Oh god! Just come online and saw this. Ive been too busy to come on and moan about stuff.ha!
We actually performed at Westminster yesterday in front of Home Secretary, Attorney General etc! The kids were brilliant and for some it was their first trip to London...so they were very excited! Anyway, thanks everybody..its all below if you have time to read. If anyone wants to see the next show December 7th, let me know.
peace
Date
01/09/09
Reference
TI/21/10/09/JA/DO
CAMBRIDGE DANCERS DAZZLE MINISTERS
GRAVITY-DEFYING Dance Offensive wowed government ministers with a surprise performance at the prestigious Justice Awards.
The Cambridge dance group's high-energy show at Westminster's Banqueting House yesterday (Tuesday October 20) was kept top secret until the last minute.
Guests at the Justice Awards included Attorney General Baroness Scotland, Home Secretary Alan Johnson and David Hanson, Minister for Policing and Security.
Dance Offensive were the surprise star act at the awards, hosted by Crimewatch UK presenter Matthew Amroliwala.
Eight young Cambridge performers, ranging in age from 13 to 21, gave a stunning performance, combining breakdancing with hip hop moves.
Afterwards artistic director Paul Sadot was invited on stage to talk about the work Dance Offensive does in engaging young people and preventing youth crime.
The company, whose members include referrals from the Cambridgeshire Youth Offending Service, engages with hundreds of young people each year and delivers 15 hours of free classes each week.
Paul formed Dance Offensive in 2006 with the aim of integrating at risk youth with mainstream members.
He said: "We promote, via dance, a sense of social and communal care and responsibility and this provides a positive focus for a lot of young people. "
The eight dancers performing at Westminster had rehearsed their Unify dance piece for the past couple of months, putting in lots of hard work to perfect it.
Jana Harmitt-Read, 16, woke up at 6.30am to make the train to London on Tuesday morning.
"I set three alarms just to wake up. My brother got annoyed with them going off."
She said she'd felt nervous but once the group started rehearsing, her adrenaline had kicked in and she couldn't wait to perform.
The crew's oldest performer Samriye A-dirie, 21, was up till 1.30am the night before the Justice Awards, practising his breakdancing technique.
Samriye first became interested in Capoeira, a form of Brazilian street dancing, at his secondary school in Manchester at the age of 14.
It was there that he met Paul, a Capoeira master.
The latter was so impressed by Samriye's skills that he decided to mentor him.
These days Samriye is Dance Offensive's breakdance teacher, inspiring other youngsters.
He said: "Over the past two years a lot of them have come up from beginners to advanced dancers. Hopefully they will become the next generation of great breakers."
Mr Sadot said it was a "privilege and an honour" to headline at the Justice Awards, a national ceremony recognising justice staff who've gone the extra mile.
Dance Offensive will perform at the Mumford Theatre in Cambridge on December 7.
The Pressure Drop 2 show will feature some of the country's top dance professionals, including extreme martial arts champion Chloe Bruce.
For more details see www.danceoffensive.co.uk.
ENDS