Another busy period in the Dance Department last term. Here are some of the highlights. Enjoy and please come and talk to us about future opportunities. Inter House Dance Competition In February 2014, we witnessed Lister's first Inter-House Dance Competition. The battle was on between the Houses with tough competition. Students had to create a House dance sequence using music provided by the Dance Department. House dances had to be a minimum of 1 minute

and 30 seconds and Houses could have as many students representing their House. Leading up to competition day students were rehearsing before school, break times, lunchtimes and after school and Dance Captains were feeling the pressure. Students took on their responsibility in a positive and mature way and the dances created on the day were

amazing. Each House brought to the competition their own fresh, creative interpretation which really touched the dance team and proved how much Dance talent is within Lister. Winners of the Inter-House Dance Competition were Shelley in First position and Hawking in second. This was a great event and I'm really looking forward to the next Dance Competition next Year.

Dancer of the year

2013/14

The following Year 11 GCSE

Dance candidates were

awarded as Dancers of the

Year. The winner, from

Hawking House needs no

introduction. The 2 Runners up

and the winner gained the

awards for their hard work and

dedication in class. The boys

also got their award for assisting

in teaching lunch time clubs. 'I

think the awards gave them

extra talent and passion as they

achieved remarkable grades in

their practical Dance exam' said Ms Coke

Year 7 Theatre School Dance

Workshop with Jummy

Year 7 Theatre School had a great street dance workshop

with Jummy from EV Arts. They learnt various dance styles from the Harlem shake to the shuffle or 'cutting shapes'. The students were taught a few set pieces and then had fun working in their own groups incorporating Jummy's actions and adding their own actions to create a routine. They were really good at 'stomping' which Jummy said came from the traditional Gum boot dance from the mines in South Africa.

The students were assessed on the work and you may see a few of the sequences being performed in the dance show.

Dance Highlights Term 2

“Dance Matters”

Pick Up the Pace

Revisited: FREE Boys

Dance Festival on

Saturday 22 February

2014

Louisa Pestell at Laban was

impressed by the talent and

maturity shown by year 9, 10

and 11 male Dance students.

Boys from Year 9 Specialist and

GCSE Dance groups attended

the annual ‘Blaze’ Day of dance

at the famous Laban Dance

conservatoire. Students took

part in various dance workshops

which included street dance,

contemporary, capoeira and

breaking. Students were also

invited to watch a show after

their hard work.

Rymel said that the day of

dance was inspiring and fun. He

also commended Jesse Jones

for showing good leadership

skills on the day. He said that

the best part of the day was the

show of course.

Ignite at St Angela’s

Ursuline secondary

school

Some of our year 9 students

were invited to St Angela’s for

their annual dance show Ignite

which showcased dances

created by years 7- A Level

students at dance clubs, in

class and exam pieces. Lianca

said that she enjoyed the show

and that it that it was good to

see work from GCSE Dance

through to A Level.

Dance with Haseeb Hearn Some of the year 9 boys were treated to a B-Boy workshop with one of Lister's finest ex dance students, Haseeb Hearn.

Haseeb is a member of Raincrew. He left Lister in 2010 and after achieving an A* in Dance has continued to dance. His style is free style and B-Boy including breaking. Haseeb recently came back from both Egypt and Thailand where he was doing research on the B-Boy scene for the British Arts Council.

The Year 9 boys managed to learn the skills incredibly well in the short 2 lesson workshop. They learned the top rock, flares and six step amongst other things. Haseeb drew the line at teaching the boys somersaults and 'suicides'. Ms Coke attempted to join in but only lasted as far as the warm up, she said that ' the workshop was far too difficult.'

We all gasped when Haseeb span on his head! Zain Talat said that the workshop was 'awesome" and Matthew

Adenekan said 'It was very entertaining'. Joel thought it was good to learn new things and Rytis said that he learnt that 'you mustn't give up'.

We hope to have Haseeb back to do more workshops. Haseeb and his crew may perform at the annual Dance Show on 18th June, but before then he is off to Holland and Slovakia to compete in International Breaking competitions.

Border Tales at the

Place Theatre

All GCSE dance students in

year 10 and 11 and two year 8

boys went to see Border Tales

at the Place (the London

School of Contemporary

Dance) in Euston recently.

