The EA Rawlinson Centre was the home of the 11th annual Dance Blast competition over the weekend.
Dancers from around the province were in Prince Albert for the event, which was hosted by the Performing Arts Warehouse (PAW)
Dance Blast board president Brittany Greaves President said PAW came up with the idea began 11 years ago and it’s been a big success.
“We call ourselves a fun competition,” she said. “It’s usually the first competition that all the dancers are coming to, so it’s kind of the kick off to their competition season.
“It’s a fun competition. It’s a way for these dancers to show the audience and show everyone what they’ve been working on and how hard they’ve been working,” she added.
Greaves explained that the event seeks sponsorship for awards presented throughout the competition. That support allows Dance Blast to provide anywhere from $12,000 to $15,000 in awards every year.
Clubs in attendance included the Tri-Community Dance Club from La Ronge, Dancer’s Edge from Warman, Nipawin School of Dance, Tisdale Dance Centre, Birch Hills Dance Centre, Nipawin School of Dance-Carrot River, Borden School of Dance, Watrous School of Dance. Cudworth Dance Club, and Prince Albert’s Ballet ‘n All that Jazz and PAW.
Kerrington Kowal and Lexi Multimer from Tisdale performed an Open Duo on Sunday at Dance Blast at the EA Rawlinson Centre
Aubrie Annand, Kinsey Peifer and Natalia Rudy from Nipawin performed “No More” on Sunday at Dance Blast at the EA Rawlinson Centre.
Communities from both directions out of Prince Albert had dancers in Prince Albert and supporting the community.
“We have over 600 dancers that come from all over Saskatchewan, small towns in Saskatchewan, Nipawin and Carrot River, Tisdale, Birch Hills, Cudworth, Borden, Warman Prince Albert,” Greaves said,
“People are coming into our city, (and) staying in our city, so (it’s) helping our economy and our city.”
Dance Blast began Thursday afternoon and continued until late Sunday afternoon.
Greaves said that both parking lots by the EA Rawlinson Centre were full on Saturday when the group performances were taking place.
“Today (Sunday) is a lot of solos, so our group dance will fill this place up more,” Greaves said.
“We seem to grow a little bit each year, but we’re pretty much capped out with where we can grow. Obviously, we still encourage other people to come forward and put their name forward because if we have room for other studios to join us, we will absolutely take them.”
Greaves added that a lot of work goes into putting on a show like Dance Blast.
“It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of hours, a lot of practising for these dancers, they’ve put in a lot of time and have done phenomenal,” she said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
