After 10 years of dancing in the Comox Valley at Valley Dance Centre and five years in Campbell River at CR Dance Xtreme, Carley Cofield is off to Toronto to pursue her career as a professional dancer. Coming from a small town doesn’t always mean a lack of opportunity. Shawna Sloan and Buddy Mynatt moved to Campbell River from Los Angeles five years ago and after scouting Carley from a local dance competition, took her under their wing. Over the past five years she has had the chance to compete and train all over the world.
At age 16 Carley was named Dancer of the Year and got a scholarship to train in Paris, France. In the past few years she has had outstanding achievements such as an apprenticeship to assist the Extreme Dance faculty with Melissa Williams (So You Think You Can Dance Canada), The Next Level award to train in LA/NY, The Los Angeles Millennium Dance Complex Scholarship as well as in-class scholarships from Twitch and Bobby Newberry during Coastal Dance Rage.
In 2011, Carley and her team competed in Las Vegas ending up in the elite group of dancers allowed a spot in the national finals at West Coast Dance Explosion. This year has been an all-time high for Carley as she received the Highest Scoring Level 4 Solo and trophy giving her the opportunity to represent the senior soloists at the Peak Invitational Dance Challenge.
She was also awarded Adjudicators Choice at the BC Annual Dance Competition after obtaining numerous high-scoring performances. Hard work and dedication all paid off this year for Carley after auditioning and being accepted into the OIP (One Immigrant Production) Dance Company in Toronto where she will train under some of the most well known choreographers in the industry.
After spending this August in New York at a Broadway training program, Carley will be off to the city to pursue her dream.