Worthing’s Glendale Theatre Arts School

Worthing’s Glendale Theatre Arts School has been praised for putting the town on the international map after scooping a stunning 33 medals – 19 Gold, 10 Silver and five Bronze – at the prestigious Dance World Cup in Paris Disneyland.

The school – which was one of nine from England to take part in the event – also won four Judges Awards:

• Best Group in the Dance World Cup – which is the most prestigious category.
• Most promising 13 and under dancer – out of hundreds of participants.
• Best Song and Dance group.
• Best Modern group of the whole competition.

More than 100 schools from 23 countries competed in 67 different dance categories. England was the overall runner-up, coming second to Germany.

The praise came from Bob Smytherman, Chairman of Worthing County Local Committee, which contributed £5000 to the School from its Community Initiative Funding.

He said: “Glendale’s amazing haul of medals almost single-handedly enabled England to come second after Germany. The dancers totally outshone the other English schools – which between them gained three Gold, one Silver and one Bronze.

“In fact, Germany won the overall title of Dance World Cup Champions because it had 26 schools compared with England’s nine.

“Glendale Arts School is to be congratulated for an outstanding achievement. The dancers’ success is a worthy reward for their commitment and talent and certainly put our town firmly on the map at an international event.”