PACI dance program raises more than $3,000 at annual More Than a Room dance show

Five years ago Prince Albert Collegiate Institute dance teacher Alicia Wotherspoon organized the first More Than a Room dance show to raise money to build a dance studio in the school.

The effort was a success and every year since then More Than a Room has returned to the stage and continues to bring in the funding needed to maintain the program and cover costs like costumes and venue rentals. But as the fundraiser’s title suggests, the benefits it provides go beyond the studio.

“The program is so much more than just the steps and the movements. I try really hard to provide a safe space for students to come to and be confident enough to put themselves out there and confidant enough to grow as dancers, but more importantly as people,” Wotherspoon said.

“I can’t believe that it’s been five years already but just looking back and seeing how the program has influenced past student sand present students and given them confidence, whether that’s confidence in dance or other parts of their lives, I think that that’s a success.”

PACI’s fifth annual More Than a Room show has held on Wednesday night at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre. Wotherspoon said that between ticket sales, the silent auction and donations from the Optimist and Kinsmen Clubs the show raised more than $3,000, which she said is “higher than usual.”

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