‘Dynamic Streetdance’, who did a five minute routine, had been training for eight weeks as part of Howard Cottage’s young community programme. Howard Cottage has run street dance workshops for the past six years during the school holidays and they have always been extremely well attended. Howard Cottage receives a grant from Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation to help fund the workshops.

The annual event, Dance Nation Big Streetdance Show, sees various dance groups from around the region (including national champions) showcase their talents to a 500 strong audience.

Many of the young people involved were inspired by the TV programme Britain’s Got Talent, which was won by a street dance troupe, and part of their routine included a tribute to Michael Jackson.

‘Dynamic Streetdance’ were trained by a qualified dance instructor, Claire Woodhams from Streetdance Productions, a professional dance school in Hertfordshire that runs various workshops and classes encouraging young people to start dance as a hobby.

Jon Thurlow, Tenant Involvement Officer at Howard Cottage said ‘It was fantastic to see the young people go from complete novices to having the confidence and ability to perform in front of 500 people in just eight weeks. I am sure they will all remember this for a very long time and I hope they continue to develop their performance skills.’