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Britney video goes viral – #ITSBRIGHTONBRITNEY!

Video produced by local dance company to celebrate Pride and welcome Britney Spears to Brighton goes viral!

BRITNEY Spears will be headlining Brighton & Hove Pride on the Saturday, August 4, when she will perform her Las Vegas residency show Piece Of Me in its entirety.

Brighton-based renowned dance group 201 Dance Company and super fan choreographer Andrea Walker assembled some of Brighton’s most talented dancers to create a dance video to the iconic Britney track “Gimme More”, which in a few days has been viewed by more than 47,000 people with 740 shares on Facebook and 1.5k on YouTube.

Kemp Town based Britney super-fan Andrea thought of the concept, contacted his best local dancers and choreographed the routine. The video has almost 40 Brighton based dancers who had just four rehearsals to ensure the routine was perfect.

The footage was filmed in five hours on a sunny Sunday morning in Brighton by filmmaker, Ben Mark who along with Andrea was keen to include Brighton landmarks including Brighton Pier, i360, Brighton Beach, the West Pier, and Madeira Terraces in the footage.

201 dancers were joined by Streetfunk, and the project was supported by University of Brighton Graduate JP Omari and Marina Studio.

Andrea Walker
Andrea Walker

Andrea Walker, says: “Everyone who knows me, knows I am a massive Britney Spears fan. Not only I love her music, but her album ‘Blackout’ helped me overcome some of the toughest times in my adolescence as a young gay teen. She’s had a huge influence on my work, and today she continues to be an inspirational figure to many in the LGBT+ community. When it was announced she would headline Pride in our city, I knew I had to assemble every single Brighton dancer I knew and do something special! I’ve encouraged people to share the video on social media – let’s get this all the way to Britney”.

Stand-Out Dance of the Summer…… The Guardian

201 Dance Company is known for its LGBT+ Hip-Hop theatre work. They are about to tour the UK with their original production SKIN: a fast paced, emotionally driven story of family, identity and belonging that explores a boy’s intimate journey of gender transition. Blending urban and contemporary styles and original music, award winning choreographer Andrea Walker directs a cast of severn dancers in a fast paced, emotionally driven story of identity and belonging.

For full details of the SKIN tour, click here:

Miguel Santiago – a breath of fresh air

Miguel Santiago
Miguel Santiago

Great violinists have a special connection with Brighton going back many years. After the Italian virtuoso Niccolo Paganini played at the Old Ship Hotel in 1831 the hotels magnificent Paganini Ballroom was named after him.

Remember the name Miguel Santiago, you will hear it often over the coming months as he brings his exciting electric violin to the stage in many local venues.

Miguel’s violin story began when he was just six years old at the Music Conservatoire in Málaga. For the next twelve years he studied classical violin learning all the classic masterpieces for the instrument.

He says: “Those twelve years at the Conservatoire were not easy. I learnt the patience, discipline and dedication needed to perform at the highest levels and learning the classics made me understand music from a different perspective.

He played with the youth orchestra of Malaga for five years and formed his own string quartet which performed at weddings and parties.

He continues: “Performing at weddings and events was amazing, but I wanted to do something different.”

Two years ago he acquired his first electric violin, started learning contemporary popular music and has never looked back. Whether he is playing opera or the Beatles he brings a unique style to the music he performs. He has the looks, he has the talent and the audiences are going wild for his unique fusion of classic pop.

He says: “Playing an instrument gives me a wonderful feeling inside and most importantly, it brings people together. I am very excited about this new stage in my career and look forward to performing my music with all the local performers.

You can catch Miguel on the outdoor stage at the Queens Arms on Pride Sunday, August 5 from noon where he will be performing with Miss Jason.

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