – 6th in the world
Junior Large Group Show dance – 6th in the world
Junior Small Group Lyrical – 6th in the world
Senior Large Group Commercial – 11th in the world
Senior Large Group Show dance – 13th in the world
Overall, England were the Dance World Cup winners, coming first against Germany in second with Bulgaria placed third!
Principal, Mr David Griffiths, said: “Huge congratulations to world cup winners Lilia, Holly, Hope & Isabelle for securing this outstanding opportunity. We have such talented pupils at The Mount – where we see them in our own productions and showcases – but it’s wonderful to see them excelling outside of school too, and on a global stage, no less.”
Lilia said: “My favourite bit was being on stage for judging with Abbie Lee Miller from the famous ‘Dance Moms’ TV series who judged the Show Dance section with 800 other dancers in the section. The atmosphere was electric and to dance on such an enormous stage was an amazing opportunity and a memory to treasure.”
This was the first time Holly qualified for which we congratulate her, especially after she overcame challenging injuries along the way, showing admirable resilience and fortitude.
Holly said: “I’m incredibly grateful to have this opportunity and experience of representing Team England at The Dance World Cup. I’m extremely excited to pursue my dream of dancing on The World Cup stage.
This is the second time Lilia represents Team England at this esteemed global competition, after she came a tremendous fourth in Group Jazz last time. Lilia’s experience was the first time ever that a team from North Yorkshire qualified for Team England which paved for the way for this second opportunity.
This is also the first time in the competition for super excited Hope who joined Lilia and Holly for a small role in the Commercial section.
Holly’s no stranger to dance success across different disciplines, though very modest with it, ranked a fantastic second place at The Lyrical Prima Dance Championships. She also got Distinctions in all her Grade 4 and 5 tap, ballet and modern exams. Bravo!
Lilia and Hope are both Performing Arts scholars at The Mount with vast credits to their names. They are given time out and support from school to pursue diverse external opportunities. For example, Hope appears in Opera North’s A MidSummer Night’s Dream tour this Autumn. Break a leg!
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