Every week a group of over-55s meet for ballet practice in Mayfield – we’re named the Silver Swans and are part of Peak Ballet. Last month we were invited to perform at the Bakewell Day of Dance, along with other “Swans” from Matlock and Belper.
Our half hour set attracted a much bigger crowd than we expected. We performed five dances for them, starting with a lively mazurka to music from the ballet Coppelia. We followed with a dance to Singing in the Rain, complete with umbrellas.
Being Silver Swans we of course had to dance to music from Swan Lake, but to a jazz version of the Swan Lake waltz. We also danced a slow dance to Scarborough Fair.
We concluded by speeding things up with a Charleston
The icing on the cake was that we were paid to perform! We donated our performance fee to Reserva’s Leatherback Project which protects endangered turtle nesting grounds. More details at news.scubatravel.co.uk.
We had the most joyful time performing in Bakewell. And we even got asked back next year, with a request to perform two half-hour sets instead of one.
Peak Ballet is run by the fabulous Lara Ross. To find out more about her classes email peakballet@outlook.com.