Brighton dance school is fundraising to compete at prestigious Dance World Cup

The local dance group has made history by being selected to compete at the 2023 Dance World Cup Finals, representing Team England, after a rigorous audition and lengthy selection process.

Nine students from Theatre Express have achieved qualification for this year’s Dance World Cup Finals. Despite the incredible feat of securing their places in the Finals, the costs of attending the event are considerable. Therefore, for the dance school to be able to attend, Theatre Express is currently seeking to raise up to £5,000.

So far, students have been taking part in a range of activities in the community from supporting with packing shopping to hosting quiz nights and working with local businesses.

This year’s Dance World Cup Finals are being held in Braga, Portugal from 30 June – 8 July, and is the largest all-genre international dance competition in the world for children and young adults, with representatives from all continents. Each country has only four places available at the Finals per age group and genre, and many people regard the event as the Olympics of Dance with 6,000 of the best dancers from across the world taking part in the Finals.

Theatre Express was established in 2009 and operates out of the Woodingdean Community Centre in Brighton and Hove. The school specialises in many different classes of dance genres for all ages including a team which take part in festivals and competitions around England.

Joanne Hutson, who founded and runs Theatre Express, expressed her excitement at competing at this year’s event, despite the financial pressures. She said: “I am so proud of all of our girls who have met the extremely high standard to qualify for the Dance World Cup Finals in Braga.

“To many, we are just little old Theatre Express from Brighton, but we are now able to compete with the best in the world, and we deserve to be there after all of the hard work from everyone involved.

“Whilst we are all so excited to have qualified and secured the chance to represent Team England, we now have to work out how to fund the trip. We have underage people taking part and therefore need to take parents with us in an economy where travel, accommodation and everything else that comes with it can be very expensive. This is why we have been working hard to secure donations from businesses, and getting into our community to support them in return for donations. We appreciate any support that anyone can offer to give these girls the chance to have the best experience in the biggest competition of their lives.”

To support Theatre Express get to the Dance World Cup, you can donate at: gofundme.com/f/help-support-9-students-from-theatre-express