Dance team wows judges in first contest

It’s the largest group dance competition in the UK with over 7,000 dancers entering from over 500 dance schools.

After winning through in the semi-finals at Blackpool Opera House in January, Gifford Dance Academy put on a show-stopping performance in Liverpool.

They won the Adjudicator’s Choice Award in the final, in what was their very first competition!

This is an amazing achievement, especially with some of the dancers being as young as ten and the competition from well-known and established stage schools being fierce.

Gifford Dance Academy was set up in 2015 by sisters Rebecca and Lucie Gifford.

They specialise in acro-dance as both sisters have competed as gymnasts to national level and include gymnastics within their routines, offering fresh and exciting choreography which can involve lifts, throws and complex moves.

Rebecca and Lucie danced along with Lauren Brown, Maddie Hall-Law, Amber King, Lucy Mathieson and Gracie Wall in front of thousands.

Said Rebecca: “It has been a wonderful experience dancing at such impressive venues and reaching the final, only to be chosen once again from hundreds of routines as the judge’s choice.

“All the dancers can be very proud to have come so far after entering originally with simply the hope of dancing on a stage. Little did they realise how big and prestigious the stages they danced on would turn out to be as they qualified from round to round!”