The Owen Sound Dance Academy has had a busy year, what with our first ever performance of the Nutcracker in December, expanding PreDance and Adult Dance programs, amazing workshops with professional dance artists, and the introduction of our Recital Spotlight program. We are so excited to share with you how much our dancers have grown!
The theme of this year's show was all about the expressiveness of the natural world, the power and grace of the elements in motion.
Our dancers have been working for months on the pieces they performed today, exploring dynamics and expression while building teamwork and technical foundations. Through new and challenging choreography some dancers took to the stage embodying various elements and aspects of the environment, while others performed with the wild range of emotion and relationships of human nature.
We spend Friday evening and all day Saturday in the theatre running tech rehearsals, and all of the dancers were such troopers with last minute changes and adjustments and becoming comfortable on stage. Then it was into the high-spirited chaos of backstage prep with hair and makeup and costumes, warming up and mentally preparing for the moment they stepped on stage. And what an amazing performance came out of all of that hard work! All of the dancers put their best foot forward, smiled into the blinding lights, and moved with confidence, power, and technique. Well done, everybody!
Something special about our show this year is that we have four senior dancers graduating, some of whom have been dancing together in this studio space since they were in Primary. These four dancers threw their hearts out on stage today, blew the audience away, and added to the dance memories that will last forever. Lexie, Chloe, Annie, and Bri, you have grown into beautiful, intelligent, and confident dancers, teachers, and people. Thank you for being such an important part of our dance family. I am so proud of you and can't wait to see where life takes you next!
There are many people to thank for making this show possible. We have a dream tech team--thank you Derek, Kristen, and Al, for making everything look and sound incredible! Thank you to Matt and Jill who did a fantastic job as our ASMs this year. And thank you to the many, many parent volunteers who took the time to help out leading up to and on show day, in making sure all of the dancers could look and feel their best on stage! Special shout out to my Adult Dancers for keeping the show running smoothly with all of the quick changes, babysitting, and running around you had to do throughout the show!
Lastly, thank you to our wonderful audience, who were so receptive and enthusiastic throughout the show! There was laughter, tears, whoops, clapping in time, and the dancers soaked it all up and loved every minute of it! Thank you to all of the parents and families of our beautiful dance family, for choosing our studio for your children's dance training! I look forward to many more shows with these talented, hard working, and passionate kids.
