New dance act found to headline festival (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

New dance act found to headline festival

12:00pm Saturday 16th June 2012 in News By Laura Shack

A PAIR of celebrity dance stars have side-stepped the wrath of Cricklade residents after a late cancellation for the town’s festival.

Britain’s Got Talent’s Twist and Pulse faced a backlash from the town after they cancelled a confirmed appearance less than a month before this weekend’s Cricklade Festival.

Around 6,000 people flock to the free event each year and organisers were at panic stations when the news broke.

But to the relief of organisers and with just days to spare, a substitute performance from the Twist and Pulse Dance Company has now been agreed.

The festival’s committee paid an undisclosed four-figure fee for Twist and Pulse dancers Ashley Glazebrook and Glen Murphy and were initially horrified to discover that they had lost their main attraction.

Cricklade Festival chairman Nigel Wynne said: “It was hugely disappointing, especially with it being so close to the event.”

It transpired that the act had double-booked events and the mistake was only revealed when Cricklade resident and torchbearer Damien Davis spotted online that they were due to perform elsewhere on the same date.

This week Ashley and Glen said: “We rely on others to manage our bookings and it seems that this was not done properly by the team we working with at the time.”

They added that they still wanted Cricklade to have an exciting dance act for the festival and were confident the Twist and Pulse Dance Company would put on a great show.

The group of animated dancers, created by Twist and Pulse, made it to the semi-finals of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent and festival organiser Nigel Wynne believes they could be better than their makers.

“We’re really pleased to get the dance company – they’ll be a lot of fun and my teenage son thinks it’s actually a better option.”

The dancers are due to perform at 12.30pm and 2.30pm at the fun-packed event, which takes place at St Sampsons school field of Cricklade’s High Street on Sunday, June 17 from 11am to 4pm.

Along with dance acts, the festival will feature entertainment such as Granny Tourismo and an escapologist, plus a variety of stalls, games and live music.

For details on the festival schedule, visit crickladetownfestival.com or call Nigel Wynne on 01793 752685.