Street dance troupe step up

CAST your mind back to the Britain's Got Talent finals in May. With nearly 20 million UK viewers tuned in and millions more glued to TVs around the world, it was the most watched show in six years.

The contest result was practically a foregone conclusion, with tabloid darling singing talent Susan Boyle odds-on favourite to win. In the event, the act that did emerge victorious was the 13-piece street dance troupe Diversity.

The mixed-race group aged from 13 to 26, had wowed the nation with a series of innovative, brilliantly choreographed dance routines. Notoriously hard-to-please Simon Cowell hailed their performance "sheer and utter perfection", but even so, no-one was more shocked at the win than Diversity themselves.

"Just to get to the finals was the big aim for us," says charismatic troupe leader and choreographer Ashley Banjo, who admits they nearly didn't enter the show at all.

"We'd been performing at a few fashion shows and someone suggested we should enter for Britain's Got Talent – we had never even considered it. To us it was just a show we enjoyed watching on TV.

"By the time we did we were past the deadline, but auditioned and got through anyway…

"After that it all happened so quickly. You dream of winning, but never really think you will. Having got to the finals, which was our goal, we just thought we could relax and enjoy the performance – which we did. When we won, I dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Even now it still hasn't really sunk in!"

Ashley, now in his 20s, started dancing aged just five, encouraged by his ballet dancer mother who owns a dance studio where the troupe would later spend hours rehearsing.

"I started with ballet, even now as a group we all warm up classically," explains Ashley. "Eventually I was introduced to modern, tap and contemporary dance but then, in my early teens, my eyes were opened to the world of street dance."

The various members of the troupe were all mates, including three sets of brothers, who came to Ashley's mum's classes. They formed Diversity in 2007.

Since winning the show, Diversity have found themselves performing at Wembley Stadium and the MOBO awards and are also looking forward to entertaining the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance next month. And it's pretty much a full-time occupation for the foreseeable future, with a performance in the Westcountry next spring.

"I think a lot of people will be surprised with what we've come up with," says Ashley. Expect the unexpected! This won't just be a series of dances that you have seen us perform on TV. "

CLARE ROBINSON

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for Diversity at Plymouth Pavilions on April 3 with support from Britain's Got Talent star Aidan Davis. Call 0845 146 1460.