Presented by
Legs Dance Studio
The
Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 18th November 2017.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Around this
time of the year local dance studios present their annual showcases displaying
the work their students have prepared throughout the year. Canberra is fortunate
to have a number of very good dance schools, and among the best of these is Legs
Dance Studio which never fails to impress with its annual showcase.
This year,
Legs presented their showcase in the Playhouse theatre, because “Mamma Mia” is
ensconced in the Canberra Theatre but although the theatre may have been
smaller, the production was no less extravagant than previous years, with literally hundreds of young dancers, from
toddlers to seniors, participating enthusiastically in a succession of lavishly
costumed production numbers as bluebirds, mice, butterflies, bees, gnomes ,
pumpkins, gingerbread men, and of course, any number of princesses.
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| Legs dancers perform "What The World Needs Now" The opening number for "Cinderella and other Fractured Fairytales" |
The theme
this year was “Cinderella and other Fractured Fairy tales”. “Cinderella” took up most of the first half,
which commenced with a stunning opening sequence with the dancers costumed in
glittering show-girl costumes. With a
funny, tongue-in-cheek, voice-over narration to keep the audience on top of the
story details, Legs 2016 Dancer of the Year, Jessica Potter, was practically
perfect as Cinderella. Matilda Ellicott, Emma Gaynor and Heidi Birkby had the
audience in stitches being as nasty as possible as the wicked stepmother and
her two daughters, and John Truscott was a very handsome Prince Rupert. Ethan
Darrow however, almost stole the show with his expressive face and dancing as
the Kings enthusiastic adviser.
Snippets of “Alice
in Wonderland”, “Rapunzel”, “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Beauty and the Beast”, and even “The Adams
Family” and “Mamma Mia” were included in
the second part of the show, along with well-drilled, award-winning routines
which displayed the mastery of the
students in ballet, tap, acrobatics, jazz, hip hop, and cheerleading. The dad’s
got in on the act with their Super Heroes routine, and The Dream Team was
featured in a number called “Belly of the Whale”.
The
fast-moving presentation, with its excellent costuming, inventive choreography
and fastidious production values, was a miracle of stage management. The 50
separate items involving hundreds of dancers, and myriads of costumes and
props, followed each other in quick succession, seemingly without a hitch. The
result was a memorable, entertaining presentation which highlighted superbly
the quality of the school and its teaching staff.
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| Legs Dancers perform "What The World Need Now" in "Cinderella and other Fractured Fairytales" |