Border Tales explored issues

ethnic people sometimes face

in the UK. Be honest, how do

you really feel about other

people who are not the same

race as you? What judgments

lay beneath the smile? Could a

simple hello, make a

difference?

Personally I am proud of the

fact that London is one of the

most multicultural cities in the

world. It was refreshing to

watch something so honest and

different on stage. All of us,

teachers included and the

audience were left to question

personal opinions on racism. It

was cool that race issues were

played out through dance in a

way that everyone could relate

to.

Stories of twelve dancers from

different cultures were played

out right before our eyes.

Dance movements were

amazing energetic and possibly

the best I have seen!! They

had lots of solos combined with

exciting contact work where

they had to really trust each

other. Actions were continuous,

almost never-ending and nerve

wrecking. You didn’t know if the

dancer would be caught when

they were thrown in the air. It

was amazing; I got lots of ideas

for my GCSE choreography

pieces.

Protein Dance Company is

definitely a company that I think

everyone could relate to as

there were people of all ethnic

groups. They also take risks to

produce unusual actions. What

I truly like about them is their

raw emotional and ability to

draw the audience in. Border

Tales wasn't only dance, it

included acting and live

musicians as well. The main

musician was phenomenal, he

could play percussion

instruments, guitar, pan pipes

and used his voice. He was

from Columbia and was very

amusing. The performers

included the audience into the

performance by talking to us,

asking us questions, making a

lot of eye contact and making

the audience laugh. I liked the

way the dancers looked like

they were enjoying themselves.

They worked so hard that one

dancer ended up bleeding as

he cut his foot, but continued to

dance. We were sat in ‘the

round’ so you could see all the

small details.

This was the first performance I

have seen that combined all the

performing arts in an original

way. I LOVED it. Everyone

should watch Border tales.

Joseph Toonga and Ricardo

DaSilva ex-Lister students who

studied at the Place were in the

audience too. I would like to

thank them for looking after us

and inspiring us. Having them

there made it feel as if the

Place is our home too.

By Maya Amina

Bollywood in the studio

Veena our Bhangra/Bolywood

teacher came in to show year 8

and 9 girls some work that has

recently ended up in a

Bollywood movie. How cool is

that? On top of that girls got

the opportunity to learn the

dance. Fouzia, said, ‘I loved it,

it was so much fun, can we do

it every term, please’. Bhangra/

Bollywood is on every Friday

lunchtime in the Dance Studio.

connectingvibes* (City and

Islington College aka candi)

‘Trading Places’

DANCE COLLEGES COMING

TO LISTER!!!

Last half term we had LESOCO

(Lewisham College). This term

we had City and Islington

College’s resident dance

company connectingvibes* who

came in to perform 4 pieces

from their current tour. Their

set included ‘Jump Up’, a piece

they toured the Caribbean with.

Jump up is roughly 4 years old

and also performed by

connectingvibes* USA, their

sister company.

Dancers from the company are

all in their final year of their

dance course. We were lucky

to also have been given a free

workshop where dancers

taught African, Afro-Caribbean

and contemporary dance styles.

Years 8, 9 and 10 enjoyed their

day with connectingvibes*.

Some year 11s were also able

to meet the leader of the dance

course at the college and

network. Three Year 11 dance

GCSE students are heading to

Candi.

Let’s Shine Project with

Just Us Dance Showcase

at NewVic

It was a sad evening for ex-

Lister student Joseph Toonga

as Let’s Shine Project came to

an end with. NewVic were kind

enough to lend the company

their stage. Pieces from the

project have been performed at

the Place, Greenwich, Leeds

and soon Paris. Ms Coke and

Ms Lungu were incredibly proud

and touched to witness old and

new Lister sharing a stage.

Lister students were amazing

you could not tell that they

were sharing a stage with

dancers currently in their final

year at the Place completing

their degrees. Their technique

and performance skills have

come a long way since the first

performance. The good news

is that Joseph will continue to

mentor Lister students and has

vowed to give even more back

to the school that first inspired

him to Dance.

Dance Inter House Year

7/8s Girls.

Competition was fierce amongst

the girls. The brief was to

create a sequence within 16

footsteps of House dance

actions. Congratulations to Da

Vinci who won by miles in both

year groups and King who

came second. Ms Colquhoun

was very proud of her girls; she

came in before the competition

to wish them luck and tell them

that if they lost they would

have a detention that day. No

pressure then. Thank you to Ms

Hylton from UEL who came in

to teach us some house

actions.

