http://bvinews.com/bvi/dance-fest-pulls-major-crowd/ Dance Fest pulls Major Crowd A sensual 1920s performance brought down the curtains on the 2010 Dance Fest on Sunday evening at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall. The sold out crowd was treated to a kaleidoscope of colourful costumes and a wide variety of dances that have been introduced throughout the decades. Starting the evening off just right were the younger dancers treating the audience to ‘Teddy Bear Picnic’, ‘Rockin’ Robin’, ‘Solitaire Soldierettes’, ‘Shining Light’, ‘This Little Light’, and ‘Waltz Of The Flower’. Out of the 26 performances, four dances were done in tribute to the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The first one ‘ABC’ delighted the audience as the dancers wearing cheer-leading outfits showed how much fun they were having on stage. The ‘MJ Tribute’ choreographed by Sarah Penny thrilled with the mega star’s ‘Thriller’ moves, and sexy hip movements to ‘Billy Jean’. The ‘Michael Jackson Medley’ featured dancers Dennis George and Sasha Hempel as they executed a spectacular routine of MJ meeting a ballerina. Not to be outdone two of the younger male dancers dressed in red jumpsuits also made an impression with swagger moves to the singer’s ‘You Make Me Feel’ and ‘Remember The Time’. Meanwhile, the ‘Beat It’ jazz/tap presentation was fun and energetic with the all girl group gliding on stage with Jackson’s moonwalk. ‘Kiss From A Rose’ made popular by Seal introduced an advanced ballet group, which was choreographed by Sandy Lyons. The graceful, fluid movements captured the audience’s attention as the young ladies looked ethereal performing the love song. One of the memorable presentations of the evening was the fiery ‘Clasica de le Danza Espanola’ performance choreographed by Jo-Ann Downing. The young ladies looked sizzling in black and red tutus with red flowers in their hair to complete the Spanish look. Raja Pemberton and Dennis George wooed the audience looking dashing in Spanish attire. The group gave a spellbinding and sexy interpretation of the several Spanish dances including the salsa and paso doble all rolled into one. J.A.D dancers also gave an impressive performance with ‘Transformers’. The agility and versatility of the group’s movements left the audience awestruck as the dancers in sync twisted their bodies to become a transformer. ‘Replay’ choreographed by Pemberton took the audience from the ‘break dancing’ era to today’s hip hop moves. On the funky and groove side students of the Althea Scatliffe Primary dance troupe performed a fun ‘Can You Feel It?’ The routine was put together by Desyln Williams. The St George’s School dancers brought some Caribbean flavor with ‘Caribbean Rhythms’ under the tutelage of Heather Butcher. Classical dances were also part of the programme ‘Shall We Dance’ from the movie The King and I and ‘Edelweiss’ from the ‘Sound of Music’ took the audience through memory lane with the waltz. ‘Dance Me to the 1920s’ featuring Sarah Penney, Sarah Jones and Raja Pemberton wrapped up the Dance Fest. The trio mesmerized the audience with sexy, provocative moves and the costumes depicted the 1920s fashion. Director of the fest, Sarah Lyons told BVI News the fabulous costumes worn by the dancers cost of $15,000 paid for by the BVI Dance Fest. “We have begun to stockpile them [costumes] so later on we will have a vast and wide variety of costumes,” she said. The Dance Fest was conceptualized by Lyons in 2000.