Students from NSCD delivered a performance supporting Space2 ‘Recipe for Life 2016’ commemorating 100 years since the Battle of the Somme in WW1. Working with Leeds College of Music the dancers told of post War Britain and visions of life after War through the eyes of families and communities.

Performed at the Quarry stage at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, visitors were also privy to poetry, drama song and film to mark the occasion from other community performers across the region.

Francesca McCarthy, NSCD Head of Performance said ‘We were delighted to be working with Space2 and the Leeds College of Music again on this exciting project. The students delivered an energetic, uplifting performance which represented the need for peace and how families and the community worked to a future of post war Britain. At NSCD we relish the opportunity to work with partners which in turn expands the repertoire and creativity of our individual students.’

1st July 2016 marked the 100th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest military battles in history. The Battle of the Somme fought between July and November 1916, the infantry began their advance at 7.30am on the clear midsummer’s morning of 1 July 1916. By the end of the first day, some 57,000 Commonwealth and 2,000 French soldiers had become casualties – more than 19,000 of whom had been killed. When the offensive was halted in November, more than 1,000,000 Commonwealth, French and German soldiers had been wounded, captured, or killed.