NewVic Fashion Show and

Newham Carnival 2014

Once again NewVic invited the

Specialist Year 9 Dance to

attend their annual fashion

show which featured ex Lister

students who were also

dancing to open and close the

show. Year 9s were

commended for their behaviour

which impressed Rachel

Bradbear so much so that at

the end of the show she offered

them a place in the Newham

Carnival on Saturday 12th July

2014. Students will work with

an artist to create costumes

and dance teachers to create a

samba style dance, which will

feature in the carnival. Watch

this space for more information.

Eddie Playfair NewVic Principal

Boys Dance Day 2014

My name is Muhammed Bah,

last half term I took part in a

boys dance workshop for the

day with other students in

Years 8, 9 and 10. The dance

day was an opportunity for

students to experience dance

styles taught by external dance

professionals. We experienced

Contemporary, Capoeira, Street

and Break dancing. The main

part of the workshop focused

on break-dance with David

from Breakout Crew. We were

taught some of the basics such

as the top rock and bottom

rock. Once we mastered the

basics, we moved on to freezes

and slides, the freeze we learnt

is called the baby freeze, which

some students got straight

away and others took slightly

longer. At the end of the

workshop we were split into

two groups and battled. It was

exciting watching younger

student battling, which

showcased their fresh and

experimental talent.

Royal Ballet School and

Royal Opera House

The 2 GCSE dance groups and

invited year 9 students went to

the Royal Ballet School in

Covent Garden as part of their

controlled assessment. We had

a tour of the school which

included seeing the various

studios, common room, A’ level

art work and the historical

foyers. We were taken across

the ‘bridge of inspiration’ which

is high above the buildings and

links the Royal Ballet School

with the Royal Opera House on

Floral Street. This is used to

make it easier for any students

studying at the school to run

between both buildings if they

are performing in a production

at the Royal Opera House.

Once a student from the

school is accepted to the Royal

Ballet Company they take the

incredible step from one

building to another.

We saw a demonstration of a

ballet class from the barre, to

centre work, travelling,

enchainment (short sequences

of steps) and then pas de deux

work. Pas de deux means

dance for 2 (a boy and a girl)

where the male dancer lifts and

supports the female. The

students we watched were

from the first, second and third

year. Then we had the

opportunity to ask the students

questions about their life in the

school and what they have

learned so far. Many of the

students were from other

countries, so as well as

studying ballet they were

learning English and getting

used to living far away from

their families.

“This trip was truly

inspirational and has made

me want to learn ballet.”

BLAZE 2014

On Tuesday 4th March a select group of boys from years 7-11 had the great opportunity to watch a performance called Blaze at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn. The performance was an adrenalin, fuelled dance performance which showcased

a variety of street dance styles fused on the big stage. The dancing was explosive and the music was fresh and exclusive. What complimented the performance was the amazing set design and lighting effects. This International dance company sensation Blaze, blew our students away. The performance was hugely entertaining and inspired most of the students because for some was their first experience watching dance at this level. What was really positive on the trip was witnessing a mixture of boys from different Year groups

have a discussion about dance and how they were going to practice their dance skills and questioning each other what moves could they do from the performance. This was a spectacular performance and an enjoyable trip.

Resolution 2014 at the Place

In February many Lister teachers

past and present went to support

our ex-students’ performance and choreography as the closing act of

Resolution 2014 at the Place. Resolution is a performance

platform for emerging

choreographers. Just Us Dance Company lead by

Joseph Toonga and Ricardo Da

Silva choreographed a piece for

three women entitled 'I Am Woman'.

This is a testimony to the role of women in society. Their piece

closed the night and the whole

event which runs for a month.

It was a very emotional night as

staff that taught the boys / young men since they were 11 turned up

to support them. Of course this included Ms Coke, Ms Lungu and

Mr Gordon but other supporters in

the audience were Mr Foley, Ms Brown, Ms Bourne (who used to be

their Head of Year) and Ms Rama, as well as teachers from our Dance

partnership institutions - NewVic, Lewisham College (LESOCO) and

Lincoln University. It was an

amazing night. The boys or shall we say men continue to make their

mark.

