Sentinel dance troupe thrills with Jacko tribute

Published by Steve Murphy for Sentinel Housing Association Ltd in Housing and also in Communities, Education

Basingstoke teenagers who only met each other five days ago are to pay tribute to pop legend Michael Jackson with a street dance routine this week.

The 12-strong troupe formed on Monday at the start of the annual Get With summer youth activity project, run by Sentinel Housing Association and Everest Community College.

Since then, they’ve been learning Jacko’s moves, and will perform Thriller at the Junction 6 youth centre, Everest Community College, on Friday July 31 at 3pm.

Everest Community College’s Dawn Purver, Get With project manager said: “Everyone’s had a great first week, and the weather hasn’t dampened spirits. The teenagers only met on Monday, and have worked really hard to put on a great show. It’s great to see so many young people enjoying our campus facilities.”

Sentinel Neighbourhood Manager Melissa Chapman added: “As not many people are going away on holiday this year, we’ve expanded Get With to more than 40 free events for 8-17 year olds over the summer. We’ve been overwhelmed and have 350 young people booked in to beat the boredom with Get With.

Get With was established by Sentinel in 2005, and also runs in Fleet, Farnborough and Aldershot. The project aims to provide positive activities for young people across North Hampshire during the summer holidays. The Basingstoke programme is funded by Sentinel, Everest, and local partners.

http://www.sentinelha.org.uk/residentsonline