Dance Week 2026

It's been a fantastic week full of Dance exams, workshops and our annual Let's Dance show! 

NATD Exams

Dance Week 2026 began with a wonderful celebration of achievement as our Grade 5, Grade 6, Annual Performance Award, NATD Intermediate, Advanced, and Street Dance students completed their NATD examinations.

The examiner praised the students for their articulate reflections on their choreography, their strong preparation, and the impressive breadth of styles they demonstrated. Given the high standard of dance seen by NATD throughout the year, our LP dancers should feel exceptionally proud of their accomplishments, both within the syllabus and through the diverse material presented for the Annual Performance Awards.

A particularly memorable moment came at the end of the day with the Street Dance Grade, a new addition to the Leighton Park programme this year. The celebrations concluded with a vibrant Bollywood performance by Akshay and Kenisha, whose Annual Performance Award piece brought the day to a joyful close.

Dance in a Day Workshop with Charlie Hogan

Students enjoyed an exciting opportunity to immerse themselves in a fresh style of dance during a high‑energy professional workshop led by dancer Charlie Hogan. A graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Charlie has performed internationally and collaborated with renowned choreographers including Charlie Morrissey, Humanhood, and Alleyne Dance.

Throughout the workshop, Charlie introduced students to a dynamic street‑dance piece that blended floorwork, improvisation, and creative exploration. This approach encouraged our dancers to push beyond familiar techniques and experiment confidently with new movement styles. The piece they learned was later showcased in our annual ‘Let’s Dance’ show.

Boys' Dance Workshop with Will Hodson

The Boys' Dance Workshop with Will Hodson brought an energy that was equal parts athletic, creative and confidence‑building. Will, a professional dancer based in Birmingham who has toured across the UK and Europe, challenged the group to create a full piece in just one day, focusing on teamwork, trust and physical expression. He explained that the boys “learned how to lift each other, how to support each other and

perform cohesively as a team to show their athleticism.”

For many of the participants, the experience opened up a new way of moving. Franco shared that “what really stood out to me is how unique it is and how fun it is to just spend a day practising and developing something,” while Finley added, “I really enjoyed it, it's nothing I've really done before.” Both boys spoke about the importance of dance for young men, with Finley noting that it “can broaden their ability to do something they like,” and Franco emphasising that you “You don't necessarily have to be brilliant at dance, I don't find myself as a phenomenal dancer, but one thing I do have is lots of fun while dancing.”

Will echoed this sentiment, highlighting how dance empowers boys to express themselves, build confidence and be physical “in another setting that isn’t always sports,” blending creativity with strength in a way that felt fresh and accessible to everyone involved.

Let’s Dance

This year’s annual dance showcase, Let’s Dance, lit up the stage on Thursday 18th June with an unforgettable evening of performance. Across 36 pieces, dancers from every age group showcased an impressive range of styles, including commercial, lyrical, street, and contemporary, through solos, duets, trios, and dynamic group works.

We were also thrilled to welcome Grazeley Primary School, who opened the show with a piece taught earlier in the term by our Head of Dance alongside our A Level dancers.

Dance Teacher Beth Butler reflected on the evening: “Let’s Dance last night was amazing. The students did so well. Anja and I are so proud of them. They were so professional, the show ran smoothly, such a variety of styles this year with lots of different music. It’s been fantastic”.

Dance Scholars Workshop

To conclude Dance Week, our Dance Scholars took part in two enriching workshops: A Healthy Lifestyle for Dancers with Pip from Swindon Dance, followed by a calming Sound Bath and Meditation session

In the healthy lifestyle workshop, students explored future dance pathways and careers, while also deepening their understanding of nutrition and mental wellbeing as essential components of a dancer’s life.

They were then introduced to the unique experience of a sound bath. Seven bowls, each representing one of the seven chakras, were played, with the energy of the room guiding the facilitator toward specific chakras. Fittingly, creativity became the focus for our creative students.

Tyler (Year 11) reflected on the experience: “She had like seven bowls and then she would play them and then she would infuse Reiki and she would come round with bells. Obviously as dancers, we spend so much time in the studio, I think out of relaxation, it's quite nice to just settle down, especially we've just done our GCSEs, so it was really relaxing.”

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