In the more intimate and personal atmosphere of the 2017 B.C. Annual Dance Competition, Prince Rupert dancers excelled across the board. No matter what type of performance was on stage at the Lester Centre of the Arts, whether it be ballet, tap, lyrical or hip-hop, dancers from both studios of Spectrum City Dance and Dance Academy of Prince Rupert shone for audiences.
Taking home the highly coveted senior and junior performers of the year honours were Spectrum’s Gillian Jardim (senior) and Dance Academy’s (DAPR) Taylor Jackson (junior).
Both took home cash prizes of $3,000 combined.
“Congratulations to all dancers who came to the B.C. Annual Dance Competition (BCADC) here in Prince Rupert. We had a very successful last competition of the season and we are so proud of all our dancers,” said Alison Sherman of Spectrum.
Performing in the gala were 14 Spectrum groups under the moniker E-Motion, and Dance Unlimited (DAPR) contributing seven different performances, along with a lyrical solo by DAPR’s Karlie Fudger.
Jardim and Jackson were both chosen for BC Dance Provincials. Jackson also added to her mantle the BCADC’s Rylan Ciccone Memorial Award, Intermediate Broadway Bound Award and the Mary Lester Comedy Award.
Spectrum accomplished an impressive 20 first-place finishes (most in the gala), 20 second-place finishes and 11 third-place tallies.
Eight students from Spectrum were chosen for provincials including Emily Jack for modern/contemporary, Jardim for ballet, Zosia Stevenson, Nathania Cam and Hannah Graham for stage, Ruby Ferlaino for stage observer, and Katrina Duong and Kathy Nguyen for stage.
“Many other Spectrum City dancers received special awards and scholarships, including Anu Khaira, Stevenson, Joran Rysstad, Nolan Robinson, Cam and Aiyana Murphy-Morven,” Sherman said.
The studio ended the week with all age groups in the prestigious gala (ages seven to 17) and all 17 senior students winning the Mary Lester Award for variety groups.
Six individuals from DAPR saw great success with their talents, including Fudger, who won last year’s junior performer of the year award, winning Most Promising Dancer 13-15 and a provincials invite for modern dance, Bailey Rae, winning the Bernice Liu scholarship and a provincials invite for modern, Jillian Lussier, winning the Broadway Bound 10 and under award, Gianna Evans, who took home the Senior Broadway Award and the Samantha Budinsky Memorial Award for intermediate dancer, and two scholarships won by Hannah Leighton and Cassidy Kawaguchi (Chance to Dance and Art in Motion summer scholarships, respectively).
DAPR’s group performances won a terrific three first-place notches, three second-place finishes and six third-place tallies.
“Both soloists and groups did incredibly well, with many top-three placements in this very competitive festival. The effort and teamwork of our competitive dancers all season culminated in a spectacular showing at the BCADC. The faculty and directors of DAPR could not be prouder of their students,” DAPR’s Karla Mackereth said.
Prince Rupert product and current acclaimed dancer and choreographer in Hong Kong, Giselle Liu, also choreographed many dances by the Terrace company, Contemporary Collective, for the show. Liu choreographs and teaches worldwide and recently co-choreographed for an original creation and collaboration between Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation and Cirque du Soleil composer duo Violaine Corradi and Rose Winebrenner in the largest performing centre in Hong Kong.
Look for DAPR’s year-end shows, ‘Eclectic’, on Saturday, June 3 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 4 at 2 p.m. at the Lester Centre, and Spectrum City’s ‘The Window Worlds’ on Saturday, June 17 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets for all shows are available at the Lester Centre and Cook’s Jewellers.