Thurrock pupils perform at Royal Albert Hall

4:54pm Wednesday 18th June 2008

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PUPILS from two Thurrock schools performed in front of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday night.

Gable Hall in Stanford-le-Hope and The Gateway Academy in Tilbury are two of the twelve schools which have been working with the Royal Albert Hall Education team, English National Ballet, and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, on the dance project Summertime.

The schools were approached 18 months ago and have been rehearsing hard ever since to come up with a routine that will complement English National Ballet's performance of Strictly Gershwin.

The aim of the project was to give dance a high profile within schools and the curriculum.

The show consisted of a group of pupils from each school performing a routine to one of the American composer George Gershwin's songs.

Each routine was done in a different style of dance such as Salsa, Street Dance, Lindy Hop and Bollywood.

Gable Hall danced to It Ain't Necessarily So' in the style of Capoeria, which originated from Afro-Brazilian culture as a form of martial art.

The Gateway Academy danced to the same song but in the style of the Argentine Tango, a South American dance of close embrace with one partner leading the other.

Their performances were watched by Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay and his wife Ruth.

He said: 'It has been a great privilege during my time as Thurrock's MP to be able to join school students in their activities and this event gave me enormous pleasure.

"The students and staff of both schools are entitled to be very proud of their achievement and of being able to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, one of the nation's greatest cultural venues.

"This augurs so well for the Gateway Academy as it takes possession of its new premises.

"I am very pleased to see the wonderful opportunities being opened up to develop the untapped talent in Thurrock."

Thurrock Mayor Councillor John Everett was also in the audience, he said: "I was very impressed indeed, I'm sure any child who performed will carry that memory with them for the rest of their life."