Debutant DANCEWORLD performers bag five awards in Los Angeles competition

By Shannon Jayawardena 

DANCEWORLD performers who represented the country in Los Angeles competition for the first time bagged five awards for their excellence.

A group of 23 girls between the ages of five to ten were selected to perform in USA to take part in Dance Excellence; a ‘Festival of Dance’with over 27 dance studios from around the world. They were trained and taught by seasoned experts in the dance field some of whom have worked with artists such as Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. They also attended workshops run by award winning directors from movies such as La La Land and shows such as Glee.

Upon Lankans return, Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara commended the dancers for their achievements on 16 January 2018. 

DANCEWORLD formed by Director Sureka Buell is a dance academy that enables all students interested in the field to express themselves through dance and music. The school specialises in modern dance, jazz and ballet.

Minister Jayasekara stated: “I am so glad to hear that these children had being selected to go to Los Angeles and then received so many awards. This is a big opportunity that has set the stage for everyone to perform on a global platform. It is a great experience that these students have gone through. In the near future there are many events that are coming in and this is indeed a very good start for children in Sri Lanka to participate in such competitions.”

“We must appreciate all these students’ hard work and dedication and I thank Sureka and her team for bringing this achievement to our country,” he added. Buell said: “DANCEWORLD has grown from strength to strength and we celebrate a truly historic year for us, which is our trip to Los Angeles where we achieved high accolades and awards and our sellout show Jazzin’ Dare Dream Dance. We look forward to more exciting adventures ahead.”

Among 25 performances trained by Creative Director Shaan Deen, the girls displayed great talent in Disneyland where they performed, receiving an award for excellence in the modern/contemporary junior category under the 9-12 year age group and senior category under 13-15 years. The adult category 16 and above received an award for superior performance in modern and contemporary dance as well in Jazz and Hip-Hop.

Creative Director ShaanDeen said: “It is really admirable what these girls have done and they have given dance in Sri Lanka such a prominent place. Los Angeles was no easy task but they performed to their best and I am very proud to have been a part of it.”

At the press conference, DANCEWORLD also launched its official website; Danceworldschool.com which is Sri Lanka’s first fully functional and feature packed website dedicated to the students present and to those who wish to visit.

The website enables DW to handle all queries, classes, students, teachers and management in one interface with a portal which handles all operations of the school. Each student will have a unique user ID that will allow access to their tailor made portal to keep up with all classes and events.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara