Students Perform on a World Stage

Leeds City College students took centre stage to entertain audiences at the largest ever international skills competition and careers event in London on Saturday 8th October.

12 dancers from The Leeds City College Dance Collective travelled to ExCel in London for WorldSkills 2011, which saw young people from 51 countries or regions competing in their chosen skill. The dancers were performing their ensemble piece, Maps of Identity, as a ‘showcase’ designed to entertain the event’s visitors alongside the competitions.

The Leeds City College students were selected from almost 200 UK schools and colleges by a national panel. Their piece celebrated the diverse student demographic at the College and explored how their geographical and cultural roots have shaped their lives. As well as live dance, it featured a short film produced by media tutor Ryan Woods and an original soundtrack made by former student Brandon Wheller.

Lecturer Briony Marston, who tutors the collective and choreographed the piece, said that the group benefitted in many ways from the experience of taking part in the event: “The dancers performed with skill and professionalism. Whilst the main focus of the trip was the performance, the dancers also experienced working as a company, adapting to new performance spaces, seeing work from other colleges and visiting parts of London many had not been to before.”

The event also saw a former student from South Leeds Centre scoop a bronze medal in the WorldSkills fabrication and welding competition. Jake Rambaldini studied on the Level 3 Fabrication and Weld two years ago alongside doing his apprenticeship at Doosan Babcock, which provides a range of services to support the power industries across the world and is now Jake’s full time employer.

Jake started the WorldSkills competitions when he entered regional rounds while still at College, before going through to a national level and finally the international level this month, in which he competed against young people from 31 counties and scored 532 points – just 8 points below the gold medal winner from Korea.

Leeds City College has an established partnership with Doosan Babcock, and currently has 34 learners from the company.

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Press Contact
Zoe Ward
Marketing Assistant
Leeds City College
t: 0113 284 6223
e: Zoe.Ward@leedscitycollege.ac.uk