Colourful and enchanting costumes, sharp and at the same time gentle moves, beautiful smiles and professional hairstyles and makeups. Everything was brought to perfection as beautiful music was stitching 40 unique compositions into one fantastic show.
The Estevan Drewitz School of Dance held its 36th annual Spotlight on the Stars Radio Revival recital last Saturday.
One of the most popular events of the year once again attracted a full house. The recital also drew a lot of the former students many of who have gone dancing professionally and some have own studios in different parts of Canada.
Drewitz School of Dance choreographer and director Lorie-Gay Drewitz-Gallaway said she was very satisfied with how everything was.
“It went excellent. It was so much fun and the kids did such a phenomenal job. It just seemed to fly by, those two shows, they went so quick.”
The youngest dancers participating in the recital just turned three, while the oldest were the grads, who are leaving the Drewitz School of Dance family this year. The numbers performed by graduates are always very important for Drewitz-Gallaway.
“I get a little emotional when the graduates do their numbers because they’ve been with me for so long. Some of them have been with me for 15 years. And some of them, even though they just started three years ago, have just done such an amazing job. And you know it’s their last time, you sort of remember how they were when they first came and now they are leaving. That part is always special to me.”
Drewitz-Gallaway has a tradition to watch past years DVDs a week prior to the show, which allows her to see how much improvement and progress students have made from recital to recital.
“When I say improvement, I don’t always necessarily mean in their dance skills, but also in their confidence and how they feel about themselves, about getting out there and just being better people,” said Drewitz-Gallaway.
She noted that she was “extremely proud” of all her students who were working really hard to get everything done and perfected for the show.
“All the numbers and shows and everything for the show has been done in last six to eight weeks,” said Drewitz-Gallaway.
She starts thinking of the theme, costumes, music and choreography much earlier, but students are usually very busy through the year learning their curriculums, getting ready for exams and also performing at different events like Canada Cup Curling, Princess and Superheroes Ball, United Way Telethon, Robbie Burns Night and many others. However, when the time comes students play a big role not only in performances but also in the entire process of putting this professional show together which enhances their general experience with art.
“There are so many children, not just in dancing, they get such an interest in the arts and theatre out of that. They want to pursue that when they are done school when they are in the universities. Some of them get a part-time teaching job because they reach their grade … And some of them want to pursue helping backstage or volunteer at musicals and be a part of that.
“So it’s a nice experience to see the whole stage, the professionalism of the program because it also teaches the rule of the art. When you go to a performance, you respect the art, you dress up, you go and you appreciate the hard work and effort that goes into what you are seeing on stage. And I think that is a part of what the children get so excited about because they really feel that they are a star. And they are,” said Drewitz-Gallaway.
The dance school definitely takes a lot from both students and teachers, but anyone who has ever been to their recital will testify – it’s absolutely worth it.
Next year the Drewitz School of Dance also plans to offer a hip-hop class. And while the students will be waiting for the new dance season, there will be a summer ballet school with a professional examiner from Vancouver on August 20-22. Drewitz-Gallaway will also be involved as an examiner during the 70th anniversary of the Canadian Dance Teachers in July in Regina. Some Estevan students and teachers will be going there as well.
