A NEW dance crew is giving children and young people in and around Bude the chance to shine — and people can catch them at Friday’s Light Up Bude event.

LBD Krew — Life Boat Day Krew — was originally set up for Bude Lifeboat Day to raise money for the cause. Run by Zoe Reeves and Jade Bale, dancers in the group have been able to get a wealth of experience from their leaders.

Zoe and Jade met when Jade used to attend Zoe’s urban dance classes and acted as her assistant. Then Zoe went on maternity leave and Jade started college.

Whilst on leave, the pair continued to attend workshops with 4Real in St Austell and they decided that they would like to set up their very own dance group — different from all the others. Their group would allow children to dance for fun and totally for free, performing at events to raise money for Bude Lifeboat.

Zoe said: “My own children are always in the sea and it made me realise how much we need to support our lifeboats. Jade’s parents both work with the lifeboat, so Jade has grown up around it.”

David Herman from Fusion Fitness generously donated his studio to Zoe and Jade for free to run their dance sessions. LBD Krew covers the fundamentals of hip-hop, breaking, locking and popping, house and lyrical. However, they are not a dance lesson — there is no ability restrictions or set level classes. Zoe continued: “The children have a choice as to what they want to dance in, so there is no pressure.”

Children from the age of eight and over can join the group, and the LBD Krew’s first performance took place on Lifeboat Day earlier in the year. It was thought that this might be a ‘one-off’, but the children enjoyed themselves so much that they wanted to dance again, so have now been scheduled to perform at the Light Up Bude late night Christmas shopping event this Friday night.

Also joining them will be performers from the group, Trixters, who perform flips and tricks via social media. After watching them on Instagram, Zoe decided to get them involved. She said: “It would be so good for them to have the chance to show everyone what they can do. Their motivation, determination and hours of practice they do at home needs to be seen.

“Both the dancers and the Trixters have not had months of practice, but just a few weeks, and they have worked really hard. We rely heavily on parent support, which we are so lucky to have.”

Go and watch LBD Krew and the Trixters perform on Friday, December 15 at 6.30pm at the Triangle in Bude.

Also performing at the Triangle will be the Steel Haven steel band from 5.15pm until 6pm, Bude Junior School Choir at 6pm, XS NRG Dance Group at 6.15pm, Mark Rosser at 6.40pm, Sambo Junto ao Mar at 6.50pm and Steel Haven steel band will finish performances off here from 7pm until 7.45pm.