Clare Arrowsmith (Upper Sixth)

On Monday evening, the Dance department was joined by actor and dance professional, Adam Garcia. A world-famous professional tap dancer and movie star, Adam appeared in the hit movie Coyote Ugly, has performed in numerous West End productions and has been nominated for an Olivier Award.

He hosted two tap workshops for different abilities and both were packed. It was fantastic to be tapping in such a large group and to be surrounded by the heavy rhythm we were creating.

At the end of the workshop, he shocked us with an improvisation task. Going around in a circle, we each had to do an eight-count piece; needless to say it terrified everyone! However, it turned out to be a great experience. Aware of the difference in ability, he was encouraging about what each girl did, whether it was simple or advanced. He emphasised the advantage of the exercise as a learning activity or a way to steal people's ideas for your own dancing.

All the girls seemed to leave grinning and suitably tired from the intensity (after ambushing him for photos first, of course).

Mrs Winter, Head of Dance, said: “As Adam Garcia used references from Michael Jackson, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers, the girls soaked in the rhythms, energy and musicality of tap dancing. They mastered simple and highly complex tap steps. I watched the girls with great admiration as they tackled Mr Garcia’s repertoire of steps and every pair of feet in The Randle Hall was tapping to those rhythms. Well done to all the participants.”

View a video from the workshop here.