An independent dance school in Swansea is celebrating after more than 20 of its students have qualified to represent Wales at the prestigious "Dance World Cup" in Portugal next year. Dancers from Swansea's Colasanto Academy of Dance submitted their audition videos to a panel of expert judges in November - and heard this week that 22 of the talented youngsters had scored highly enough - and placed in the top four dances of their category - to qualify for the Dance World Cup finals, representing Wales.
They'll be spending the coming months rehearsing every second of their routines and working on their technicality, 'dance personality' and costumes, as well as fundraising for flights and accommodation for the big event in Braga next June to July.
Principal of the dance school, Tina Colasanto said she's "really proud" of all her dancers for qualifying to represent their country and can't wait to take the group to Portugal to show off their skills. Her students will be representing Wales in the tap dance, modern and "song and dance" categories.
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Tina, 58, has been teaching children to dance since she was 16 and launched her own dance school in Hafod in Swansea two years ago. Currently, the Colasanto Academy of Dance has around 65 pupils and Tina and her team teach a range of dance styles including tap, modern, jazz and lyrical.
For years, Tina has entered students into local and national festivals and competitions and decided this year she wanted to give her students the opportunity to try out for something even bigger. The youngsters spent weeks rehearsing their routines and improving their technique, before dances were filmed and audition tapes made for a panel of judges.
"There was obviously so much suffering in lockdown, I wanted to do something to offer the children a new opportunity. We've entered lots of prestigious festivals and have had many first places, so it led me to thinking of doing something bigger, like the World Cup," Tina explained. "Just like the football world cup, you have to qualify to compete and then you're there representing your country against lots of other countries. It's a huge thing, it's very prestigious and well-known in the dance world."
"We filmed video auditions of the dances and they received marks out of 100 for their dances, costume, technique, personality. You had to get at least 70% to qualify - and be first, second, third or fourth in your category - to go to the World Cup. We entered 35 dancers in 26 dances (some were group dances) - and found out on Monday that 22 had qualified for the World Cup in Portugal," she added.
Tina had never entered students into the Dance World Cup auditions before so was over-the-moon to hear so many of her students had qualified. "I just couldn't believe it," she said. "I just hoped and dreamed some would get through - and then 22 did!
"As a teacher, it makes me really proud. I love giving all the children confidence - and some of them are so, so passionate about dancing and want to do it in the future for their careers! This will be an amazing opportunity for them and look fantastic on their CVs and when applying to university," she added. "We're like a family here, we're really family-orientated. Everyone congratulates everyone, they're part of a team and we're so proud to be representing Wales."
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