SAMUEL HEAD BOY 2022

Samuel Larsen, Aged 16, Head Boy Danceworld, 2022 (Previously Head Boy 2018 – 2020)

Samuel has been training at Danceworld since the age of 6 in Ballet, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Street dance and Musical Theatre. He has reached BATD Elementary level in Ballet, Tap & Modern and will be starting his dance teachers training shortly.

I love dance and performance and Danceworld has enabled me to keep training for my dance exams whilst I’ve gained some fantastic performance and development experience outside. Below are some of the highlights:

In August 2019, I saw a Twitter advert asking for young dancers to get involved with a youth response piece to Matthew Bourne’s new production of “Romeo and Juliet “. I went along and the piece called, “Civil Blood” was devised in 4 weeks and performed to Matthew Bourne on the actual Romeo and Juliet set to a packed house at Sadlers Wells Theatre . It was an amazing experience. In 2021, New Adventures set up their talent development programme called Cygnet School and I was lucky enough to be invited back to join the first cohort. I’ll be starting my second year of training with them soon.

In October 2019, I competed at the BATD Junior Ballet Scholarships in Doncaster and won against 50 dancers from around the UK. Thanks to my teacher Kerry.

Next month, (October 2022) I will be competing again at Scholarships, this time at Senior level in Ballet, Modern and Tap.

I’ve also danced with London Children’s Ballet, (LCB) between 2016 - 2019. LCB is a brilliant charity that provides the opportunity to dance for free in a production in London’s West End with top dance professionals. I worked with choreographers from the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2019, I was cast in their production of “Ballet Shoes” and received the Best Performance Award. The show went on to be shown by BBC Arts online as part of their “Culture in Quarantine” season.

I’ve also danced with English Youth Ballet between 2015 and 2018 and learnt a lot watching the professional dancers. In 2018, I danced in “Swan Lake” at the New Wimbledon Theatre and received the Artistic Director’s Special Award.

In February 2019 I was invited as a guest dancer to perform as Hilarion in Dulwich School of Ballet’s

production of Giselle.

I also love Musical Theatre and being inspired by Sally Ritchie’s teaching; I gained the confidence to audition and perform in many musical theatre shows. In 2020 I joined Spirit Young Performers Company and performed in their Hamilton and Harry Potter TikTok dances and Broadway Vs West End video.

After 3 years on the Trinity Laban CAT scheme (where I’ve trained on Saturday’s in Contemporary dance) I’ve now been lucky enough to be offered a place on Rambert School’s Pre-Voc course in Ballet and Contemporary Dance.

With Danceworld I have competed in numerous dance festivals and competitions, as an individual, in a ballet duet,(thanks to Rochelle x) and as part of Danceworld’s Elite Troupe. I’ve also loved being in Danceworld’s shows at the Towngate Theatre. This has been a great training ground and I’ve learnt so much about performing and stagecraft from Danceworld’s great teachers, Kerry, Sally Lilly, Hannah, Lauren, Carly and Jenny.

But besides all this, I just want to say dancing at Danceworld is great fun and many of my happiest times have been at Danceworld. The teachers are lovely and really care about us. We learn so much more than dancing too. We learn team working, gain confidence and maturity and learn how to be professional. I am very proud to be the Head Boy.

Thank you so much Danceworld x