It takes three to throw down

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This article was published 08/05/2014 (4373 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Whoever said three’s a crowd has never seen the number of dancers at Gordon Bell High School.

Gordon Bell (3 Borrowman Pl.) is sending not one, not two, but three dance troupes to the 2014 Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival, running from May 13 to 30 at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre (180 Market Ave. East).

The three groups are Urban Fusion, made up of older dancers; Junior Fusion, made up of younger dancers; and Ladies’ Small Group, made up of five female dancers from Urban Fusion to perform a lyrical/contemporary piece. Urban Fusion and Junior Fusion will be performing hip-hop routines on May 24.

“The dance festival is celebrating its 34th anniversary,” Nicole Owens, executive director of Dance Manitoba, said. “It was an event that was started by a group of people 35 years ago, providing performers, dancers, and choreographers a chance to showcase their choreography and also to receive feedback on their performance skills.”

Owens explained that although the festival has a competitive nature to it, it’s not a competition.

“The adjudicators we bring in, we ask them to adjudicate on their own accord, so the feedback is specific (to the performers),” Owens said. “It’s a great educational tool.”

Two members of Urban Fusion, Grade 11 student Christian Macalintal and Grade 12 student Mikaela Wight, said that they have been practising their routine since January, which can get tedious sometimes.

“Everyone’s so sick of it,” dance teacher Julie Simpson said with a laugh.

“Practising over and over gets kind of boring, but when we actually perform (on May 24), I think people will have fun,” Wight said. “I think we should practise with more energy, but we’ll be really nervous (at the actual performance) so the adrenaline will help us.”

Grade 8 students Erika Aquino and Anak Akeen of Junior Fusion said their hip-hop routine for the festival has “serious and sassy” elements.

Dressed in masks, the members of the group are dancing to a song from Phantom of the Opera followed by “Applause” by Lady Gaga.

“I think the songs went well together,” Akeen said.

Simpson has taught at Gordon Bell for the past nine years, and said the dance program continues to grow each year.

“It’s gone from having one class with five kids in it to two auditioned groups and a Ladies’ Small Group,” Simpson said. “I think people flock to it because there’s an innate need to express themselves.”

For more information about the 2014 Manitoba Provincial Dance Festival, visit dancemanitoba.org

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