The Girls Come to Shrewsbury…

After being encapsulated by Strictly Come Dancing at a young age I jumped at the chance to see some of the newest members of the Strictly professional team perform on my doorstep. Once my parents saw my love for the show they enrolled me in a local dance class at the age of eleven and quickly learnt that I was better at passing judgement on the contestants rather than actually performing. As they watched one lesson from the back of the class they saw me, an awkward, motionless robot with two left feet, next to my enigmatic and talented sister, and they decided it was best to indulge my wishes to leave the class. However, my love for the show, and in particular for watching live dancing, lived on.

Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden and Chloe Hewitt performed at Theatre Severn as part of their 2019 UK tour and performed multiple individual and group numbers choreographed by Patrick Raja-Helm. Everything flowed seamlessly and each dancer brought something of themselves to the performance, giving the evening a personal quality that is simply unobtainable to TV audiences. Their ability to share with the audience about their past and their journey to success made the evening all the more enjoyable, as their candid and sincere voices shared an equal place with the dancing and greatly contributed to the impact of the performances. Sharing their struggles and revealing the hard graft that goes into each and every number made them hard working individuals with a dream as well as professional dancers, and regardless of that dream, it was impossible not to be inspired by their stories.

Although it was a night that was rightly marketed as a ‘dance performance’, there is so much more to be taken away from this evening. The importance of working hard, remaining positive, and using constructive criticism as a way of further development were just a few of the lessons that resonated with me. Determination, confidence and self-belief are vital, and it’s sometimes hard to remind yourself of the importance of these qualities, but seeing three successful, hard-working women on the stage living their dream can only inspire audiences to put these qualities at the forefront of their mind when working towards their own dream.

Overall, it was a highly enjoyable night that involved more than what it said on the tin!