Three dancers from Elite Dance Academy in Port Alberni will be travelling to Victoria for the 2018 Performing Arts BC Provincial Festival at the end of this month.
Each regional festival in the province sends its most promising artist to participate in the annual festival, which is a five-day event featuring classes, lectures, coaching, workshops and adjudication.
READ: Port Alberni dancers invited to provincials
17-year-old Evelynn Yan is the North Island Festival of Performing Arts level 3 modern representative. Yan has been dancing since she was four years old and enjoys contemporary and jazz dance. Yan says she loves to dance because it has become an outlet through which she can channel her creativity, athleticism and emotions, and hopes to one day become a professional contemporary dancer.
One of her favourite parts of dancing? “Competing and performing with my fellow dancers, who are like family to me,” she said.
14-year-old Jordan Simpson is a modern level 2 representative from Nanaimo Festival. This is Simpson’s third time earning a provincial spot—last year she won first place in the modern level 1 category in Kamloops.
Simpson loves modern and contemporary dance, and her goal is to become the best that she can be.
“I like to share with the audience how dancing makes me feel inside,” said Simpson.
13-year-old Roxy Manson has won her second provincial spot as the junior stage representative from Upper Island Music Festival. She is also a runner up for junior ballet.
Manson has been dancing since she was two years old, and her favourite genres are ballet and hip hop. Some of her dance highlights include attending provincials last year in Kamloops, dancing in the Nutcracker with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Nanaimo and learning to dance en pointe.
“I love expressing myself through music and movement,” she said.
All three dancers thanked their teachers, family and friends for their support and inspiration.
Elite Dance Academy teachers Elaine Peter, Kelly Malone, Laura Harrow and Athena Jeffs released a statement to congratulate the three girls on their accomplishments:
“We couldn’t be prouder of Evelynn, Jordan and Roxy. All three girls are extremely hard working and such talented individuals. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for them all. They are such a pleasure to work with and we feel very blessed to have them at our studio.”
You can see all three dancers at Elite Dance Academy’s year-end show at the Alberni District Secondary School theatre on June 15 and 16 at 6:30 p.m.