A dancer from the Keswick area has been putting her geometry skills to good use during preparations for one of Europe’s major sporting events.
Evie Webzell, aged 25, has been acting as assistant to her former dance teacher, Kelly McClelland, from Calthwaite, near Penrith, who is choreographing the opening ceremony of the UEFA Women’s Champions League final at the Philips Stadion, the home of PSV Eindhoven, in the Netherlands.
The final, set to take place today (June 3), will see Barcelona take on Wolfsburg in a game likely to be watched by an audience of millions, with many of them also enjoying watching Kelly and Evie’s creative vision. Kelly has been working to create this with ADI TV, a live event production specialist for a range of high profile sporting events.
Evie, from Bassenthwaite and now based in London, said: “It’s a huge honour to work with Kelly, the dancers and the crew on such a highly anticipated global event championing women in sport.
“Assisting Kelly with the choreography has been a meticulous process — and exercise of our geometry – that began back in 2022, so to finally be in Eindhoven seeing our preparations realised and executed by the team with such passion is an absolute joy.”
Kelly explains that she was approached by ADI TV in November as they were looking for a female choreographer to work on the final.
She said: “After many meetings and idea pitches my creative vision is now coming to life. I am working with 44 community dancers aged 18 to 25 from Footloose, in Eindhoven, who are very excited to be a part of such a prestigious event.
“The brief was to create a dance that shows the UEFA brand and concept that there can only be one crown — the Women’s UEFA logo — using huge flags, banners and streamers to bring the City of Lights to life.
“I was lucky enough to be allowed an assistant and without hesitation I knew my ex-student from Eden Dance, Evie Webzell, from Keswick, was the right choice to help on this massive challenge.”
Kelly, Evie and the young dancers have been rehearsing their routine at the PSV training ground but will be allowed into the main stadium before the match for their final rehearsal.
Although it is probably the most prestigious event Kelly has been involved with to date, she has already choreographed and danced at national level. Many of her pupils from Eden Dance and other groups have gone on to perform at the highest professional levels.
She added: “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to bring dance and the women’s game together and can’t wait to see the vision in full scale on Saturday in front of a sell-out stadium of 35,000 fans.”
