One Moment In Time Summer Showcase

Saturday 14th July at 6pm, Perton Civic Centre opened their doors to the Circus Themed Showcase presented by the SEDA Academy. With 120 cabaret seated audience members, warm summers day outside and 35 excited children backstage, the show became one of the biggest performances of the Academy so far.

The room erupted with the soundtrack of The Greatest Showman, followed by the solo of Miss Sophie herself.

Flying through the first half, it seemed like no time at all had gone by, with the performances running smoothly and fluidly with the aid of Miss Sophie's closest friends, Emma Sutton and Louise Tucker. The lighting was another first experience for the dancers, hiring LDJ Events to control the music and lighting queues.

The interval introduced a new theme of a game "Heads or Tails" which was a great success, having audience participation and also the raffle prize draw.

Miss Sophie had the help from Gemma Marshall, Rebecca Walters and Susan Whitehouse, who created beautiful cakes and treats for sale.

Miss Sophie said, " I know I can rely on a few people to help out with the preparation of the room and I would be extremely lost without them. Every year, they delegate themselves without an ask, and work through till the very end. Rich Taylor and his 3 sons are the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave along side my family an myself. My sister, Karis Hayden and her husband Martin Hayden are always there to set up the room and create the beautiful setting for the audience. Of course, my mother is also running around, distributing her help in various parts of the room, even though being late most of the time haha! My brother Matthew Walters also helps out with the men to set up the room and of course my other half Thomas Orton, who helps with the technical side of things, including salesman and cameraman! Without these and general help from parents backstage helping with children's hair and makeup, I literally would be lost. I cannot thank them enough!"

The show ran for just under two hours with an interval, and consisted of around 29 acts in total including the voices of two voluntary singers, just 12 and 13 years old.

"I cannot believe it is over for another year! The Sunday was a day of rest for me and I slept most of the day. However, Sunday night I did begin planning next years show. It seems that you can never be too early planning your future performances. " Miss Sophie continued, " I am so looking forward to our awards night in January as I have seen a definite improvement with the children and cannot wait to award them for their hard work!"

The Academy is closing this week for the Summer Holidays and will return in September with the launch of new classes. Miss Sophie said, " It is the perfect time to enrol the children as we start on brand new material and can break things down into finer details, making sure every child understands the movements and progresses at an even level."

If you are interested in enrolling with the Academy, please contact us through the website, FaceBook page, email or phone number.

Well done to everyone and enjoy your party week!