Dance team given dream invite to perform on Broadway

New York’s Town Hall will host 16 of Cowal Dance and Fitness’s performers in July 2025 with their high-energy show that will include acrobatic arts, tap, contemporary dance, ballet and baton-twirling.

Since its creation by female suffragists in 1921 the Town Hall has broken boundaries with onstage arrests, speeches by Richard Nixon, and Jackie Rosevelt and debut concerts for Bob Dylan, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

And now the Argyll dancers will take to the famous stage with members ranging from seven to 40 years old. They are: Lucy Mullins, Elise Morris, Chantelle Ritchie, Theo Ritchie, Emily-rose Ritchie, Sophie Peden, Eowyn Wilson, Rosie Herbert, Douglas Conning, Elise Wilson, Katie Rose Morrison, Ailish Brown, Emma Peden, Evie Campbell, Payton Currie and Shona Macquarie.

Dance coach and owner of Cowal Dance and Fitness Mandy Hendren explained how this exciting venture came about.

“To get the opportunity to go to Broadway I had to send an audition video of the dancers in some of our performances, to Smile productions who organise trips in various countries; we were accepted to perform,” she said.

In order to take up this extraordinary opportunity and perform at the 1500-seater theatre, the Argyll group will have significant costs to cover as Caroline Brown, one of the dancers’ parents, outline.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “To help the group accomplish their dreams of performing on Broadway they are fundraising to help their members cover some of their costs.”