Tag: Charity

Dancing for Comic Relief!

Comic Relief

March 2013 has seen £75,107,851 raised through the 25th Red Nose Day to help transform lives in the UK and Africa.

Dancing and fundraising have lent themselves to one another vastly in the past, and 2013 has been no different. Already this year stars have been dusting off their dance shoes in order to raise lots of money for charity, including Ann Widdcombe and Russell Grant in a Strictly Come Dancing special for Children In Need, and Coronation Street actor Anthony Cotton and his performance of Anything Goes for Let’s Dance for Comic Relief. This is without counting the many non-official dance-athons and sponsored swing dances, for example, undertaken by the general public, contributing vastly to this cause.

To help raise money for Comic Relief, slapstick comedy genius Miranda Hart has completed five challenges in five cities in what was aptly named ‘Miranda’s Mad March’. Of particular interest for dance fans everywhere, Miranda completed a Strictly Come Dancing evening in the Manchester Town Hall with Strictly professional Pasha Koyalev, with the daunting task of dancing a Latin American routine to the iconic dance track I’ve Had the Time of My Life. Organising and performing at this special Strictly event from the all-time favourite dance film, Dirty Dancing!

Of course a dance performance without a few worries would be unheard of, so Miranda’s knee injury cropping up before her challenges had even started meant that she worked extra hard to complete the Dirty Dancing challenge and even attempt the iconic lift! With Pasha a worthy contender for the legendary Patrick Swayze, Miranda also created magic with her co-star Sarah on the dance floor, and they could even be contenders for the next series of Strictly Come Dancing!

The 42nd Street Gala

42nd Street

100 of the best UK tappers – including So You Think You Can Dance winner Matt Flint – joined forces for a spectacular Gala performance in aid of the Caron Keating Foundation. The Caron Keating Foundation is a fund raising charity set up by Gloria Hunniford and her sons Paul and Michael in order to aid many cancer charities across the UK. The charity gala performance of the Broadway musical 42nd Street was held at the London Palladium on 17 March in aid of the Foundation. 

250 people both on and off stage gave up their time and services for free in order to generously to produce an uplifting and exciting evening. 100 dancers donning their tap shoes and tights, including part of the original 42nd Street production in Drury Lane in the 1980’s, gave some exciting performances which brought many standing ovations.

Also on stage were many well known names which included Brian Conley, Gary Wilmot, Summer Strallen, Gok Wan, Russell Grant, Gabby Roslin, Angela Rippon, Wayne Sleep, Louis Spence, Arlene Philips, Vanessa Feltz and many more, much to the delight of the audience. More bedazzling talent also appeared in the form of So You Think You Can Dance winner Matt Flint, a former pupil of Laine Theatre Arts, who choreographed several numbers for the show.

Next for the Caron Keating Foundation is the Night of 1000 Stars which is to be held at the Royal Albert Hall in May. This will be to celebrate Harold Prince, who some may argue is the King of Broadway, and his multi award-winning shows. Songs from West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, A Little Night Music, Sweeny Todd, Cabaret, She Loves Me and stars from both sides of the Atlantic will be included.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Dance Again Foundation

The Dance Again Foundation2012 saw the launch of the Dance Again Foundation, a charity which was created specifically to provide support and advice for professional dancers to help them return to the stage post-injury. Through its work, the Foundation aims to help each dancer manage each injury they have, and even prevent minor injuries develop into major ones through early intervention and enhanced rehabilitation. The injury does not have to have a dance-related cause: for many dancers who have experienced injury through accident, the Dance Again Foundation works to help dancers access the appropriate treatment and therapy to enable them to return to dance.

Luckily for dancers everywhere, the Dance Again Foundation has been able to establish a firm financial base over the last 12 months in order to help dancers achieve optimum recovery with the goal of enabling them to return to their career. The dance community is able to assist this work by becoming involved with fundraising and publicising the charity’s work, and dance teachers are able to particularly assist, making sure their students are aware of the Foundation’s existence. Seeking assistance for injuries, however small, can be made much easier. Several low-key fundraisers are planned for 2013 in addition to corporate sponsorship and other sources of fundraising being investigated. A large-scale gala concert is also being organised for the spring, and a line of dancewear and accessories for male dancers is also being designed.

The Dance Again Foundation initially came into being through the experience of one particular family, whose son was an apprentice with Bern:Ballett, and the Dance Again Foundation was able to assist with addressing the financial and facilitating situations of the family. Dancers dealing with these problematic injuries may find the finances and facilities are limited, yet the Dance Again Foundation works to ensure the dancer will be able to dance again.