BRIGHTLY-dressed children used the medium of dance to reflect on various periods of history yesterday.

Nine schools totalling around 350 pupils danced on the stage of The Regent Centre for the Christchurch Dance Festival for the event, which was organised by The Grange School with the help of dance teacher, Gemma Mantell, and school games organiser, Dan Moody.

Burton Primary, Christchurch Infant, Highcliffe St Marks, The Priory, St Joseph’s, Mudeford Infant, Mudeford Junior, Christchurch Junior and Twynham Primary Schools also took part in the festival.

Gemma Mantell, dance teacher, said: “This was put together by The Grange School and Christchurch Sports Trust.

“This year’s theme is A Dance Journey Through History and each school had to pick a subject from history.

“I then went into each school and ran a workshop with them before they rehearsed for the show.”

She added that there were no overall winners of the event but instead prizes were given to each school for their achievement and congratulate them on taking part. There were nine primary schools and one senior school featuring in the event.

The Grange School were the first to perform with their piece reflecting on the holocaust, while Burton Primary School focussed on Ancient Greece.

Christchurch Infants School floated around the stage after putting their imaginary space suits on to re-create the momentous occasion of the first man on the moon, while Highcliffe St Marks travelled through six different eras by doing The Charleston and jumped around the stage to Silento’s Watch Me (Whip/ Nae Nae), which saw many members of the audience join in.

The Priory School’s routine was based on ‘the many struggles of mankind’ donning camouflage uniforms, while St Joseph’s School did several dances from the past few decades.

Little princesses in sparkly dresses and caped knights from Mudeford Infants represented medieval times, while Mudeford Juniors had created a piece about tribal warfare. Christchurch Juniors represented the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and Twynham Primary School danced around a maypole.