VIDEO: Dancing dreams can turn into reality
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Updated: July 15, 2009 9:05 AM
With shows like So You Think You Can Dance gaining so much attention these days, finding work busting a move has gotten a lot easier.
Dancers just need to develop the right tools and relationships and then their pirouetting or punking dreams can easily be turned into reality.
That’s the message that members of the CoreDance productions came to the Peach City with last week, and there’s really nobody who would know better than them. Made up of the who’s who of the dance world —some of their staff have danced for the Black Eyed Peas, So You Think You Can Dance Canada and beyond — three of their ranks spent a week at the Penticton School of Dance trying to inspire young dancers to plan for their futures.
According to Christine Ell, one of the instructors at the week-long intensive program, that guidance is something she would have appreciated when she was getting into the field.
At 25, the former Penticton resident has had her fair share of insights into what makes the industry tick, having made a living dancing everywhere from Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, New Zealand and Belize.
“At 17 I moved from Penticton straight to New York on a dance scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy,” she said, noting she got that break when she auditioned in Calgary.
“I was there for two years and then I moved to Vancouver and then LA.”
What she found she was lacking, post education component of her career, was guidance.
“The biggest thing I learned is you have to have mentors in dance that you look up to and can help you,” she said. “But, the generation in front of me didn’t want to help.”
While she still made a go of it, and has danced professionally for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Hot Hot Heat, she realized she wanted to make sure nobody else experienced the let down she had.
“Our generation really wants to help out, and show these kids that you can dance for a living,” she said.
For founder of the group, Geneen Georgiev, there are so many benefits to dance and it’s a shame to see young people give up their dreams so early in the process.
“I grew up in a really small island, and I would have to take the ferry to the city every day for dancing,” she said, noting it was a tough slog, but one well worth the effort.
“It’s easier for kids in places like Vancouver to access the schools they need to take them further, but if it’s a passion then they need to keep at it.”
And dance, a blending of art and physical strength, is something that needs to be tapped into early in life. “Your body doesn’t get any younger,” she said adding, making a career of it has to be done no later than post high school.
“But there are so many things you can do with it. I’ve started a business, or there’s work to choreograph, or even dance.”
To learn more go to www.coredance.ca or email info@coredance.ca.
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