The wonderful dancers of Michelle Sidwell Academy of Dance were absolutely thrilled to represent their dance school, and Chislehurst, by performing live at Disney Land Paris this summer. This amazing opportunity was a once in a lifetime trip for many of the dancers, who were just delighted to show off their polished routine after months and months of practice.
The children absolutely loved the whole experience, from hair and make up, dancing, Disney magic and so much more!
The team spent 4 days in Paris, and here you can see their very busy schedule!
FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST – ARRIVAL
- Arrive at Hotel Cheyenne and greeted by Perform In The Magic team.
- Had a group meeting and then had some photos taken in our troupe t-shirts and jackets before heading off into the parks for some fun.
SATURDAY 6TH AUGUST – PERFORMANCE DAY
- We met at 8am to have hair and make-up prepared together in the foyer of the hotel so we all look identical. We left the hotel full of glitter.
- Head off at 9am on the shuttle bus to meet our Disney performing arts co-ordinator at 9.30am. From there we were taken to the Videopolis Theatre where we had a technical meeting with the Disney production crew followed by an on stage blocking rehearsal.
- We were then shown to the dressing rooms and left all our costumes backstage.
- Headed off to have some photographs taken in front of the famous Disney Castle.
- Had a group lunch within the Disney park.
- We found a spot on Main Street USA where we had a quick rehearsal. The parade went past us as we were practising and all the characters on the float were waving to the troupe which was really special. We also had the dancers in the parade approach our dancers to wish them luck and high-five them. We also had people passing us by stopping to watch our rehearsal and applaud us.
- Returned to the theatre at 1.30pm to prepare for the performance.
- On stage at 2.30pm to a packed audience. Was told it was the biggest crowd they had seen that summer.
- The performance couldn’t have gone better, the troupe was flawless with so much energy and enthusiasm to be on the Disney stage. Disney backstage crew complimented me on the staging, choreography, costuming, dance technique, performance ability of the students and said they loved the performance and hoped we would return again soon.
- We received a standing ovation from the crowd and lots of cheers and whooping.
- The troupe exited backstage to a huge round of applause and lots of cheers and cuddles from parents.
SUNDAY 7TH AUGUST – WORKSHOP DAY - We met at 7am in the foyer of the hotel to meet our Disney performing arts co-ordinator at 7.30am. From there we were taken to a backstage area where the Disney cast themselves rehearse.
- We met our Disney instructor, who is one of the Dance Captains at the park who told us we were going to learn a routine which has been performed at the park over the last few years. The workshop was overseen by a number of Disney professionals who were eager to watch our troupe perform.
- We were given the advanced choreography (which obviously I was thrilled about) and the students were fantastic learning the routine and managed to pick it up quickly and were complimented by everyone on their technique, speed of learning, versatility as well as their polite and well behaved nature. I was told we are only the 2nd group ever to get all of the workshop choreography taught within the set time, which is a testament to how quickly they picked up the routine and were able to perform it with relative ease. It was a fantastic workshop and the students loved it. At the end there was a Q&A session with the Disney professionals where the students were able to ask questions about how to become a pro Disney dancer.
- We finished at 9.30am at which time the students went off to enjoy the parks.
- A large number of students watched the fireworks on this evening and it was wonderful bumping into them in the park.
MONDAY 8TH AUGUST – FINAL DAY - The troupe had the entire day to themselves before we all headed back to Eurostar (for most) and others headed off to Paris or other destinations to continue their holidays.
- A truly magical experience for all involved and we can’t wait to head back to the land of Mickey Mouse in a few more years.
The link for the fantastic performance is here;
hi join up for dance magic would anybody tell got in
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