Thatcham and Newbury over-55 ballet dancers ‘honoured’ to perform to dance royalty Wayne Sleep
Ten local ballet dancers over the age of 55 had the honour of performing onstage in front of dance royalty Wayne Sleep last week.
On Friday, dance teacher Sonia Brown, a Trinity Laban graduate who specialises in Silver Swans ballet classes – a scheme by the Royal Academy of Dance promoting ballet for over 55s – accompanied her group of Thatcham & Newbury Silver Swans on Friday the Silver Swans Celebration at the Royal Academy of Dance headquarters in London.
Thatcham & Newbury Silver Swans were one of 12 groups selected from across the country to perform in the Silver Swans gala – one group came over from Germany.
Queen Camilla herself is a Silver Swan and has at various points in the media spoken about the health and wellbeing benefits ballet dancing has for the mature demographic.
“My classes take place in Thatcham, Newbury and Reading and since beginning nearly six years ago I have built a large community of older adults who love to dance, said Sonia, who runs ‘Dance with Sonia’.
“It was a truly special experience with the 10 dancers attending the HQ Thursday last week for a ballet class and tech rehearsal, and a couple participated in a filmed class with Royal Ballet alumnus Josh Tuifua.
“They then stayed overnight for the official big day on the Friday where various dance workshops took place, of which more of our dancers came up from Berkshire to participate in, before the Silver Swans performance itself.
“Our dancers performed a surprising song choice to break convention, Mondo Bongo by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, and this allowed them to swirl large skirts while bringing mature ballet dancing into the 21st century.
“It was a very exciting event as the Silver Swans ambassador Angela Rippon attended and my dancers were delighted to chat with her and get a photo.”
Then Wayne Sleep arrived…
“We chatted to him during the afternoon, before he watched the gala from the front row of the audience. My performing dancers said he smiled all the way through.
“What an honour for these dancers to perform to ballet royalty, especially when some of these dancers had never donned a pair of ballet shoes until they joined my classes.”
The event overall was uplifting and joyous, with a fabulous sense of camaraderie, a shared love of dance and an attitude of ‘we can do it too’.
“The Silver Swans slogan is ‘It’s never too late to shine’ and after catching up with my dancers this week in their regular lessons, they are still glowing from the whole experience.
“As a dance teacher I’m super proud to be an advocate of inclusive dance; you don’t need to be young, slim and agile.
“If you find joy in dancing then who is anyone to stop you.”
Visit https://www.withsoniabrown.com/ for information on Sonua’s adult classes.
