Based on the idea of teenage music and dance students listening to music from another part of the world, and being inspired to create their own music and dance, produced an evening of great emotion generated by incredible talent.

It was hard to believe that students from The Angmering School, Bishop Luffa School, Bognor Regis Community College, and Durrington High School, not to mention the newly-formed Boys (contemporary dance) Company, produced such a polished series of performances from just eleven weekly after-school workshops.

The Congolese musicians Kasai Masai (and their three dancers) were the catalyst for the project and they generated a buzz of anticipation, among the substantial audience, with an opening set of tunes and songs which gave just a hint of what was to come after the interval.

First came a new innovation to the project - VJ-ing (which to the uninitiated is just as much a performance piece as being a dancer or musician as it involves producing and projecting images relevant to, and at the same time as, the live performance) - which in this instance was Kasai Masai's song 'Tumalele'.

VJ artists from Durrington High School and The Angmering School researched and edited their material having had no previous experience. As an inter-school collaboration it was a great success, as a performance piece it raised the bar!

Bognor Regis Community College rose to the challenge and their piece 'Undivided' was performed to the accompaniment of Kasai Masai. Excitement and anticipation continued to build.

Actually getting ten musicians of Angmering School combined with eleven dancers from the same school on the same stage with minimal delay was an achievement for all concerned but totally justified for their presentation of 'Journey' which any professional choreographer would have been proud of.

The 'home-team' were up next and Bishop Luffa School added a new dimension whereby their students remixed Kasai Masai's music to give a percussive beat which was perfect accompaniment to the dance piece 'Tribal Movements'.

Durrington High School introduced a complex but brilliantly executed series of dance pieces to accompany their musicians for 'Congo Fusion'.
While it might seem disingenuous to say the best was saved, almost, to the last, it was Boys Company who stole the show.

The four-strong male dance company was born out of Dialog Project Director Sue Ringwood's belief that their was and is a need for such a body in the County. Her belief was well-founded and if the next 'Billy Elliot' or Carlos Costa comes from West Sussex - don't be surprised ! The standard is already very high.

Almost rounding off the evening it was appropriate that Kasai Masai returned to the stage and performed 'Matiale' to the accompaniment of the VJs from Angemering, and Durrington Schools.

But how do you end an evening which was not only such great fun but so hugely enjoyable ?

Well, you have a party - and youngsters do that better than anyone ! The stage was filled by everyone, they shook, they rattled, they rocked, and they rolled - and they sent us all home with a tear in our eye but on a very big high!

The Dialog project's been truly described as 'ground-breaking' and anyone from West Sussex should be justifiably proud of this fact. It took it's name from an album by Icelandic musician's Steintryggur' and is run by Roots Around the World (www.rootsaroundtheworld.info)

Mark Ringwood