The long awaited LIVE SHOW 23 Was held at Pontefract Town Hall in March.

There were 6 performances including a matinee. The Live Show was a huge success with full houses for all performances.

As usual there were lots of different styles of dance, including musical theatre, jazz, street/contemporary, ballet, tap, gymnastics & cheerleading. Comedy has always played a big part in our shows and this year the CHAR ladies didn't  disappoint with their hilarious antics, as did the tiny tots with some of theirs.

I will be uploading plenty of show photos very shortly.

Katherine Leydon Smith.

AUTUMN 2023

We are now busy practicing for our forthcoming IDTA examinations in November.

Gemma has decided to restart her Cheerleading class on Monday 7th June.

The class starts at 5pm and lasts 45 minutes. 

Children must be 4 years and over to join the class

It was such a relief to squeeze in our examination session before the second lockdown.

The exams were originally booked for March 2020 but had to be postponed because the virus.

The session which was held on Friday 16th October was a great success and produced some excellent results.

Unfortunately I've had to cancel our next LIVE SHOW which was booked for March 2021. Hopefully it will be re scheduled for March 2022.

Stay safe everyone xxx

    USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDS RETURNING TO DANCE CLASSES

As most of you know we will be reopening the school on Monday 7th September.

Taking guidance from the International Dance Teachers Association the following measures have been put into place to make the teaching environment as safe as possible for students and staff.

When you enter the building you will see a temperature scanner on the right hand side. All pupils and parents must use the scanner before continuing into the building. In line with the squash club rules and our own concern for the students welfare, anyone with a temperature will not be permitted to enter the club or take part in their lessons that day.

Please use the hand sanitiser on the wall next to the scanner. There are three more hand sanitisers in the building; one in the function room, one on the wall next to the bar and the third one is in the corridor between studio 1&2.

Please follow the floor signs and if you are staying inside the building during your child's lesson, please stick to the social distancing rules.

All our rooms are regularly sanitised with a Fogging Machine ( this disinfects and sanitises large areas ) All equipment and ballet barres will be cleaned after every class.

If children require water during lessons you will need to provide them with a filled water bottle because the club no longer have water containers.

Can you make sure your child goes to the toilet before leaving home.

Parents won't be allowed to enter the dance studios so can you please bring your child dressed ready for class, preferably in their tap shoes and only holding their ballet shoes and water bottle. No bags ( for now ) Make sure all shoes and dance wear have their name written inside.

Classrooms this term.

MY Saturday classes will be held in the Function Room. Please enter using the first door on your left and exit via the door next to the stairs.

MELISSA'S class will be in Studio 1. JUNIOR & SENIOR MUSICAL THEATRE ( Beth ) will also be in Studio 1. Please enter using the door behind the bar and exit via the door down the stairs and past the gym.

LYNSEY & JOANNE'S will be in studio 2 this term ( there's only one entrance and exit which is behind the bar )

GEMMA'S classes will be held in the classroom above the Badminton Hall. Pupils will be scanned with a portable temperature machine. The hand sanitiser is in the entrance hall.

We will ensure social distancing is in place during lessons.

From September onwards all classes will be £5 per hour. The fees will still be paid termly and divided into three terms as usual ( except Musical Theatre )

0ne hour class £68.50

One and a half hour class £94.50

One and three quarter hour class £110.75

To reduce cash handling we request that all fees be paid directly into this account : sort code 543064 account number 42559812.

If you have any queries please contact me.

The rescheduled exams are on Friday 16th October. The revised timetable will be announced as soon as possible.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Kath xxxxxx

NEW CONTEMPORARY JAZZ SYLABUS. 

There will be a new Contemporary Jazz class for beginners on Saturday mornings at 10.am. Date TBA.

I had to cancel our examinations on March 26th & 27th because of the Corona Virus. The exams will be rescheduled when the school reopens.

We are busy rehearsing for our Cabaret Evening at Carleton Grange Community Centre. The performances are on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th & Saturday 8th February.

The tickets which include a Pie & Peas supper cost £15 and can be purchased  from Katherine Smith on 07789065890.

The Cabaret was a huge success. All three shows were a sellout but it was such a shame to have to turn people away.

The Cabaret opened with a medley of songs and dances from the extreemely popular The Greatest Showman. Some old favourites  were resurrected such as the hilarious Char Ladies and the Can Can.

All the medleys including songs from Mamma Mia ( Here We Go Again)  We Will Rock You, Chicago, Buddy, Footloose &  Les Miserable were accompanied by live singers.

The dance to Billie Eilish's song Bad Guy proved to be one of the most popular dances in the show. The adult jazz class performed an energetic dance to a medley of George Ezra songs. There were also four fantastic tap numbers to Bombaleo, Bye Bye Blackbird,  A friend like me & The other side ( Greatest Showman )

Not forgetting a very funky dance to  Just Got paid, some beautifully sung  solos and duets performed by Kevin Higgins, Darren Wakefield( also our very competent MC) Josephine Gowing, Beth Rowett, Rachel Dedicoat, Jamiella Bruzulier & Jess Sweeting.

The Pie and Pea supper provided by Carleton Grange was delicious as usual.

A big thank you to everyone taking part.

I hope you enjoy browsing through some of our dress rehearsal photos.

CABARET 2020. DRESS REHEARSAL PHOTOS 

LIVE SHOW 2018

The eagerly awaited Live Show 2018 was held at Pontefract Town Hall in March. The six performances which included a matinee commenced on Tuesday 18th until Saturday 22nd.

Live show as usual was a colourful and energetic show with  many dance genres, including ballet, tap, jazz, street, musical theatre and contemporary.

The show was largely musical theatre based with extracts from musicals such as Beautiful, Anything Goes, West Side Story, Blues Brothers, School of Rock and Moana.

