What people in their right minds would agree to judge a dance competition of pupils at 20 primary schools in Oxfordshire? What hard hearted Dickensian character would be prepared to crown the winners and disappoint all the others. Well, I was one of five judges at the Junior Strictly Oxford dance event at the New Theatre this week. It was an eye-opener.

Oxford Mail:

The final of Junior Strictly Dance Off at the New Theatre

These five- to 11-year-olds were on stage at the biggest theatrical venue in Oxford in front of 1,400 people and they danced with flair, fun and confidence. How does this happen? Where do they get that chutzpah which is usually associated with pupils at public schools when all these children were from the state system?

The answer is partly with the teachers. They learned the dances from Step By Step dance school in Oxford and taught their pupils. But these teachers were raw recruits and very nervous at the beginning. They had to overcome their own fears and limitations and two left feet.

When they finally learned to relax and loosen up, they got their heads, if not their feet, around the technique, look and rhythm of the dances. I was able to watch these teachers off-stage while the kids were performing and each one was more animated, encouraging and competitive than José Mourinho and Arsène Wenger put together.

Oxford Mail:

Judges, left to right: Richard Neal, Krzysztof Grzelek, Jade Main, David Roberts and Bill Heine

“You’ll win everything with kids,” seemed to be the collective motto of this group of teachers. Each one of these children was their child. They connected with every one of them on stage.

Yes the children were the winners and losers but so were the teachers, maybe even more so. With people like these teachers in the school system it’s got to be a better system.

The mastermind behind the event, the “Dr No”, turned out to be a “Dr Yes”. Andrzej Miakowski, who runs the Step by Step dance studio in Headington, wanted this event to be a celebration of young people communicating the joy of life through dance, but also an inclusive celebration. So one of the 20 schools invited was Mabel Pritchard in Oxford, a school for children aged between two and 19 with a wide range of learning difficulties.

Oxford Mail:

A dance group from Langford Village put on a half-time show

There was no deal here. The pupils of Mabel Pritchard competed on an equal footing with everyone else. There was no fuss and no conferring with the other schools.

This was a mainstream dance contest and the Mabel Pritchard pupils were not sidelined as “special” but accepted as one of the groups to compete in the two categories of Cha Cha Cha and American Slow Waltz. It was strictly even keel.

The children were all great, even though there were a few dicey moments. Before the event the management of the New Theatre set out two rules.

The first applied to all the fellow pupils from the 20 primary schools who were sitting in the top balcony, which is remarkably high from my point of view of someone on the stage, vertigo high.

They had to remain seated when cheering their school because the New Theatre didn’t want to deal with the difficulty of someone falling over the balustrade in their enthusiasm. The children didn’t stay seated.

The second rule applied to the dancers. There was a white line drawn on the front of the stage and if the dancers went over that they could fall into the orchestra pit. Several couples tripped the white line fantastic. We were lucky not to have any casualties. As judges, we were all prepared to rush out and rescue them, but such heroics were not necessary.

Oxford Mail:

The winners – Langford Village Primary School

The journey from a primary school gym to centre stage at the New Theatre is a difficult one. The children had only two months to train. This meant giving up two lunch times each week and hours of practice in the headteacher’s office for struggling dancers at the Windmill School in Headington. The couples even practised in the evening at each other’s houses.

The whole experience was a learning curve to discover that something fearful could become fun, playful and possible.

Their training changed relationships. During the dancing the children saw their teachers differently. It was no longer pupil and teacher but a group of people trying to help each other as a team. The children could see their teachers needed help too and didn’t have all the answers.

At the end of the night and the judging and the trophy ceremony, I knew all the children were winners. They got there. They had the courage to step out and perform in front of family and friends. They took the risk and they won.

Would they do it again? All the ones I talked with were ready to sign up for next year. Would I judge it again? With great pleasure.