​Cuddington Croft dancers show Cheam’s Got Talent

​Youngsters from Cuddington Croft school in Cheam stepped up to the challenge of wowing the audience at the Epsom Playhouse the other week as they took part in the annual Epsom and Ewell Schools’ Festival of Dance.

After four days of rigorous auditions, three boys and nine girls from Years Four, Five and Six were chosen to represent the school on stage in front of a packed house of enthusiastic parents and keen dance fans.

Since March the dancers had been rehearsing several times a week and they finally had their chance to show what all the hard work was for when the performed a routine based on music from the popular film Step Up.

“This year’s theme was ‘A Night at the Movies’ so I chose a medley of four songs from that film to give them a chance to show off different dance styles,” said Year Two class teacher Sorel Taylor, who was in charge of the school dance troupe.

“They did a brilliant job – the feedback I’ve had from the children is that they were absolutely exhilarated and thrilled to do it, and the parents absolutely loved it too. The children did an incredibly professional job – I can’t praise them highly enough.”

Performing arts play an important role at Cuddington, a member of the Surrey-based GLF Schools multi-academy trust, which runs more than a dozen schools across the south east.  

Last year the school choir got to perform at Wembley Arena in the Voice in a Million concert, and Ms Taylor said the enthusiasm shown by the children in rising to the challenge was a hugely encouraging sign.

“The fact we had so many people audition in the first place, willing to put themselves forward to so much hard work, shows how enthusiastic the children were, and the dedication shown by those chosen to perform was incredible,” she said. “There may only have been 12 of them on stage, but they were representing the whole of Cuddington Croft and we can all be very proud.”