By Andrew Atkinson Exclusive
A re-union meeting at the La Laguna Hotel recently took place with former members of Torrevieja tap dancing group ‘The Sofistikats’, Ivy, Star and Sylvia.
“The Sofistikats were a tap dancing group, based in Torrevieja for many years, with the principal being June Peters, who had 100 pupils of various ability, both male and female,” Sylvia Smith told The Leader.
“June was an excellent teacher, who not only taught the pupils to dance, but gave them a sense of pride in themselves,” said Sylvia.
Twelve students were chosen to become The Sofistikats, Showgirls (pictured) who performed for charity in the Mike & Marie shows at Los Arcos: “The shows were very popular,” said Sylvia.
Due to ill health, June returned to England several years ago, and Mike and Marie are sadly now deceased.
Recently, Star visited Spain on a trip from England and met up with Ivy and Sylvia, who are both resident in Spain.
“We reminisced about the many happy years we had performing with Sofistikats – including a calendar shoot we did in 2014 for Charity,” said Sylvia.
“Over 8,000 euros was raised and copies of the calendar were sent worldwide. The money was used to buy two baby incubators for the Vega Baga Hospital,” said Sylvia.
“A very fond memory was when the Showgirls went for a weekend to Benidorm and whilst there, we went to see a Drag show.
“The girls pretended it was Ivy’s ‘Hen’ Night – she was invited to go on stage – and dressed her as a nun. She was included in a sketch with the Drag Queens!,” said Sylvia.
