The BC Festival of Performing Arts welcomes top competitors from across the province for five days of adjudicated performances and workshops.
A year-end show followed by the BC Festival of Performing Arts will have students at Triple Heat Academy very busy this spring.
“May is normally an extremely eventful month for us,” says Livea Gill-Harding who co-owns THD with Tamara Ryan-Telford and Michelle Henly. “Not only are we producing three different shows for our annual student showcases but we have 17 of our students prepping for provincials.”
Each year more than 30,000 young musicians, dancers, and dramatic arts students from across the province take part in 34 regional festivals. The most promising young performers from these competitions are invited to attend provincials, which this year will be held in Victoria.
“First and foremost we are proud of all our students for another great year of practice, performance, and fun,” adds Ryan-Telford. “We have a great appreciation for the level of commitment they show and we know that work ethic will be with them for life and in whatever else they want to achieve.”
Provincials will be held for five days at the end May and include dance, theatre, music, and speech arts.
Henly, THD’s director of ballet, explains: “We are thrilled to be able to mentor the joy of dance and the performing arts in the Comox Valley, it is also gratifying to know that we are able to offer training that will allow students the skills to pursue professional careers should they choose the arts.”
One such student is Marley Patterson, the 12-year-old has been dancing at Triple Heat since she was three. Earlier this year Patterson attended an audition for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Professional Division.
Each year the acclaimed ballet school travels across the country looking for talented young dancers to join their professional division dance school. The 18 city tour concludes with invitations to selected dancers to attend the second phase of the audition process, four weeks of training at the RWB Summer School.
Eleven dancers from across the country, one from each province, are awarded the Investors Group National Scholarship for Dance. Chosen by the RWB artistic faculty the scholarship of $2,000 acknowledges potential and enables recipients to attend the summer school with the chance to earn a place in the full-time professional division.
Patterson was thrilled to learn she is the recipient of the B.C. scholarship and will be attending the summer program.
Henly, a graduate of RWB herself speaks on behalf of THD.
“We are so excited for Marley, not only will she have the opportunity to train with some of the country’s best teachers and expand her knowledge of dance but she is going to meet new friends and have a ton of fun.”
Provincial competitors, including Patterson, will be featured in THD’s Solo Showcase in May.
Solo Showcase, Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m. Admission for this special show is by donation and is open seating.
Showcase 1, Friday, May 25 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 26 at 1 p.m. Showcase 2, Saturday, May 26 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 27 at 1 p.m.
Tickets for these two showcases are now on sale at the Sid Williams Theatre.
For more information contact Triple Heat Academy 250.338.1313 or tripleheatdance.com
