Latest News | 2 June 2021
Production company dances for joy as live audiences return
Dancers from Darley Dance Productions have expressed their joy at being able to perform in front of live audiences for the first time in over a year.
Since the first lockdown in March last year, its dancers have been unable to perform to live audiences – and instead have had to pre-record performances.
However, three dancers from Darley Dance, recently performed in front of diners at the Derby Market Place Al-fresco Dining Experience.
The event was to celebrate the opening of the dining experience and the start of an exciting programme of events, which will see more performers entertaining audiences in Derby over the summer.
After online rehearsals and lateral flow tests, even the rain could not take the smiles from the faces of the Darley Dance performers as they donned their sequins and shook their pom-poms for a selection of invited guests.
One of the dancers, Georgia Harris said: “It was so good to be back. It’s not as if someone is going to click their fingers and events and performances will just snap back to what they were.
“We have to take our time to move forward into a new way of doing things but this was the first step and we were very excited to take it.”
Recently, councillors in Allestree recognised the efforts of Abbi Burns and her team at Darley Dance Productions by presenting them with a certificate praising The Christmas Show Online.
Abbi was also recently shortlisted in the Mainframe Awards in the Creativity for Good category, shortlisted in the Digital Women’s Awards for Digital Product Creator of the Year and is included in its 40 Digital Women to Watch for 2021.
Abbi said: “I’m so proud of what we, as a team, managed to achieve with The Christmas Show Online.
“Looking back now I can’t quite believe we managed to do what we did with our Crowdfunder and our subsequent show.
“I will always be proud of the team for putting together something so special at such a difficult time.”
In terms of the future, while this year has so far been challenging for many production companies, Abbi hopes the recent performance is a step in the right direction.
She said: “It’s not about getting back to what life was like before Covid, it’s about taking the valuable lessons that this year has taught us and moving forward into a new way of doing things.
“We’re excited to see what the future holds, even if it does take a little time to get there.”
