Doon Dancers

The Doon Dancers dazzled the audience at the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock in the East Ayrshire's Got Talent show with a slow and emotive routine choreographed entirely by the students. The girls performed a contemporary dance routine to “Skinny Love” by Birdy. This is the second time the girls have appeared in the annual show for the best of East Ayrshire' school performers. The following S3 students took part: Chloe Chalmers, Lauren Ferguson, Shania Brown, Cheryl Allison, Caitlin Steele and Tamsin Thorburn. The audience of councillors, parents, pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed the show. S3 dancer Lauren Ferguson said: “I really liked the opportunity to perform in front of an audience. The atmosphere was really good and it was great fun. I also really liked seeing the primary students perform. Their dance routines were really good and they were full of ideas. It was great meeting students from other schools who had the same interests as me.”
 

Dance Fest

On Tuesday 5th February, five talented dancers from Doon Academy attended the annual East Ayrshire Dance Fest at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock. Shania Brown, Caitlyn Steele, Lauren Ferguson, Chloe Chalmers and Cheryl Allison had the honour of performing first in the show which added extra pressure on the girls.
The girls rose to the challenge and showed that even with pressure; they were able to perform to a very high standard. Dancing to a mash up of songs including Boom Boom Pow, Gangnam Style, Beautiful Monster and Run the World, the girls showed that Doon Academy has a real flair for dance.

They excelled in their performance with many teachers and pupils from bigger schools commenting on how good they were at rehearsals. After a lengthy dress rehearsal, the girls had time for a quick dinner before getting their costumes and hair and make up ready for the show.

The Grand Hall was packed with parents and teachers and with professional lights and sound, the girls felt like they were on Broadway! The show was a resounding success and everyone agreed it was the best year yet.

A special mention to Shania Brown and Caitlynne Steele who taught P5/6 from Dalmellington Primary the dance they performed on the evening. Not only are these girls fantastic dancers, they a clearly great teachers too!

Well done to everyone involved.

Dance success

East Ayrshire’s annual Dance Festival took place on Thursday 15th March at the Grange Academy and three of Doon Academy’s pupils took to the stage to shine on the night. After the group dropped from eight pupils to three pupils, it looked like there would be confusion on stage and potentially we would have to drop out but the girls rearranged positions, practised until their muscles ached and ended up making the dance look truly professional on the night.

Dancing to Tik Tok by Keisha, Cheryl Allison, Shania Brown and Alana Murray looked like trained experts as they showed off their dancing skills on stage. As well as dancing skills the girls helped with hair and make up backstage as Dalmellington Primary were also there performing on the night. The girls’ practice and hard work paid off as compliments rushed in telling them how wonderfully they had performed.

Well done to the three girls who should be proud of themselves for representing Doon Academy in such a mature and professional manner.

Y Dance Showcase

On Saturday 11th February 5 Doon Academy pupils attended Y Dance’s annual showcase at The Magnum Leisure Centre, Irvine.

Lisa McTaggart, Paige Collins, Fiona Kennedy, Alana Murray and Cheryl Allison performed two fantastic dance routines to a packed auditorium and delighted the audience with dances to ‘Black and Gold’ and ‘Beautiful Monster’. The girls have been working hard since October and it finally paid off as both dances received a massive cheer from those watching.



The day began at 11.30 with a warm up for the 100 girls involved and then the groups rehearsing on stage. They then went on to have a full rehearsal with schools from Ayrshire and Glasgow, all working out where they had to be with their routines. The show finally started at 7.30pm with relatives and friends amongst the audience to watch the girls. All groups performed brilliantly with Doon showcasing particularly well. The show finished with a mass finale number to ‘I’ve Had the Time of my Life’ which looked fantastic as all 100 girls moved in unison.

The Doon girls left The Magnum with tired legs but big smiles as all had enjoyed an unforgettable day. Well done to those involved- wear your new Y Dance t-shirts with pride!

Y Dance success

 Congratulations to S2 pupils who have completed their Y Dance project and received their certificates.  The dancers performed a street dance based around the theme of drugs to an audience of parents, pupils and staff.

