A DANCE group with members from Chirk and St Martins narrowly missed out on a place in the final of a BBC dance show on Saturday.
Brothers of Dance made it to the semi-finals of The Greatest Dancer, which aired live on BBC One on Saturday, but were sent home from the competition despite putting on a highly-rated performance.
The theme for Saturday’s dance was military, and the group, which includes Chirk-born Iffan Roberts and St Martins-based Matthew Miller, gained 92.7 per cent of the studio audience’s approval.
Their performance was also praised by the show’s judges, with Oti Mabuse describing it as ‘powerful’.
Fellow judge Todrick Hall added: “Brothers of Dance; what you just did up there inspires me so much.
“It was amazing to see the friendship and the way you all bond and work and help each other out every week.”
But despite the plaudits, the group narrowly missed out on a place in the final after being sent home in accordance with the public vote.
Reacting to the group being sent home, their dance captain Cheryl was full of praise for the members.
“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
“I adore you all and have got to know you all as people, and I loved being your dance captain.
“I’ve never known anyone to work so hard and push themselves so hard.
“Thank you and thank you to everyone who voted for you guys.”
Iffan’s father, Shaun, gave thanks to everyone who supported the group during their journey.
“Myself, Iffan’s mother Morag, and his brother Dan, would like to say how extremely proud we are of Iffan after what has been an amazing journey on The Greatest Dancer.
“We would like to thank everyone that has supported and voted for Iffan and The Brothers Of Dance since there first live audition.
“The Boys hope that the stigma of young males being afraid to dance has now gone and they have inspired lots of males out there to start dancing.
“Their motto has always been ‘boys dance too’ – as a father of a male dancer, it makes me feel so proud of him.
“Best of luck to all of the remaining acts in the final.”
St Martins dancer, Matthew, who led the group’s performance in the quarter-finals, is a former St Martins School pupil and former Border Counties School of Dance student.
His former headteacher, Sue Lovecy, said she was extremely proud of Matthew and the group.
“We are immensely proud of Matthew; his hard work, dedication and talent is evident,” she said.
“He is a wonderful role model to other young dancers and we wish him every success for his future career.”
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