A CHRISTMAS Carol has been transformed into a festival of dance.
A special event spread the festive spirit and kept the visitors on their toes at Beamish Masonic Hall.
Second-year students at Sunderland University performed throughout Tuesday to celebrate the time of year and show off their dancing skills as part of their course.
The dance was split into three parts to represent the three spirits which visit Ebenezer Scrooge – the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
First, it depicted childhood, happiness and memories, then generosity, goodwill and celebration, and finally fear, sadness and a sense of repentance during a 10-minute set.
The 15 students wore Victorian costumes provided by the hall.
The piece included a mixture of traditional dances from the 19th century – including waltz, polka, gavotte and quadrille.
School groups from the area visited to watch the students strut their stuff and perform their choreographed piece of work.
The aim of the piece was to show off a Victorian story, wearing traditional clothing and dancing in an authentic style.
Sarah Riach, a performance arts lecturer at the university, said: “With it being near to Christmas, a festive production, and choreographing it with traditional dances, worked perfectly.
“Beamish Masonic Hall was the ideal place for the students to perform, with their costumes helping all the messages from the dances being portrayed.”
She added: “It’s always beneficial for the students to go out and perform in front of a live audience.”
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