South Tyneside dance pupils dazzle at Disneyland Paris for special pre parade performance

Pupils from Stagecoach South Tyneside, which is based at St Joseph's Catholic Academy, in Hebburn, were among 500 students chosen from across the country to perform in front of the iconic Cinderella’s castle in the ‘Dance to Dream’ pre parade.

Principal Catherine Hymers said: "We have had a super time dancing the dream. We loved the Lion King Medley at the Magic Castle, The Parade and our Matilda show.

"Disney's head of education and performance personally commended us on an outstanding ‘stand out’ performance. We’ve also been invited to perform at The Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End in November and I’m sure another Disney trip will be on the cards soon."

She added: “We were meant to take a troupe back in 2021, but it was cancelled due to Covid so our performers have been very patiently waiting for an extra year.

"Our troupe are aged between 5-18 years old and they are such a lovely, talented little team. We have loved rehearsing since before Christmas for the parade to sing the big sing Lion King Medley at the Castle with the Disney characters, and we were even lucky enough to get through the auditions to perform in The Disney Stage Show.”

Stagecoach Performing Arts South Tyneside is part of a network of more than 3000 extra-curricular performing arts schools worldwide.

According to the school, demand for performing arts classes has risen recently, with a 7% increase in student numbers compared to pre-Covid figures.