Stardust Revue:

48 Years & Still Going Strong

For the 48th year, Ginny Lathrop’s Newtown-based dance school presented its annual “Stardust Revue.” Dancers from Lathrop School of Dance took command of Edmond Town Hall for five grand performances last weekend, beginning on the evening of Friday, June 2, and continuing through Sunday, June 4.

Two of the performances were benefits: Friday evening’s Revue was for Danbury Hospital, and Sunday’s matinee was for scholarships of Newtown students. Lathrop School said Good-Bye to six gradutating Newtown seniors this year, in fact, and all were given special time on stage last weekend.

Erin Driscoll, Heather Coladarci, Liz Kochuba, Shawna King and Tara Mould performed the overture for “Stardust 2000,” and Ryan Braun was featured in a solo performance, “Here’s Ryan,” early in the show’s second act. Erin has been dancing for 12 years with LSoD, and was one of the school’s assistants this year. Heather is leaving for college after dancing and performing with LSoD for 11 years; she also worked as an assistant with the school this season. Liz has been dancing with the school for ten years, Shawna for 12, and Tara for six years. Ryan has been dancing with Lathrop School for 13 years.

Between the Overture and Finalé of each show, Lathrop School students presented 39 performances. There were dancers of all ages and abilities, and performances of hip-hop, ballet, tap, swing, and everything else the dancers learned during the previous 12 months. The costumes were gorgeous, the steps ranged from darlingly simple for the youngest students to inspiringly complicated by the more advanced students, and the show was a non-stop musical marvel.

Stardust Revue, says Mrs Lathrop, is a “fastly-paced show with no plots, fantasies or messages.” The event is purely a showcase to present what all of her students have learned “during their dance year and to present [it] to the best of their ability.” It is a weekend of students presenting in dance form their lessons of concentration, coordination, learning to take direction and accepting a challenge.