Amateur Dancers take to the floor for Dr Kershaw’s Hospice
Amateur Dancers take to the floor for Dr Kershaw’s Hospice
A total of 9 amateur dancers took to the floor at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 22nd November for a night of fundraising fun. In aid of local charity, Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, Strictly Kershaw’s raised over £10,000 with all proceeds helping to fund patient care.
The night, hosted by Jeff Longmore, featured dancers from a range of businesses in Oldham such as; George Hill, UK Electronics, LLK, Coop Funeral Care, The White Hart and Beaverbrook’s, as well as 2 members of the hospice team. Each dancer was partnered with a professional counterpart for the evening.
A judging panel was made up of award-winning dance school owners Jennifer Lynch and Jane Helm, along with Kershaw’s Crooners Musical Director, Paul Firth and last year’s winner, Clare Edgerton, who had the challenging task of picking the evenings winner.
Prior to the evening each amateur dancer had spent 6 weeks in intensive training with their IDTA dance school learning two dances to perform on the evening, a Waltz and a Cha ChaCha, in the hope of winning the coveted Kershaw’s Glitter Ball Trophy.
On the night, each dancer was elegantly dressed with stunning hair and makeup kindly provided for each of the amateur dancers by local salon owner, Joan Mills of Limited Edition Beauty based near the Royal Oldham Hospital.
When it was time to take to the dance floor the dancers wowed with their moves and were greeted by cheering from the audience and a flurry of 10’s were handed out.
For the first round of entertainment, the dancers took to the floor to perform their Waltz followed by a quick costume change for the ladies who switched to their Latin gowns to perform the Cha Cha Cha.
The first round was hard-fought by all dancers with an abundance of 10’s being awarded for their efforts. However, the judge’s result signalled three clear favourites for round two – Emily Walker, Ryan King and Joanne Fitton. The night also included a twist when the audience was invited to choose one couple they wished to see return to the floor. Their casting vote saw Helena Coburn from George Hill return to dance once more!
The final dancers took to the floor once again to dance their Cha Cha Cha, making it extremely difficult for the judging panel with the results being tied with Ryan King and Emily Walker neck and neck for the trophy! With only room for one winner the couples competed in a dance-off with the winners announced as Emily Walker and her partner Molly Albert!
Grace Carr, Event Co-ordinator, said: “The night was a fantastic event for the local community. Our dancers did a fantastic job and I was extremely impressed with how much they learnt in such a short space of time!”
