A Dundee dance company will host their 10th anniversary show this weekend.
Dancilicious dance company, started by friends Zoei Constable and Jennafer Duffy, will be pulling out all the stops during their weekend show – which almost did not go ahead due to Covid restrictions.
Jen explained: “We’ve been working on this show for almost two years. We were meant to perform last year, but obviously with Covid, it had to be cancelled.
“Theatres aren’t really open at the moment, so we spoke to Forthill Sports Centre – where we hold our classes – and they have let us hire out a field to perform on.
“But we needed to get an entertainment licence so we’ve been working with Dundee City Council the last three four weeks getting that done, but it’s all been given the green light so is going ahead this weekend.”
She added: “At one point we didn’t think it was going to be possible. Thinking we’d get perform last August, then October. So now it doesn’t feel real that it’s happening.
“But we are so excited that we’re able to do this for everybody at Dancilicious. Especially because it’s not just any other show, it’s our 10-year anniversary. So, it’s a big one.”
Anniversary show
Attendees can expect all the dancers to go all out during the show, with highlights from the past ten years.
However, the show will be bittersweet for co-founder Jen, who is immigrating to Australia later this year.
She said: “It’s so emotional – it’s been such a hard week. Just with everything, because I am finishing – all the dance classes are now finished.
“It’s very emotional – I didn’t think it was ever going to happen but it is happening. I don’t even have words for it to be honest because I’m so attached. This was my first baby before I had children – it means so much for me.”
Teamwork
Jen and Zoei started the company together after meeting at Showcase the Street.
Jen always knew she wanted to start her own dance company, and found that Zoei felt the same.
She said: “We first met around 14 or 15 years ago. I left to go to Australia with my now husband for a year of travelling. I obviously said to Zoei that we should start up our own dance company.
“When I came back from Australia, we just went for it. It’s went from strength to strength. We started off with about 20 kids to having about 200 kids.
“We run classes in two communities. They’re so popular it’s just brilliant to see. It’s great for the kids – they just love it. It gets them off the street. We’ve had kids that have been there for the full 10 years.
“We’ve always said we wanted to work together, we worked so well together when we worked for Showcase and we got on so well.
“We kind of had the same intention and dream in life to have a dance company. I knew my time was coming up in Australia, so got in touch with each other and said yeah let’s do it.”
Dancilicious
While Jen is sad she is moving on from the company, she is excited to see her dance partner continue on and open her own dance studio.
She added: “Our seniors, who they’re adults now. A couple of them are school teachers now so they’ve grown with us.
“They’re going to continue to take on the classes to keep things going. So, between Zoei and our assistants they’re going to continue the classes just how it is.”
You can find out more about the show here.
