Princess Helena College

As usual the PA Hall was full to capacity for this highlight of the Princess Helena College year. For the first time dance items interspersed the music solos and the standard in both areas was extremely high giving the adjudicators, Andreya Lynham and Vanessa Welch, an unenviable task.

The Junior dance trophy was awarded to Annabel Reid and Lucy Thomas from Windsor House for their Hip-Hop duet. They were singled out for their fantastic costumes and choreography presenting a piece which the judge claimed was ‘mature for their age'. Also highly praised were Jocelyn Preko (York), Benita Albert-Faluyi and CP Herron (Gloucester). The high energy and fast tempo of the routines impressed the professional dancer judge, who was thrilled to be part of such an electric and vibrant evening of talent. With accurate timing and complex hip hop movements the juniors performed to the latest chart tracks and filled the room with energy and excitement. They had clearly rehearsed their routines well.

The Senior dance competition took the evening to a whole new level. The dances were complex, creative and extremely rhythmic. The adjudicator struggled to award a winner as the standard of all three dancers was so high. Amy Keast (Gloucester) performed a fast and highly rhythmical tap solo, showing off the talent that she has in this difficult dance style. Elena Cherry (Windsor) wowed the audience with a contemporary jazz solo which showed off her flexibility and strength. Hannah Stoddard (York) produced an incredible performance filled with emotion and passion in a lyrical jazz solo. All pieces were outstanding and blew the audience away with not only the choreography but with their electric performance. The winner was Elena Cherry (Windsor).

Miss Hone, Dance Teacher and Head of Windsor, said “I was so proud of all the dancers - they were truly amazing and are very talented. It was a large audience so to perform to such a high standard with that pressure and nerves deserved a standing ovation.”

In the Music solo section, Rachel Fok was the well-deserving winner with her beautiful performance of Debussy's La plus que lente. She was commended for her excellent musicality and superb pianistic technique.

Runners-up in this section were Jessica Timmiss with her flute solo ‘Entrée des Jeunes Nubiennes by Gounod, Marina Lawrence-Mahrra playing Lefevre's 5^th Clarinet sonata, Hilary Beck, also on clarinet, playing movements from a Tartini sonata and flautist Vicky Ward playing Ian Clarkes ‘Sunstreams'. All were commended for their beautiful tone, articulation and musicality.

After the interval, the House choirs competed with their usual energy and determination. The presentation by every house was truly amazing but there had to be a winner and the trophy was presented to Gloucester house performing ‘Can't take my eyes off you'. They had a unanimous sound, good diction, accurate harmonies and clean ends to their phrases. There was rapturous applause for Amy Keast, the House captain and conductor, as she received the cup.

House Music does not just take place on finals night, it is the culmination of three rounds where many more girls take part and earn points for their house. This year the overall winner of the House Music Cup was presented to Felicity Glass, the House captain of Windsor House.

A truly memorable evening to be followed by a well-deserved half-term break. Put the date in your diary for next year!