Matchfit and Y-Dance

In the PE department pupils are undertaking Matchfit a football programme with Kilmarnock Football Club. Also Y-Dance group is returning to the school to work with dance pupils from the Dazzle masterclass.

Y Dance Success

On Tuesday 22nd March, 8 dancers from Doon Academy celebrated passing their Y Dance course. The girls were involved in an 8 week programme which highlighted the negative aspects of alcohol, drugs and other teenage contemporary issues. Alongside the serious side of the course, the girls also received dance lessons from professional dancer, Caroline Burnside. The girls performed their dance at the Kilmarnock Palace Theatre in February and also on Tuesday with an audience of parents, grandparents, pupils, senior management and staff. The girls gave a presentation using a PowerPoint to highlight their aims and then performed their dance. Pupils received their certificates and everyone enjoyed the tea, coffee, juice and biscuits served after the performance. Well done to Rachel Boyce, Rachel Murphy, Lorelle White, Nicky Fairbairn, Carrie Thomson, Halle Fitzsimmons, Shayla Chalmers and Ashley Mitchell on passing the course. All the girls would like to give Caroline a special thank you for all the help, enthusiasm and energy she brought to the course.

Y Dance graduation

Parents and guardians of the Y Dance graduates will be visiting the school to celebrate the dancers’ success with their project.

Wii Dance Sessions

On Friday 21st January, 90 pupils took part in a Nintendo Wii Event in Doon Academy’s Library. For 30 minutes, pupils danced and exercised to music on the Wii. The event was held to promote dancing in the school and show how much fun and exercise you can gain through the medium of dance. Thank you to Mrs Bax for use of the library and Derek Robertson from LTS who has given the Wii to Doon Academy on long term loan. Well done to Shania Brown, Alana Murray, Ritchie Lindores and Craig Mitchell who all received a prize for ‘Best Dancers’.

To see the video click on dance in the links.

Wii Dance at Doon Academy

Y dance display at SLF

On Thursday 23rd September, 13 S3 pupils travelled to the SECC in Glasgow to take part in the Learning Festival. All the pupils had been involved with East Ayrshire’s pilot scheme which highlighted the dangers of smoking, drinking and taking drugs alongside encouraging the pupils to take part in exercise, in particular dance. The pupils had learned a dance routine which they performed in front of an audience at the SECC and some spoke about their experiences. Well done to the following pupils who had a great day out and represented their school and district in a very positive manner: Hope Stark, Zoe Gibson, Demi McCreadie, Varri Murdoch, Tammy Reid, Tami McLelland, Hazel Murdoch, Raegan Heggie, Blair McCrone, Carly Hay, Fiona Kennedy, Rachel Maxey, Kody Nutt and Alex Dearie.

Prom night

Doon Academy’s inaugural senior prom, held at the Western House Hotel, was a wonderful success. The MC for the evening was former Head Girl, from 1996, Lorna Dempsey who quizzed everyone on the school’s current events and awarded the prizes for ‘Cheeky Chappie’ to Duncan McCluskie, ‘Drama Queens’ Kyle Stewart and Kelsey Dunn, ‘Best Dressed’ Aimee McKnight, ‘Star Girl’ Stephanie Roberts and ‘Star Boy’ Lee Orr.

Pupils, staff and guests had a delicious meal of Tomato and Basil soup, Chicken served with Vegetables, Chocolate Torte, Coffee and Chocolates. Everyone then danced the night away to the melodic sounds of ‘Waterfront’. Congratulations to everyone who attended and made the evening such a special event. Thank you to the Prom Committee for their superb organisation of the evening, Lorna Dempsey for being a splendid MC and to the first-class staff at the Western House Hotel.

For more pictures go to the photo gallery.

Oral Health

There will be oral health checks at the community centre and Doon Academy pupils will be performing a street dance based on the theme of oral hygiene.

Dance Fit

S2 dance pupils who worked on the project Dance Fit performed their dance piece called ‘Oor Story’ at a presentation at the Magnum in Irvine. The invited audience really enjoyed the contemporary and street dance. Congratulations to all pupils and staff who were involved in the project.

Halloween Disco

On Thursday 30th October Doon Academy will be holding a Halloween Disco with a twist: All pupils will be encouraged to wear pink. Plus all ticket sales will be donated towards breast cancer.