Faith With Works School of Dance Holds Ninth Recital at The Hub 757

By Glen Mason
New Journal and Guide
Arts and Culture Correspondent

SUFFOLK

It’s dance recital season.

Take an evening out and support the stars and entertainers of the future at your nearest dance school or academy.

Faith With Works School of Dance held its ninth annual recital this past Sunday at the Hub 757 in Suffolk, VA. The school is under the direction of its CEO and owner Jasmine M. Perkins.

The dancers, ages 4 to 18, and a few older ones, are serious about their art. After school is not enough. It would help if you respected the school-age participants for sacrificing playtime to do their due diligence.

After a robust, attention-getting opener to a rendition of Team Love’s “Broadway.” Team Dream followed that routine with good, defined lines during their ballet to “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.”

Team Hope moved the house’s audience to the beat of “How Will I Know.” They put forth a spirited number. They set the evening’s tempo.

The tap routine to Annie’s “Hard Luck Life” was choreographed to prepare the troupe for regional performances at the Attucks Theatre and Broadway auditions. The audio had worked out so you could hear the rhythmic drumming of tap shoes. Tap has recently grown in popularity with dance schools and companies this year. 

For their second number Team Dream took the stage in yellow, shimmering, roaring 20s flapper costumes that allowed them to “Ease On Down the Road,” which would make Richmond’s “William. “Bo Jangles and the late Norfolk dancer and choreographer Jean Whidbee proud.

The older dancers of Team Grace used folding chairs as an intriguing prop to a very stylish and graceful number to Love “Don’t Live Here Any More” before intermission.

Every year the production quality of the Faith Works School of Dance recital reflects the hard work of the dance students, parents, and staff commit themselves to. To say it’s a team effort would be disingenuous. Judging from the audience’s encouraging applause, it is a growing dance community. 

The company’s “One Night Only” finale was a peek at future entertainment and professional entertainers in the making and to come.