Flashmob by Dagenham pupils wows shoppers

Stunned shoppers enjoyed some unexpected entertainment from talented young dancers.

Year six pupils from Dorothy Barley Junior Academy in Dagenham staged a flashmob at the Liberty Shopping Centre in Romford on Tuesday and Wednesday, bopping along to the likes of Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk and Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful.

The 120 youngsters had spent about a month preparing for their secret show which was choreographed by PE teacher Daniel Doyley.

Holly White, admin assistant at the Ivinghoe Road school, said the pupils had worked really hard to ensure their moves were perfect.

“They’d been practising in the playground before school as well as in lessons,” she explained. “It was great to see them performing on the day because they were all in their element.

“All their characters came out as they just really gave it everything which was so lovely to see.”

The flashmob – which aimed to raise awareness of the Samaritans – was slightly more out of the blue than last year’s effort, a zombie dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

“We told the parents to do a bit of window shopping this year to make it more of a surprise to members of the public,” Holly added.

The school plans to hold another flashmob next year.