Thousands of people will enjoy a new experience under the Big Top this weekend.
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Dance Sensations has found a new COVID-safe way to stage its end-of-year concert and everyone is invited to the celebration.
More than 750 students have been preparing all year to perform multiple shows in front of 600 people at a time on Saturday and Sunday.
The performances are traditionally held at Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre which remains closed, so principal Amanda Barr sourced an 800-seat Big Top from Queensland.
Under present social distancing restrictions Dance Sensations can book it up to 75 per cent capacity. Shows at 9.30am, 12.30pm, 4.30pm and 7.30pm each day need to be pre-booked for the Big Top located at Macedonia Park, Berkeley.
"When we needed to make some final decisions about our annual end-of-year showcase, theatres were still closed due to COVID restrictions," Mrs Barr said.
"After the year that our students have had, missing out on so many events and going through dancing on Zoom, we wanted to offer them an experience they will never forget as a celebration to mark the end of a very different year.
"We have so many special surprises up our sleeves for our students this weekend and we are beyond excited to give them a new and very different experience."
Mrs Barr said having such a large venue with plenty of space provided a chance for the community to come and celebrate Christmas and the end of 2020 with the dancers. Then from Monday the Big Top is being hired out to three other dance schools.
Hudson's Circus has travelled down from Queensland with equipment to help stage the performances and Wollongong United is also helping out.
"We are erring on the side of caution with our COVID safety plan but the Big Top has allowed us to have a much bigger space.
"It is a huge 40 metres by 35 metres. We feel it is a safer option."
Mrs Barr said it was really important she found a suitable location after such a challenging 2020.
"These kids have worked towards this all year," she said.
"We weren't able to have our mid year showcase. And we didn't want our students to miss out again.
"We had to make the call early because we are such a big dance studio we didn't want to wait until the last minute.
"We want to make sure our students had something to celebrate surviving this year.
"We have had to separate the kids into smaller shows so we can adhere to COVID safety rules even back stage and in the dressing rooms.
"People can book online up until the moment each show starts."
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
