DARING DANCE SCOOPS FESTIVAL HONOURS

By Lori Little - Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Rosie White and Sam Ellis in dramatic action as they scooped the only honours mark of the IW Musical Competition Festival's dance section. Picture by Jennifer Burton.

A PASSIONATE performance of modern dance scooped the only honours mark of the Isle of Wight Musical Competition Festival’s dance section.
Sixteen year olds Rosie White and Sam Ellis drew yelps from the audience at Shanklin Theatre for their brave lifts and daring and dark interpretation of Roxanne, from the movie Moulin Rouge.
Dressed glamorously in black and red, they wowed not only the crowd but also adjudicator Sylvia Lorden, who awarded them 90 points and said: “I do not give my 90s away easily.”
Even more amazingly, it was Sam’s first festival performance.
He said: “It was terrifying, if I’m honest, being my first festival, but I loved every second of it.
“I just wanted to scream when I heard our score. I am pretty proud.”
Sam, a Sandown High School pupil, took up dancing only three years ago, with Gillian Cartwright.
He said: “I just went out of interest and now I really want to get into musical theatre or some sort of dance career. I love modern dance, ballet and everything.”
Rosie, who goes to Carisbrooke High School, is already on the road to a successful dance career and starts at Masters Performance Arts College in Essex, in September.
She and Sam will perform Roxanne at the Southampton Dance Festival in May and hope to continue dancing together, now they have proved themselves a solid match.
• Pages of festival coverage in the Friday, March 28, County Press.
• More pictures in our online gallery at www.iwcpgallery.co.uk, and below.

DARING DANCE SCOOPS FESTIVAL HONOURS

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