It had been three months since students at a Red Deer dance studio could perform alongside each other.
But earlier this week, 29 dancers and five teachers from JD’s Fabulous Feet were finally able to get together for a socially distanced performance in the Crossroads Church parking lot in Red Deer County.
“June 15 was supposed to be when our big year-end show would’ve been at the college, but obviously, we were not able to do that this year,” said studio owner Fiona Duley.
“I wanted to do something for the kids and have us all together to wrap up the season and give them a bit of closure on the year.”
Many parents sat in their cars to watch the dancing Monday.
“We put together a little finale number, similar to what we would have done at the end of the show, if we would’ve had a show.
“It basically was like a class, where I taught the kids the combination and then we just all got to dance together. It was super fun.”
Crossroads Church donated the space for the event and Parkland Audio donated speakers and a microphone, so dancers could hear Duley’s instructions.
“We went to the parking lot ahead of time and set up pylons to space out all the kids evenly, and we had staggered arrival times for all the kids to get there,” she said.
Dancer Emma Schafer, 17, said it was special to dance with the other students again.
“I missed it so much. I loved seeing the girls so much every day. Not seeing them every day was a really big change,” said Schafer.
“It was so nice just to see them again, even though we couldn’t be near each other. It was nice to have the energy flowing through the group. It was so fun.”
Many parents honked their horns in support of the dancers during Monday’s event.
“I think my parents were really happy to see me dancing with all my buddies again. They were super excited for me,” said Schafer.
JD’s Fabulous Feet was providing online material for students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Duley said while an online class “definitely isn’t the same” as a regular class, she was happy to stay connected in some fashion.
“It was definitely different than what we’re used to, but we were just thankful to be able to interact,” Duley said.
The event also raised $300 for the Red Deer Food Bank.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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