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Young dancers to represent Canada on international stage

July 31, 2014   ·   0 Comments

After years of practice and discipline, two young dancers from Alliston will be going to Europe to represent Canada at the world dance championships.

Abby Cave, 12, and Mackenzie Shaw, 11, are both students at the Nicole Jacklin School of Dance in Alliston.

The girls were selected after trying out for a spot on the team in a competition that attracted the best dancers in the province.

Abby will be traveling to Prague, Czech Republic in August to take part in the show dance event.

She’s been dancing since she was five years old.

“I started out in ballet, then I added a dance style every year. I do acro, (acrobatics) jazz, ballet, musical theatre, hip-hop, and tap,” She explained of how a dancer improves and adds to their resume.

The auditions were complete over several days to accommodate the large number of dancers who were vying for a spot on the team. A choreographer taught the hopefuls a dance, and they then had to perform in front of judges.

In the show dance competition, Abby said the style “can be anything, it just has to tell a story.”

Mackenzie will be taking a trip to Warsaw, Poland in December and will be competing in ballet, jazz, and modern dance.

A dancer since the age of three, she began competing when she was just six years old and began to learn new styles of dance over the years.

“I started with ballet, and then I saw all the other styles at our recitals and started with jazz, then continued with each style,” She said. “I like open style because you can do anything, but I like jazz too.”

Going to the audition, Mackenzie wasn’t sure she would make the team. She thought it would be good to go “just for the experience.”

A follow up email confirmed she had been selected for the team.

“I’m happy to be able to represent my studio and Canada,” She said of the upcoming competition.

There will be 49 countries represented when the event gets underway.

Becoming a dancer at this level takes a high level of discipline explained Therese Nicholas, associate director and dance instructor at the School of Dance.

“It takes a lot of hard work – lots of patience and dedication. You have to have the ability to work on your technique and to make the corrections given to you by your teacher,” She said. “Abby and Mackenzie dance a lot. They love it. They want to be here. They’re here pretty much every night. They never miss classes and always are ready to learn the next thing.”

For the next step, Abby and Mackenzie will begin rehearsals with their teams before heading off to Europe and competing at the international level.

By Brian Lockhart

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