(Image Creds: Amy Hutchinson)
Though it slowly dwindled as time passed by, the crowd in the sports hall was one to remember. From its sheer size to the enthusiasm that exuded from it, the congregation on Sunday afternoon was nothing if not admirable. And the overwhelming support did not stop there.
Before the trials ahead of the competitors were set to begin, Lancaster students made their way to centre stage for a warm-up. While some may have assumed such an act to be riddled with a rightful sense of winner’s confidence, such a belief could not have been more wrong. Within seconds of arriving on stage, the Lancaster competitors invited York to join them. Although I had only been in the room for mere minutes at this point, I could clearly see that, entrenched in the guise of the harsh competition that exists between York and Lancaster, in the hall were a community of young people that should pride themselves on the of unwavering support and kindness that they managed to radiate across the room.
The 3-hour-long competition was separated into styles of dance including tap, contemporary, commercial, and lyrical. Some of my favourites included UoY’s Master Tap to Arctic Monkeys’ ‘When The Sun Goes Down’, UoL’s Master Ballet to Cody Fry’s orchestral rendition of The Beatle’s ‘Eleanor Rigby’, and UoY’s Master Contemporary.
Amid the throws of competition, societies such as Lancaster’s Modern Society and York’s Commercial Society performed, highlighting that the Roses weekend is not all about competition, but about allowing students to showcase their hard work, giving students a platform to express themselves, and recognising the importance of having fun.
Instead of declaring an overall ‘winner’ and ‘loser’, the dance competition was awarded based on dance style and level, with awards given to both second and first teams. UoY came first in the following eight categories: Intermediate Ballet, Advanced Ballet, Intermediate Jazz, Advanced Tap, Intermediate Contemporary, Advanced Contemporary, Lyrical, and Advanced Street. UoL came first in the following four: Advanced Jazz, Intermediate Tap, Commercial, and Intermediate Street.