Sequins, sparkles and spookiness: Strictly Come Dance Society comes to King’s College London

A series of unlikely duos have taken to Greenwood Theatre’s stage with the return of KCL Dance Society’s annual charity event, Strictly Come Dance Society.

The Friday 31st October performance followed the same principles of Strictly Come Dancing, but with a twist. Instead of celebrities, a sports society member was paired with a member of the dance society, and faced with the task of learning a dance routine to be performed on the night.

Over £2,900 was raised for charity from ticket sales, with 22 members from different sports societies across King’s taking part in the competition.

The show began with an Addams Family-themed group routine from the judging panel, which included Dance Society president Christiana, Joshua, Steven from KCL Rugby, and last year’s winner, Nia.

This was followed by the contestants running onto the stage and being introduced by our hosts for the evening: Cate and Seddig.

Opening the show were Coco and Toby representing KCL Lacrosse, who got the crowd going with a macarena dance. This scored 20 out of a possible 40,  and as the night went on, we saw everything from a Willy Wonka-themed routine to a Tate McRae-inspired dance.

A competition wouldn’t be complete without some friendly rivalry amongst the GKT (medical) sports teams and KCL sports societies, with the crowd booing certain members to the point where our hosts had to calm them down.

The Halloween event transformed Guy’s Campus into a spooky extravaganza, with the dance couples and audience members alike dressing up in their best Halloween costumes. A costume contest took place, which saw KCL Netball stealing the show with their cutlery Halloween costume.

After a round of voting amongst the audience, it was ultimately Rahul (GKT Men’s Hockey) and his partner Esme who won the audience’s hearts.

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For the judges’ choice, there was a tie, and after a competitive dance off it was Pedro (KCL Water Polo) and Eva who were crowned the competition’s winners, with their Latina Snow White number.

The pair divided the winnings between their two chosen charities, which were icandance, a charity that offers dance sessions for disabled young people, and Disability Sports Coach, which brings disabled people together across London to keep active.

Speaking to The King’s Tab, Christiana, president of KCL Dance Society, explained that the evening was “a huge success this year.”

“We had a really fun Halloween theme, and everyone – the audience, couples and judges all rose to the occasion, dressing up in some brilliant and spooky outfits!” Christiana added.

She praised the standard of performance, as well as the input from choreographers: “The performances themselves were of such high level; I truly did not expect our couples to exceed my expectations.

“A huge shout out goes to all of the insanely talented choreographers who put together such brilliant pieces and concepts, they really brought the show to life.”

The president was particularly impressed by how many non-dancers from sport societies took to the stage, and admired their “courage” as well as their “wonderful” performances.

Reflecting on the competition as a whole, Christiana said: “Overall, I am just so grateful that the event was able to bring the student community at King’s closer and it was the perfect opportunity to bridge the sports societies together. Especially considering this was a charity event, it was such an amazing event, and I am so excited for future Strictlys.”