A Parade of Talent: Behind the Scenes with Colin Stanier at the Dance World Cup

Colin Stanier, our wonderful Assistant Technical Officer and Dance instructor was Parade and Opening Ceremony Coordinator at this year’s Dance World Cup:

“The annual Dance World Cup competition took place between Thursday 27th June and Saturday 6^th July 6^th across three stages at the Prague Congress Centre, in the Czech Republic.

9,500 dancers from 54 countries, aged from 4 to 25 years old, participated in this year’s competition. Dance World Cup, with its head office in Jersey, secured 37 World renowned dance judges specialising in specific genres, to oversee what has become the largest all genre dance competition in the world. In fact, in terms of numbers of competitors, Prague hosted the second largest competition in the World in 2024. Only the summer Olympics has more competitors than this competition!

On Friday 28th June, Dance World Cup competitors gathered in the Prague Old Town for its Olympic style opening ceremony and paraded through the old streets of Prague to finish in Wenceslas Square, where a stage had been specially installed to accommodate the colourful flags of representatives of all 54 countries.

As well as the competition, Dance World Cup produced 6 spectacular show. The first by a Japanese professional company, entitled Kotan and Awaji World Ballet, which featured world renowned Japanese dancers and Taiko drummers who performed on the main stage in the 3,000-seating capacity auditorium. A Spanish national school dance show, Enraizao, was also performed at the Congress centre on Saturday 6th July.

Two Galas were held on Tuesday 2nd July and two on Saturday 6th July, showcasing winning performances from the brightest upcoming young talent. These galas included classical and theatrical sections.  

Dance World Cup was honoured that the Czech Republic’s most famous Prima ballerina Daria Klementova, represented her country by judging various classical categories and presenting masterclasses throughout the event. Abby Lee Miller from Disney Channels “Dance Moms” also presented masterclasses at the event.

Further pursuing its educational ethos, the competitions organisers formed a semi-professional Dance Company with the world-renowned choreographer, Richard Wherlock, who presented two choreographies. These artistic pieces were danced by competing students, who under guidance of professional teachers from Basle Ballet Switzerland and Mr Niall McMahon from Ireland, enjoyed a very special moment in the history of Dance World Cup and have an opportunity to further their studies in dance.

My responsibilities during the event included the planning and coordination of the Opening Ceremony Parade of 15,000 people through the streets of Prague Old Town, liaising with local authorities to secure permissions, leading a team of 60 plus support personnel and the coordination of dignitaries and the 37 judges during the competition. I also supported the director John Grimshaw, in a variety of guises from hosting prize giving awards on stage to media liaison.  I’m pleased to say that while stressful at times, the event was truly memorable and I look forward to next year in Burgos, Spain. The Dance World Cup motto “Friendship through the language of Dance”, is very apt and we can look forward to making more friends as we travel forward.”

Colin teaches Ballet in Motion at 5pm and Latino Moves at 6pm every Wednesday at Les Quennevais Sports Centre.