A DANCE performance which weaves the life story of a group of friends into its exuberant steps, twirls and flourishes is coming The Wharf in Tavistock in October.
The visit marks a homecoming for company co-founder Lucy Potter, who grew up in Whitchurch and took her first dance steps there at the tender age of three.
She and Moving Stories Dance Company co-founder and fellow dancer Heather Craig will present Party Pary Party, choreographed by Lucy, which sees six performers weave a heart-warming narrative with a dynamic blend of classical ballet and musical theatre dancing.
The audience can expectilarity, pathos, romance and bubbles at their crazy soirées, as they are invited along to an early birthday sleepover, a disco, a wedding, a housewarming – with pizza delivery – and a baby shower!
All these events offer potential for artistic intepretation, not to mention colourful costumes, by Heather and Lucy and their fellow dancers Nicolas Capelle, Frances Collier, Ben Garner and Rebecca Scarrott.
For Lucy, the visit to Tavistock will be an emotional occasion.
She said: ‘I will be dedicating this performance to my dad – who passed away in 2011. He had a wicked sense of humour and a complete love of the theatre. I hope he will be looking down and smiling.’
Lucy’s passion for dance was first ignited when she was just a tot at classes with the late Carole Eager in Whitchurch. She continued dancing at Geraldine Lamb Dance School in Plymouth and performed with Tavistock’s theatrical group Personalities. Lucy’s parents, Terry and Barbara encouraged Lucy’s performing streak, being members of Tavistock Amateur Operatic Society.
Her path to the West End started when at 11 she was accepted at Elmhurst Ballet School, then based in Surrey, and went on to continue her studies at Arts Educational School in Chiswick. Lucy made her professional debut aged 19 as Victoria, the White Cat, in ‘Cats’ in Hamburg.
She went on to appear as Meg Giry in The Phantom of the Opera, and from there her career took off in London’s West End, across Europe and around the UK as well as in Canada and USA.
After a year-long stint in Mary Poppins in the West End, where Lucy met her husband Nick, she set up up her own dance and yoga studio in West London and the couple went on to adopt their daughter, Faith, now seven.
In 2019 Lucy and, fellow dancer Heather Craig, herself a mum, set up their Dance Company ‘Moving Stories’.
‘We still had a passion for dance and felt that even as mature dancers, we had something to offer and in particular, stories to tell and uplift through dance,’ she said.
As part of the visit to The Wharf, Moving Stories are staging a dance workshop for children aged eight upwards from 10.30am-11.45am on Sunday, October 16.
They will learn some of the repertoire of Party Party Party. See movingstoriesdance.com and email [email protected]. Visit tavistockwharf.com for more on the show.