Central Alberta dancers know how to put on a show.
More than 1,500 dancers, ages four to 19, are taking part in the 38th annual Danceworks Central Alberta Dance Festival this week at the Arts Centre at Red Deer College.
Rhonda Heald, Danceworks Central Alberta Dance Festival co-ordinator, said it’s the longest running dance competition in Alberta other than the Alberta Dance Festival in Edmonton.
“It has a long history of growth, and the same people returning year after year,” she said.
Dancers from Airdrie, Drumheller, Westaskiwin, Red Deer, Innisfail, Olds, Rocky Mountain House, Didsbury, Sylvan Lake and Lacombe are participating in the week-long dance competition.
Heald said the competition gives all the dancers a chance to perform – even those from smaller communities.
Dancers are performing various styles including contemporary, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, ballet and song and dance at the competition at Red Deer College Arts Centre.
Karen Miller, a ballet teacher in Red Deer, said the dance competition brings the Central Alberta dance community together. It allows dancers to form life-long friendships and boost each other up.
“They hone their skills, when they go out on stage they become way more confident and these skills stay with them for life, and they also have a lot of fun doing it,” said Miller.
The dancers that score high marks on their style, performance, choreography, technique, qualify for the finals Monday and Saturday evening where they place first and second in four different age groups winning cash prizes. The overall performance wins a dance scholarship.
The competition started Sunday and goes until Saturday.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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