A DANCE squad from a Coventry primary school is set to compete with the best in the country after wowing the judges at a competition in Birmingham.
The squad, from St John Fisher Catholic Primary School – part of the Romero Catholic Academy – came in the top three of all schools competing in the West Midlands heat of the ‘Great Big Dance Off’, a national school dance competition.
The troupe of 30 pupils performed a dance at the Alexandra Theatre themed around mental health, and its creativity, execution and difficulty impressed the judges enough for the squad to finish third out of 16 teams.
They will go onto the grand final at the New Theatre in Oxford in June, where they will be up against all the other schools which finished in the top three of their regions.
Fellow Romero Academy school Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School also competed in Birmingham with an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed dance, but finished just outside of the top three.
Sophie Edge, PE lead at Sacred Heart, helped choreograph both dances alongside her sister Annie Pelchat, herself a teacher at St John Fisher.
She said: “It was an absolutely fantastic day, and both squads danced their hearts out. They did incredibly well, and we’re especially proud of St John Fisher’s squad for making the top three and qualifying for the grand final.
“Considering most of the pupils in both squads have not had any background in dancing, for them to have done as well as they have is an outstanding achievement.
“Giving our pupils an outlet to express themselves is so important, and dance is just one of the ways we do that.”
