Tuesday 29 June 2010

Salford's Got Talent

I'm not a regular attendee of the Langworthy Community Forum, which meets every other month. It's usually quite well attended but is also usually on a night when I'm off doing something else! However, this month, I happened to be free so went along with hubby. I'm so glad I did.

At the end of the meeting, in the small upstairs room of the St Luke's parish hall, we had the pleasure of a performance by four very talented Salford superstars-to-be. The performers - three singers and a dancer - were all supported by the Salford Foundation, which helps children and young people in Salford to pursue personal development opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them because of family or financial constraints. Their talent was amazing. The singers all had beautiful voices and transformed from nervous kids to true performers in the blink of an eye. The dancer showed wonderful energy and character, although I wonder how many of the people at the forum really 'get' street dance! However, one young girl in particular, Megan, really stood out as being very special. She sang a Carrie Underwood song called 'Temporary Home' that literally moved me to tears. Performance isn't just about raw talent, it's about engaging the audience and drawing them in. As a singer myself, I feel I can say that performance is just as much about emotion, expression and acting, as it is about the voice and despite her young age, Megan was able to pour so much emotion into her song, it was truly remarkable.

All four kids gave wonderful and surprisingly mature performances that were throughly enjoyed by everyone in the room. They will all be appearing in the show Ollie wiva Twist on August 25th at the Lowry Theatre. Tickets are only £6 via the Lowry website, or £5 from the box office.

Proceeds from the show will be donated to the Salford Foundation Trust and the Salford Lads Club. If you can make it, I highly recommend coming along. Not only will you be supporting all the young people involved in the show, you will also be supporting two very worthwhile youth organisations and, I'm certain, you'll get an evening of great entertainment too.