By LISSA ALEXANDER
Performances at the Village Theatre will soon be amplified thanks to a fundraiser by the Qualicum Beach School of Dance.
The dance school will host its annual fundraiser ‘Dancing for a Cause’ on March 6, and the the funds raised will go toward purchasing a wireless microphone system for the theatre.
“We are very lucky to have this little theatre in our community,” said Qualicum Beach School of Dance (QBSD) owner and director, Shari Selva.
She added that QBSD’s musical theatre program uses the Village Theatre for its big production every May, and this will allow them to save on the cost of renting wireless microphones, plus it will be a great asset for the theatre.
“The theatre would really benefit from this, and other users would benefit from it,” she said.
Echo Players, a not-for-profit community theatre company, owns and operates the Village Theatre.
The club is celebrating 45 years in the community and the theatre turned 75 last year.
Echo Players president Mike Andrews said the group is delighted to receive the upgrade.
“Our last two productions involved a number of young actors and we had to rent wireless microphones to enhance their projection. Rental costs are high, so to own this form of equipment is a great plus for us, as well as improving our overall sound system capability.”
READ MORE: Dancing through the years: Qualicum Beach School of Dance turns 20
Selva said the community supports the dance studio when fundraising for students to attend festivals and competitions, so it’s nice to be able to give back and show the students the importance of supporting the community.
‘Dancing for a Cause’ will take place March 6 at 7 p.m. in The Whalebone Theatre at Ballenas Secondary School.
Selva said she has invited two other dance companies to perform at the event. Éclat Dance Youth Company based in Courtenay will be bringing two pieces of choreography, and Prism Dance Connections, a youth dance company based in Nanaimo, will also perform.
QBSD will present performances by its speech arts class, there will be multiple dances by the school’s performance team, and a young group of dancers will perform a Ukrainian dance. There will also be a sneak peek of the musical theatre production ‘The Little Mermaid’, which will be presented in its entirety at the Village Theatre in May.
“I think it’s going to be a really amazing evening with amazing, young local talented dancers from Qualicum Beach School of Dance and from two companies,” said Selva. “It would be great to support them and to support our little community theatre.”
Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com.
