Last weekend, ITV Britain's Got Talent dance troupe Diversity headed to Manchester for a four-show stint at the Opera House. The tour promised to centre around the world of social media, the internet, and the digital era we now live in, and how this connects us all.
To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how the group would manage to do this and keep it entertaining for hours, but of course, they did that and more. Thanks to a series of perfectly choreographed dance sequences, eye-catching visuals, enticing props, drones, and an array of different costumes, the audience was kept entertained from start to finish.
I was admittedly a little disappointed with where I was sat. My seats were in the gallery of the theatre, and it was quite difficult to properly enjoy the whole experience from that angle. If you're going to see a dance troupe, you do really need to be at eye level, because watching the top of their heads won't give you the full experience.
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That aside, the show was perfectly catered towards both kids and adults. At some points it was a little too childlike for me, but that's to be expected of somebody who doesn't have kids.
It didn't really impact my enjoyment, either (who doesn't want to see Perri Kiely in a pink tutu and Jordan Banjo dressed as a big cuddly teddy bear, let's be honest).
The highlight of the show, and the very reason I wanted to attend, was to see the famous dance which Diversity had put together to draw attention to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. The group had originally created the dance, which was inspired by the late George Floyd - an innocent Black man who was murdered by a police officer in America in 2020.
The murder shook the world, and rightly so triggered people across the world to campaign in the Black Lives Matter Movement. The group had originally performed the dance on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, and it clocked up 24,000 Ofcom complaints.
Do you understand how upsetting that is? A group of Black, mixed race and white members had come together and performed something personally difficult to them on national TV to raise awareness of an issue that is killing people on a daily basis, and people complained because it didn't quite sit right with them.
It would have been so easy for Diversity to give up after that, but they didn't. If anything, it made them more determined, and that's the spirit their fans keep going back to them for. It was such a special moment when they performed the dance in Manchester.
I'll be honest - I bawled my eyes out. There had been 24,000 complaints about this dance, but the theatre I was in had 2,000 people giving it a standing ovation.
People really got it, and that's what Diversity wanted the entire time. For years, the Black community has just wanted to be heard by people who have the privilege of ignorance because of their skin colour, and thanks to groups like Diversity, it's happening.
Throughout the show, Diversity - and in particular the group's leader Ashley Banjo - let the audience in to their own personal lives through the medium of video. We were treated to an inside look of the group's life, and at one point, we were even able to witness a video call between Ashley and his mum.
His mum was unable to see his newborn child's first months due to lockdown. And Ashley needed to try and communicate that in as real a way as possible through social media and video.
A clip of his mum seeing his little one beginning to grow into a real life little human was totally and utterly moving, and it really made you feel like you knew the guy standing in front of you. It was special.
Another clip which did something similar was that of the group winning a BAFTA after facing so much criticism for the Black Lives Matter performance on Britain's Got Talent. It was very clear to see that they are a real team, and really love one another.
Those kind of insights behind the scenes can really elevate a performance, and on this occasion, it certainly did. I think the real testimony to the show, though, was the conversation I heard next to me throughout.
There was a little girl sat next to me with a family friend. Overhearing their conversation, I got all warm and tingly inside.
The woman who had brought her was a PE teacher from Manchester. She loves Diversity, and was telling the little girl she comes to see them as much as she can.
The little girl with her had come along last minute as the teacher's friend had fallen ill with Covid and couldn't attend. The girl had never heard of Diversity before attending.
But after the show she was OBSESSED, and said she couldn't wait to get home and try out some of their moves. She was also keen to try out the new Diversity dance academy.
How amazing is that? A little girl had never heard of this group of brilliantly diverse and talented people, and left being inspired by every single one of them. She was particularly enthralled by Jordan Samuel - the dazzlingly talented 'flipper' and acrobat of the group (he had me hooked too).
Diversity continue their UK Connected tour until June this year.
