A Review of Dance Beats Cancer by Maria A. Ero.
What’s happens when you bring together an eclectic mix, of professional, semi-professional, and aspiring performers, with diverse techniques and musical styles?
You end up with:
‘Dance Beats Cancer’ by Youth Cancer Trust
A night of dance, music and magic!
Thursday 6th October was the official launch night for YCT’s Dance Beats Cancer’s music video…
Backstage, a score of musical performers were waiting to take to the stage, practicing steps to routines, putting last minute touches to hair, costume and make up…
AND they did not disappoint.
Host Ashley Knight took to the stage to warm up the audience and introduce the acts.
Mad 4 Dance took to the stage first with their Street Dance mash up of b box, hip hop and break beat musical styles. Dance crews Passion, Rockit, Shokk Waves, and Shake, all followed suit with their musical mash ups too.
On a more classical note, dancers from local schools Rising Stars School of Dance, Stepping Out Academy of Performance and Dance For All, presented contemporary pieces edged with balletic, jazz and modern dance.
The all black ensemble of Stepping Out Academy was particularly visually striking. Dancers wore black high collared leotards with laced open front ballet skirts to allow them to glide and move through the music, which had a sombre contemporary feel, contrasting the fiery flamenco style costume appearance.
Soloists Jessica Emily Venn, Tyreece Carlos, Ellie Miley, Tia Wells, Jodie Walters, and Marissa Mc Callum all made their mark with their individual performances.
These ranged from a contemporary, balletic, almost gymnastic performance from young veteran performer Jessica Emily Venn, to urban upbeat poppin and lockin local boy Tyreece Carlos, and a beautiful, haunting performance by Marissa Mc Callum to a deep house club classic.
Performances were slick and the show was well oiled. Following two 15 minute intervals, the audience were rewarded with the cherry, on the icing, of the cake:
YCT DANCE BEATS CANCER video launch.
The end product was something quite moving…..LITERALLY.
YCT’s Dance Beats Cancer video takes us on a multimedia musical and visual journey, from isolation and loneliness in the dark colourless subway, to light colour vibrancy and fun, on the seafront, with a community of people: dancers all sharing their love and passion of dance: TOGETHER.
TOGETHERNESS is the undercurrent theme in this video. People can achieve great things TOGETHER. Including triumph over adversity and defeat all things. Dancers of contrasting styles, such as Bollywood, Freestylers, African Dance, as well as Contemporary, all took to the screen.
There are moments of real artistic beauty in the video, for example the painted image of the tap dancer on the pier, as it suddenly liquefies into the real life tap dancer, dancing on the pier. Subsequently, the tap dancer’s ‘spring to life’ leads to one of my favourite moments in the video: activation of the clock work dolls on the pier.
The illusionist card trick, adds a new depth to the video, relaying and reinforcing the themed YCT slogan message for the viewer: it’s also pure fun to watch. Everyone loves a card trick afterall!
HOPE is another theme running through this video, with powerful symbolism and imagery from the lady fire-eater. Standing high above the cliffs, overlooking the elements of land air and sea: is fire.
Fire is a symbol of light and hope. Such a beautiful and heart warming image for all to take back, as is the final cut / shot of the video – the contemporary dancer / contortionist performing a leg hold in an almost balletic grange battlement leg position.
Then HOLD to a still and gradual zoom out of the cliffs and mountains, with only the sound of running water……both haunting and soothing at the same time.
Moving pictures in this video take us on a journey from Bournemouth pier, to the clifftops, urban subway settings, local housing estates, the beach and much more.
As well as being a dance / YCT awareness video, it serves very well as tourist information: a slice of Bournemouth life.
Well done to Fraser Freeze and Co. YCT’s Dance Beats Cancer video has achieved so much more on a grander scale than maybe was originally anticipated.
Written by
Maria A. Ero.
mAria@MusicalMelody
Please view and share the final Dance Beats Cancer Video.