Best Youth Troupe - Best Troupe Overall - RJC Dance ‘NATRO-BEAT’ Leeds West Indian Carnival 2023 Recap

As this is the 30^th anniversary year for RJC Dance, we have so much to be grateful for and celebrate. There are many amazing highlights and memorable moments from the last nine months, but we cannot overstate how incredibly special and deeply moving the whole Leeds West Indian Carnival 2023 experience was.

We started the weekend with RJC Dance Youth Provision members, the mighty Shahck Out Youth Dance opening with their outstanding performance of 'Soca Poms', choreographed by Nillanthie Morton, at the Leeds West Indian Carnival Royalty Show 2023. We absolutely blew the roof off the Leeds Playhouse!

It was then the main event for the RJC Dance ‘NATRO-BEAT’ Leeds West Indian Carnival Troupe 2023, which exceeded all our expectations. We loved celebrating with you all and seeing all members of our community and beyond take part in the joy of Carnival!

We then closed off the week with our Shahck Out Juniors participating in the procession at the 25th Chapel Allerton Festival, showcasing our 2023 Carnival Princess.

Did you miss out on any of the action? You can see some behind the scenes coverage in a lovely feature from BBC Radio Leeds (you can listen to the whole interview here), discussing our stunning costumes from designer Rhian Kempadoo Millar & Mango Arts creative team, as well as the excitement around Carnival and what it means for us.

We also had a lovely write up in Leeds Inspired (link: https://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/events/rjc-dance-mango-arts-natro-beat-carnival-troupe-2023) and featured on ITV Calendar news.

It was a week of immeasurable joy and pride from everyone here at RJC Dance staff team & board members, performers and all of the incredible volunteers & supporters. Thank you as always for supporting us and making all our Carnival magic & dreams come true. We could not have participated and performed at this calibre without your constant dedication and focus. We are honoured and thrilled to have won Best Youth Troupe and Best Troupe Overall!