Around 300 students from Bodies in Motion Dance School (BIM) in Mossman are just days away from unveiling their highly anticipated annual End of Year Production; however, this year there is a twist.

BIM principal, Saskia Turner, said this year the school will be stepping into new territory by creating a movie for the End of Year Production titled ‘UN: LOCKED’ which premiers this weekend.

“This year marks BIM’s 20th annual End of Year Production, so it’s quite fitting that we are doing something a little different and special to celebrate this huge milestone," she said.

“Instead of a live production where audience members watch our students performing on stage, this year you can watch us up on the big screen,” she said.

COVID restrictions regarding indoor events and social distancing meant a large-scale theatre production was not achievable for the school in 2020.

“Knowing that our Annual End of Year Production is looked forward to by so many, it was important to me that I came up with an alternative solution,” Ms Turner said.

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And so, the idea of a virtual production was born and after three months of hard work leaning the new routines, the students recently came together on set to be professionally filmed.

The film will follow the story of a little girl who gets sucked into a video game.

“For the past few years, I have created storylines for our shows that were set in the past. So, this year, I really wanted to tackle the idea of creating something in the future. And so, the idea of a futuristic video game was created,” Ms Turner said.

“And what better year to have a virtual experience when the storyline is based inside a virtual reality?”

Family, friends, and the wider community are invited to come along and be dazzled by the dance spectacular movie premiers which will be played on a giant cinema-style LED wall at the Glade Pavilion, Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas, across three screenings over two days on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December.

Friday night’s showing has already sold out and tickets are selling fast for the final two screenings.

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Bodies in Motion has become one of the largest sporting clubs in the region and the end of year production is the highlight of the school’s year and will top off what has been a “roller-coaster of a year” in 2020.

“Despite shutting the school for three months, our students have returned stronger than ever. They have displayed enormous amounts of resilience and commitment.

“It has been so humbling to see so many of our dance families return to dance after such a hard year. I will be forever grateful for their unwavering loyalty to BIM and the value they see in dance and the arts,” she said.

Tickets for the movie premiers can be purchased online at Trybooking.