Cheer and Dance Spring Showcase

On Friday 21st March our Street Dance Teams and Cheer leading

teams again did Lister proud at the Cheer and Dance Showcase at the

ExCel Centre. This Showcase was the biggest to date, with 22 East

London teams and 400 athletes

competing. With Sir Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham in

attendance, all the teams wanted to perform to their absolute best.

The performances by each team

were of a very high standard.

In addition to the Mayor of

Newham, there were additional

VIPs in attendance at the Spring Showcase. There were two Team

USA athletes that demonstrated some top level Cheerleading stunts

and tumbling giving an inspiring and thrilling performance for all.

"It's so great to be invited to such

a fantastic event. It is always good for young athletes to see the

more difficult skills.....

Cheerleading has taken me all over the world and given me some

fantastic opportunities" Kali Seitzer, Team USA Athlete / World

Champion.

Cheer Results:

Silver Award for mainstream team. The new Year 9 team, who only

had 3 lessons

Gold Award for the Inclusion Team. Gold again for this hard

working team. Yay!!!

Street Dance Results:

Gold Award for Lister Girls Street

Dance Crew

Gold Award and Grand Champions for the Inclusion Team

Our Teams were once again

commended for their excellent performance audience skills.

“Showcase is always a fantastic

event, and the young people get so much out of competing against

their peers and watching and appreciating others work,” said

Sammie Bromley, Grange Jaguars

Coach.

The teams and Dance Department

would like to thank the teachers and support staff for giving up

their time in the clubs and also at

the event. The Dance Department would also like to thank the

following coaches Gareth for Inclusion cheerleading, Sammy for

mainstream cheerleading, Tolu for

Inclusion Street Dance and Jade for Mainstream girls Street Dance.

Introducing our Undergraduate Placement Teacher

My name is Sashane Hylton, I have just finished studying for a BA (Hons) in Urban Dance practice at East London University. I first came to Lister in November to complete one of my modules, 'Dance in the community', with other

students where we taught the year 9 Dance Specialist group different urban dance styles. Then I decided to come back for my 90 day work placement. The majority of my time was spent leading warm ups and supporting the GCSE groups to make progress. Reflecting on my teaching experiences here, I appreciate the immeasurable impact that the Dance teachers make on the lives of the young people at Lister Community School. I also realise that the skills and knowledge acquired in the classrooms, will be used by young people throughout their lives. Therefore, as an aspiring teacher, I hope to be a role model that cultivates and opens

young people's minds and gives them the knowledge and ability to look at the world critically, and make positive contributions to society. With this goal in mind working in the Dance Department has given me the knowledge and opportunity to visualise where I want to go with my future career as a dance teacher. I would like to thank the Dance Department for giving me the opportunity to work with the GCSE students and making me feel a part of the team. Good luck for the students with all their GCSE exams and for the annual dance show.

DANCE CLUBS TIMETABLE

DAY CLUB WHEN WHERE

TUESDAY PRACTICE YEARS 7 & 8 DANCE FUSION YEARS 7 & 8 REHEARSAL (BY ARRANGEMENT)

7.50-8.20AM LUNCHTIME 3.15-4PM

DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO

WEDNESDAY GCSE DANCE YEARS 10 DANCE FUSION YEARS 8 – 10 REHEARSAL YEAR 10

7.50-8.20AM LUNCHTIME 3.15-4PM

DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO

THURSDAY DANCE PRACTICE YEAR 9 BOYS DANCE – ALL YEARS LISTER STREET CREW

7.50-8.20AM LUNCHTIME 3.15-4PM

DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO

FRIDAY BHANGRA/BOLLYWOOD REHEARSAL (BY ARRANGEMENT)

LUNCHTIME 3-4PM

DANCE STUDIO DANCE STUDIO

FORTHCOMING DANCE EVENTS

The Dance Show 18th June, 5.30 pm

Performing Arts Festival for students and staff, visit the Dance Team for information or speak to Senior

Dance captains Aurelija and Sherrian in King house

Trips to Pineapple Dance Studio

Partnership programme with the Royal Ballet School

The Lister Community Fair on Saturday 5th July

The Newham Carnival on Saturday 12th July

Trips to see:

o Flash Mob

o Brasil Brasilero

A range of Performing Arts events as part of the Performing Arts Festival 18th June – 5th July. Watch this

space!