LUDanS is not always the first society to pop into your head when you talk about Lancaster’s sports teams, but their recent successes certainly proves that they are one of the most competitive. Fresh from two successful competitions, the students at LUDanS are riding high ahead of their next big meeting in Northampton in the upcoming weeks, as their Roses preparation gathers momentum.
The first competition was held in Manchester in Week 5 and was a highly contested affair between dance societies from a large selection of universities from around the country. Lancaster’s dancers entered a plethora of categories to good success, especially epitomised by the Inter Jazz dancers. Despite trouble with the music, Inter Jazz placed first again with their sassy routine, blowing the other universities away as Lancaster made a very impressive start to the competition.
In other categories, Tap and Intermediate Ballet managed to place third in their respective categories that are always highly contested every year. Advanced Ballet ‘red shoes’ and the pirate themed Advanced Jazz narrowly missed out on placing as both could only manage fourth, but still presented high quality routines that will give them confidence.
Street performed a routine based around Harry Potter, which received a fantastic response from the audience, whilst the contemporary routine placed fifth, breaking a university record as the highest placing ever. Lancaster also took two wildcards to the competition, a solo performed by Charlotte Rutherford whilst an African dance duo of Faith Adebayo and Tolu Adeshina performed admirably.
Following the success of their team in Manchester, LUDanS then performed closer to home as they entered the competition hosted by UCUM in Week 7. Inter Jazz once again were the stars of the show as they took home first place for the third competition in a row. President Siâna French was also victorious as she came away with the top price for her solo performance. Inter and advanced ballet both also came first whilst contemporary went even better than their last showing and also finished on top, picking up an award for best choreography to boot. Advanced Jazz and Street both managed respectable third placings.
After the competition, French spoke to SCAN about the team: “”Every year our competition squad excels themselves and this year has been no exception. We have attended more competitions than ever and really made a name for ourselves as the ones to beat. People don’t always realise the amount of time and dedication it takes to compete on a LUDanS team and I am extremely proud of all of the girls for their commitment throughout a busy two terms. We are now looking forward to our last two competitions of the year in Northampton and of course the much anticipated Roses where we will be fighting to keep hold of our trophy!”
To continue the momentum of the team into the competition in Northampton as well as Roses, LUDanS will be performing a shows during the weekend of Week 8 to rally support from students before what are sure to be huge events for the squad.
