2019: CUDS Year in Review

Swan Lake workshop participants with New Adventures Dancers Michaela Meazza and Jack Jones (May 2019)

Cambridge University Dance Society looks back over a fantastic year of regeneration in 2019!

2019 was an important year for CUDS; after a couple of years of inactivity, the society welcomed a new committee and launched a new wave of activity for the year ahead. In addition to setting up our new Facebook, Instagram, Twitter pages and website, the committee has been hard at work running events throughout the year. Here are some of our highlights:

MAY: Open Swan Lake Workshop with New Adventures
Led by two dancers, Michaela Meazza and Jack Jones, this offered a unique opportunity for 30 participants to learn repertoire from Matthew Bourne's groundbreaking dance theatre production and gain an insight into life as a professional dance artist.

OCTOBER: Committee members took to the University of Cambridge Freshers' Fair with our new banners and flyers!

OCTOBER: CUDS Freshers' Event / Open Meeting
CUDS invited representatives from various different dance societies and groups in Cambridge to an open meeting to discuss the future of dance in the city. Those attending enjoyed brilliant demonstrations from the University's Street Dance Team's Steph and Nat, and Cambridge Bachata duo Veronica and Bryan.

OCTOBER: Intermediate Ballet Workshop with Zenaida Yanowsky
We were thrilled to host former principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, Zenaida Yanowsky, for a three-hour workshop at the end of October. Zenaida led a brilliant technique class, followed by two individual coaching sessions for advanced dancers, offering a wonderful insight into the teaching style of a professional ballerina. This was followed by a Q&A, in which we were all so struck by Zenaida's immense generosity and warmth on top of her clearly outstanding talent!

NOVEMBER: RE:CONNECT
CUDS led an ambitious creative project towards the end of University term; put together over just three weeks, RE:CONNECT saw creatives across multiple disciplines come together to respond to the current climate crisis. The project culminated in a two-night sharing of work created, including original compositions, choreography, videography, and a demonstration from XR's 'Rebel Hoopers', in a vibrant and passionate expression of our anxieties, fears and hopes for the future of the world around us.

After a brilliant year of revitalisation for CUDS, keep an eye out on our Social Media as we welcome in the new year for a sneak peek of our upcoming events for 2020!

Love, The CUDS Committee Xx

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Workshop participants with ballerina Zenaida Yanowsky (October 2019)

RE:CONNECT dancers and choreographers (November 2019)