The younger students performed some cool ballet/dico moves to the Trolls soundtrack. 

Witches v Wizards was the title of our senior girls ballet which was performed to the brilliant Harry Potter soundtrack.

A big thank you to everyone taking part.

All proceeds were donated to local charities.

I hope you enjoy browsing through our dress rehearsal photos

I hope you enjoy browsing through some of our dress rehearsal photos.

After five months of energetic rehearsals our CABARET evening was held at Carleton Grange on 2nd,3rd & 4th February. 

The show which was a complete sellout was extremely colourful and entertaining. As well as different dance genres our cabaret included lots of singing and comedy.The audience were all treated to a pie & pea supper during the interval.

There was a total of eighty cast members this year ranging from 11 to 66 years.

Back to reality, our younger students are now working very hard for their forthcoming examinations on Friday 31st March.

Good luck to everyone involved.

2016

After a great deal of hard work all our students who took exams in April and  July were rewarded with some excellent results.

Our presentation/Disco will be held at the Squash Club on Saturday 24th September at 4.pm-6.pm.

Rehearsals for the February 2017 CABARET will commence on Monday 5th September.

EUROPEAN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

The championships are being held at Pontefract Squash Club from Tuesday 13th September until Saturday 17th September.

Our senior students and adult dancers will be providing 30 minutes entertainment at the opening ceremony.

After our LIVE SHOW 2015 everyone buckled down to some hard work in preparation for examinations in December. We had some excellent results so congratulations to all our students who took part.

We had a presentation night and a crazy disco on 27th February ( DJ Dave )After the presentation the senior Musical Theatre class performed a lively mash up of songs from "Oliver"

Our students are now working hard for their forthcoming exams in April, June & July.

In September our senior dancers, adults, singers & the Musical Theatre class will start rehearsing for a cabaret which will be held at Carleton Grange in February. 

Commencing on Tuesday 10th March an excited cast of 180 dancers and singers enthusiastically performed six shows at Pontefract Town Hall. The shows were performed over five days and all proceeds will go to local charities.

Lively dance routines, a sprinkling of comedy, beautiful singing and colourful costumes all contributed to the success of our happy show.

The show which included ballet, tap, jazz, street and cheerleading opened with a spectacular medley of song and dance routines from Top Hat. The younger students  danced and sang their hearts out  to music from Matilda and Frozen.

The cast also performed medleys from Oklahoma/Carousel, Baggy Trousers, Sweet Charity,  Dreamboats n Petticoats and many more. Back to the Eighties was the theme for  our colourful finale.

A big thank you to everyone  involved in making Live Show a huge success.

.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY BROWSING THROUGH OUR DRESS REHEARSAL PHOTOS.

EXAMINATIONS

Once again our students ranging from Primary Tap to Intermediate Ballet were successful in passing their end of year examinations which took place on 10th and 13th July. We had some excellent results so well done everone for working so hard.

WORLD WAR 1&2 CONCERT

Also in July we started rehearsals for a singalong/ concert which was held at Carleton Grange on August 2nd. We only managed a couple of rehearsals but we mainly rearanged numbers we've used before.

The show was a roaring success because the audience was made up of 75% pensioners from the Carleton Grange Sequence Dance Club. They loved all the sing along medleys and joined in with gusto !!!

To recreate the atmosphere of the world wars, we trimmed the club up with Union Jack flags, bunting and  sand bags.

Only twelve of our pupils were involved because of  school holidays but luckily there were several talented singers amongst them who sang favourets such as We'll Meet Again, White Cliffs of Dover and A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square.

Six of our adult students provided the comedy along with Roy the Grange manager and Jane, one of his barmaids.

Darren Wakefield did a sterling job as Master of Ceremonies !!!

The next big event to take place will be LIVE SHOW 2015. Can't wait to start rehearsals in September !!!!

We've had  hectic few months, starting with our very first Christmas Cabaret at the Carleton Grange in December.

The Cabaret was a great succcess and was sold out as usual. There was something for everyone, including ballet, tap, hip hop, comedy and extracts from Christmas musicals including Polar Express and Scrooge.

As well as our beautiful dancers we were also entertained by our resident singers and the brilliant MC Darren Wakefield.

The Cabaret was also tinged with sadness because a group of our senior dancers who joined the school as 3 year olds will be off to university in September, so it was their last show. 

Examinations

We've also had two examination sessions this term, one in February and a session last Saturday 5th April. We had a 100% pass rate with some excellent results in February but are still waiting for our April reports. ( Fingers crossed )

Our next examination sessions will be in July, I will keep you posted on dates and times.

Presentation Disco

Our younger pupils had a blast at the Presentation Disco in February. Dj Dave was as mad and entertaining as ever. 

It was a great fun afternoon for pupils and parents. 

There will be another Presentation/Disco before the summer break.

CHRISTMAS CABARET 2013

Our very first Christmas Cabaret will take place at the Carleton Grange on  5th, 6th & 7th December.

The ticket price is £10 and includes a pie and pea supper.

Our senior students and adults will be performing all your favourite Christmas songs.

For tickets please ring Katherine Smith on 07789065890.

SPRING & SUMMER EXAM RESULTS 2013

Yet again our pupils achieved 100% pass rate in our March & July exam sessions. Pupils took exams in Ballet, Tap, Musical Theatre, Modern Jazz and Cheerleading. The majority of our pupils passed with Honours or Highly Commended. Congratulations to all our students.

Our next examination session is Sunday 9th February 2014.

SUMMER 2011 EXAM RESULTS

Congratulations to all pupils who participated in our Summer 2011 exam session - once again pupils from the Leydon-Smith School of Dance achieved excellent results and the school as a whole had a 100% pass rate.  The results are available on the Dance School noticeboard.