Hundreds of South Cariboo boys and girls showed off their dancing skills at the Raising the Barre Academy of Dance’s First Annual Year-End Show.
Held at Martin Exeter Hall on Friday and Saturday (June 23 and 24), the show was a chance for Raising the Barre’s students to demonstrate what they’ve learned. Jelina McLean, who founded the studio last year, said she was incredibly proud of how much her students have grown this year.
“We have over 200 students, and dance has proven popular (in the community),” McLean said. “With dance, we work all year and the parents don’t watch classes, so this is kind of a presentation to the parents about what we’ve been doing all year.”
Considering this was the first time her students have done a year-end show, McLean said the event went very well. All of the classes at her academy, from those under the age of five to adults, performed at least one dance. They included ballet, hip hop, interpretative, and acrobatic, with several students taking multiple classes.
Two of those dancers were Rayelle Smith and Sarah Tinney, who both took part in ballet, acrobatic, contemporary and jazz dances. Both girls were exhausted at the end of the show but said they had a great time.
Smith started dancing two years ago when she was 10 and really enjoys dancing to the music. She said she has come to enjoy making people happy by learning the moves and choreography and then showing off her skills. She added that she particularly enjoys doing cartwheels and putting her feelings into her dance.
“I think I’ve improved quite a bit and the performance (Friday night) went pretty good,” Smith said. “I love watching other people dance and it was really fun. I loved it. It’s really fun to help out (with the younger) classes and then see them dance out on the stage doing the dance you helped out with.”
Tinney, for her part, has always wanted to be a dancer, but until recently there was no dance studio in 100 Mile House. This year she took part in six classes a week, which she said was a little stressful to take on.
“I learned to really enjoy it and I was really happy dancing all the time,” Tinney said. “I like how I can express myself and show my feelings through motions. It really makes me feel calm.”
Unlike Smith, Tinney didn’t help teach any of the younger classes, but she enjoys how younger students look up to her. She said she always does her best to uplift and encourage them, sharing her passion for dance.
While Smith enjoyed herself, she plans to take a break from dancing next year. Her family is moving to Salmon Arm, and once there she intends to get into some sports like basketball as a change of pace.
Tinney said she enjoyed the first dance of the night, to the song Another Day in the Sun from the movie La La Land.
“For a lot of people, (dance) is what makes them really happy and helps them express themselves. I think that it’s really good for a smaller town to have programs like this so that kids have activities to do after school.”
Next year McLean intends to keep building 100 Mile House’s dance community with the help of her partners at Raising the Barre. She welcomes any children interested in learning how to dance to come to one of her classes.
“Dance teaches kids discipline and skills. It offers so much, and our studio is like a second home for the dancers,” McLean said. “I love the kids and choreographing dance. It’s what I’ve been doing since I was two years old. I’m so proud these kids got on stage for the first time and pulled off a great show. They all did really well.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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