Last week, the Rhoda McGaw Theatre, part of the Ambassadors Entertainment Group, hosted the Woking Dance Space for their annual showcase. The event featured a cast of over one hundred dancers aged between 20 and 85. Under the title 'The Rhythm of Life', the WDS Committee aimed to highlight the many disciplines of dance, including contemporary, tap, ballet, street, and jazz.
About Woking Dance Space
The Dance Space is a registered charity based in Mayford. Its mission is to encourage dance as a creative and healthy activity, foster social connections and community, and provide affordable dance classes for adults regardless of age, previous training, or experience.
The Showcase
In total, there were 22 sequences, paced with slick choreography and imaginative staging. The stage management added to the impact by ensuring the show sped along effortlessly. The programme was cleverly grouped into skill levels, with the beginner programmes particularly drawing attention. Their dances illustrated new fulfilment and practical skill achievement.
Standout performances included 'Ever After' (choreography by Shani Nash) for Beginners Ballet, 'Incredible' (choreographed by Helen Ledsome) for Improvers Tap, and the advanced Open Jazz interpretation of 'Let's Dance' (choreographed by Charlotte Wyschna), which attracted substantial applause. However, picking highlights feels unfair because the programme as a whole celebrated shared endeavour: an uplifting display of colour, vitality, and creativity, reflected in the over 500 costumes used throughout the evening.
The showcase captured the essential spirit of Woking Dance Space, enjoyed by a packed and enthusiastic audience.
Guildford Opera's 'King for a Day'
In another cultural highlight, Guildford Opera presented Verdi's 'King for a Day' at Holy Trinity Church. The opera had a disastrous premiere at La Scala in 1840, withdrawn after a single performance. However, Guildford Opera's production revealed it as a gem: an early Verdi work with thrusts of energy and harmonic sweeps, composed when Verdi was barely into his twenties.
The score possesses a 'jaunty exuberance' with rarely a hint of the emotional gravitas that defines his later masterpieces. Under stage director Valeria Perboni, the production emphasised this exuberance, injecting delightful mischief. The storyline, described as 'a load of tosh', was treated with a modern dress approach: the King reimagined as a swaggering Formula One racing entrepreneur, effectively interpreted by baritone Simon Wilson.
The principals, professional singers supported by a talented amateur chorus, worked as a tight ensemble. Jon Openshaw and Antonida Kocharova returned with customary flair, while Matt Connolly brought strong tonal warmth. Lisa Moffat and Richard Bacon completed the cast with engaging stage chemistry. The production was under the baton of Lewis Gaston, who anchored passages while attentively shadowing the action.
The Guildford chorus excelled, moving nimbly through a score that is by turns melodramatic and lyrically romantic. Nearly two centuries old, 'King for a Day' emerged not as a dusty curiosity but as a happy discovery of something oddly fresh and wonderfully alive.
