 United by the challenge of inspired teaching and example, more than two hundred perfectly ordinary local children enthralled more than twelve hundred people over three days in the Whitehaven Civic Hall with their Gala of Dance. The performance of Step by Step dancers was a revelation of the power of our own children to achieve something wonderful when their concentration is fully alert and their spirit is attentive and radiant. The Gala gave every member  of the school, not least the Babes, some as young
as three, a chance to step out in a range of stunning costumes and mime
speech with wonderful expressiveness, in numbers like 'Miss Polly'
and 'Teddy Bears' Picnic'. Babes, Juniors, Inters and Seniors of
Cleator Moor, Egremont St Bees and Seascale express pride in their school
and their local community. Ballet dancers floated on points, Acros created
the Pride Lands of Africa with amazing bodily contortions, and time after time
troupes proved what exciting concepts could be communicated through modern
dance. One outstanding example was 'Connected', the number they had
performed a few days earlier at the American Association of Dance's special gala evening at the Opera
House, Blackpool. Robotic and perfectly synchronised movements expressed the
tendency of our technological society to create clones, but a passionate,
rebellious undercurrent in the dance asserted identity and personality. Miss Kayleigh's 'Happy Days', 1st Place Award Winner at Blackpool for
Junior New Entry, brilliantly expressed the contrast between the celebration
of school days as the happiest of their lives and the self assertion of
teenagers warning teachers that they "don't need no thought control".
The eyes and limbs of the 'Andalucia' troupe proved that you don't
actually have to be Spanish to express hot-blooded passion. 'Goody Goody'
spectacularly expressed the triumph of the female spirit in humbling the
male, arrogant in his confidence that his power will always prevail.It is hard to imagine what things must have been like backstage with hundreds of children making dozens of full costume changes between numbers. 'Step by Step' have provided an example of what children can do when they are inspired. After this, there can be no excuse for any presumption that we must expect young actors to be self conscious and inhibited about the way in which they use their bodies on stage. At the end of the performance, Step by Step Principal, Joanne Dougan, paid tribute to all the parents and volunteers who had underpinned the success of the school by their support and help with creating costumes, and to the audience who had given such encouragement to the dancers.
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