Students complete Romeo & Juliet dance workshop with industry professional

Student dancers at Walsall College have completed their first workshop of the year led by one of the artistic directors at a dance company.  Shanelle Clemenson of Rosie Kay Dance Company tasked students with choreographing and performing a routine based on the company’s production of Romeo & Juliet, showing at Birmingham Hippodrome in October.

In just two hours, the Level 3 students put together an opening number featuring a dance off between the two families, the Montagues and Capulets, known here as The M’s and The C’s.  Their routine included a combination of contemporary, street, African and Indian classical dance styles.

Shanelle Clemenson said: “It’s so great to be teaching people face to face again, so that they can instantly connect with ideas and bring them to life.  The students were very receptive throughout the workshop.

“I could see how hard they worked and how much they enjoyed learning and performing different styles of dance.”

Neve Reddington who is in the first year of her Level 3 course said: “This was my first ever dance workshop at the college and it was a unique experience.   African dance style is something completely new to me so I was happy to get the chance to widen my range.”

Level 3, Year 2 student, Elyse Mannion added: “Meeting different industry professionals and learning from them is an important part of our course because you get exposed to different ways of working.  We struggled with this last year because of the pandemic, so I’m happy to be making up for it now.  I can’t wait to do more workshops.”

Find out more about Walsall College’s performing arts courses here.