To judge from the local press you would not know
that we have one of the most successful dance troupes in the country serving
 the area
from Whitehaven to Millom. We have no excuses for having previously
overlooked the achievements of Step by Step School of Dance, founded
by Joanne Dougan in 1990, the same year that Egremont Today started.
On Sunday 20th May the School takes five dances to a special gala at Blackpool at the special invitation of Miss A. Scott, Head of American Association of Dancing. The Gala showcases award winning acts from the AAD Awards Day held in Blackpool in November. Blackpool rather than London is chosen as the venue for this event as it attracts leading troupes from the North of Scotland to the South of England, and Step by Step is regularly up among the best. Sarah Grears recalls the thrill of dancing with the Senior Group when they won this national competition with their spectacular ‘Jailhouse Rock,’ in 2004. The next year they won again with ‘Connected.’ This year, in face of competition from more than fifty groups, they won second and third places, while the babes won second place with ‘A Smile and a Ribbon.’ Sarah was one of Step by Step’s babes seventeen years ago when Joanne Dougan, herself only nineteen, opened her school to local children with the backing of the Prince’s Trust. Kayleigh Amor, another of the babes of 1990, is now a student teacher and with Joanne’s support won first place for Best New School award. Pride in achievement shone in the faces of dozens of the young dancers in St Leonard’s Church Hall in Cleator as they expressed in dynamic movement and posture an exciting range of moods, in modern, jazz, ballet, tap and acro, preparing for their own Gala in Whitehaven Civic Hall from Thursday to Sunday next week. Boys as well as girls take part, among them seven year old Christopher, who has been dancing since he was two, and twelve year old Ryan, who joined the troupe at the age of five. Phone Joanne, 01946 811183, for more information about Step by Step. Inset photo, the climax of the award winning dance, 'Goodie Goodie'. To read our review of the Step by Step Gala at Whitehaven Civic Hall click here |