Dancers’ GB debut delayed

TWO youngsters must wait a few more months to dance for Britain as their competition has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Kit Swaddling, 12, from Henley, and Bella Barter, 11, from Whitchurch Hill, secured a place at the International Dance Organisation’s European championships in Macedonia after impressing judges at last year’s world championships in Reisa, Germany.

The event was due to take place in Skopje, the capital city, between June 11 and 13 but has been delayed until late summer or early in the autumn with a new date to be confirmed. By this point, experts hope the global pandemic will be under control.

Bella, who attends Langtree School in Woodcote and has been dancing since the age of three, reached the final 12 of more than 50 children at Reisa by performing a complex lyrical solo piece.

Kit, who goes to Moulsford Preparatory School and has previously danced in a UK tour of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, reached his semi-final as part of a duo with Alicia King, 15. The pair are members of the Dance Connection performing arts school, which teaches children from across South Oxfordshire, and the Team GB squad.

They were put forward for Macedonia by coach Leah Pearcy, who is a coach for both organisations.

They are each preparing two routines with help from choreographer Ainsley Ricketts, who learned with Dance Connection before going on to appear on the BBC’s The Greatest Dancer.

The IDO has scrapped several other competitions entirely and the children feared their event would follow suit so were relieved when the organisation postponed it.

In the meantime, the school has shut its studio in Wallingford and is teaching all 250 pupils, many of whom live in or near Henley, by broadcasting lessons online.

Owner and founder Sam Clifton, from Woodcote, said: “Kit and Bella are both fantastically versatile and talented and were practically living in the studio to prepare for the championships before all this started.

“They performed beyond all expectations in Germany and we were so proud of them. They were so excited to be working with Ainsley and worked so hard to get to this stage but now we don’t even know when we’ll be able to get back into our room.

“We wondered if it was worth continuing to train because we thought Macedonia might be cancelled but we decided to keep going because they could have performed at this year’s world championships in Poland in December instead.

“They’re obviously disappointed but we’re in the middle of a massive global event. I’ve explained that this is a historic time and there will be opportunities when things get better again.”

Mrs Clifton, who launched Dance Connection 25 years ago, said everybody was making the most of the online lessons.

She said: “It has been a challenging time although I’m proud to say we had the online lessons up and running on the same day we closed.

“It’s quite complicated looking after 250 pupils online but everyone’s getting into the spirit.

“We’re doing little ‘pop-up’ lessons free of charge on Instagram and Facebook and we’re seeing mums and dads taking part alongside their children, which is really lovely.”