Youth
Affinity Dance- A Company Affinity Dance A Company consists of a talented group of dancers – 22 in total who have studied dance extensively for many years. They will be performing jazz number “Hot in the City” and will most definitely be entertaining the crowd at this years For the Luv of It Youth 2008! Contact: Carolynne Millard @ 604. 882.9786 Or email carolynne@affinitydance.com
Madison (Maddy) Nuyts
Maddy is in her tenth year of dance studies at the Kirkwood Academy of Performing Arts in Nanaimo. She is very athletic (winning every track event at her school last year). She has a strong innate musicality and she is a diligent student of dance. She dances with athletic grace and musicality and her performances have a strong emotional impact. Madison continues to train in disciplines of ballet (RAD Grade 7), lyrical, jazz, hip hop and Pointe. Dancing has been her passion since she was a toddler. She has had leading roles in productions of The Nutcracker and Coppelia. She danced the Chinese lead in a full production of The Nutcracker with live music played by the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra. And the National Ballet of Canada’s Jillian Vanstone and Heilchi Kirano in the leading roles.
Madison continues to blossom and at the age of 12 she has had her best year in competition. In the Upper Island Music Festival this year, she was chosen as Junior Stage Representative and she competed at the 2007 Performing Arts of BC in Penticton. She is an experienced performer; performing in many productions with the Kirkwood youth Dance Company and the Parksville’s Dancestreams. She also performed in the musical theatre production of Annie. Madison is currently working with the ARC Dance Company based in Vancouver.
Anna Boots
Anna Boots is a 17 year old singer-songwriter and student at Semiahmoo High School in Surrey BC. She studied piano since age five with BJ Schmidt in White Rock. Anna began composing and recording her own songs at the age of 14 and her music video, ‘Take on the World’, produced by fellow student Alex de Boer, placed 2nd in the Senior Music Video category of the 2006 BC Student Film Festival. At age 15 Anna began studying voice with Vancouver vocal coach Judith Rabinovitch, and last summer recorded a 5 song demo of her original pop and jazz material, produced and co written by Bill Buckingham. For the past year Anna has been attending monthly songwriting sessions hosted by Ron Irving and the BC Songwriters Showcase Association in Langley, BC. Her performance of “Rainy Day Blues” reached the semi-finals of the PNE Star Search in August 2007. Anna sings and writes from the heart, and is happiest when creating at the piano. She performs whenever she gets the opportunity, delighting coffee drinker in Surrey and Langley
Dance Artists Inc.
Dance Artists Inc.
This group will be perofming a great dance routine not to be missed.
Dance in Motion
Dance in Motion opened its doors 21 years ago in Abbotsford, BC. Since then Dance in Motion has developed into a major performing arts facility with its very own youth dance company, the Northwest Dance Project. Dance in Motion celebrates the passion, integrity, confidence and strength that its dancers possess. For the past six years Dance in Motion has been proud to send dancers to the BC Provincial level, and in addition have been traveling throughout North America to perform, compete and take classes with master teachers. New York, Seattle, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Hawaii are to name a few. This past summer Dance in Motion headed to New York with a group of 74 and had a blast at New York City Dance Alliance where they received second place overall in the small production category for the national level! The professional teaching staff includes Leigh Hilary-Lee, Carol Hart, Michelle Graham, Fonda Bloy, Bonnie Jean Anderson, Kelsey Chase, Nicole Chapleo, Jill Henis, Stewart Iguidez, Amy Johnson, Brooke Radons, Charlene Hart, Jordan Allarie and guest teachers Calen Kurka and Chris Hale from New York! With these amazing teachers the students at Dance in Motion study ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theatre and hip-hop.
Dancin Stars-Elktrik Dancin Stars Studio is located in Burnaby, BC. Over the years students form Dancin Stars have garnered numerous awards and have been picked up for roles in films. This year, Dancin Stars presents ELKTIK- a high powered Hip Hop number at the 2008 For the Luv of It Youth! Performers include Matt Pattenaude, Taylor Beaumont, Justin Bonney, Scott Forsyth, Mathew Jan, Lisa Godfrey, Patrick Giang, and Devan Isaac. This powerful group is lead by studio Director Sonica Gurjal and is sure to entertain the audience.
Emma Miller Emma Miller, born and raised in Surrey BC., began dancing at the age of 3. She is an all round dancer specializing in Tap. She has learned under several Tap masters including: Terry Brock, Lisa La Touche, Jason Alexander Smith, Josh Hilberman and Van Porter. She has trained at many studios including Panorama School of Dance, Spiral Dance, Vancouver Tap Society and Fresh Groove. Emma has competed locally throughout the years and has won many awards and scholarships including the highest scoring solo out of 250 solos at Peak Invitational Surrey last year. She is also involved in her school’s concert band, jazz band and vocal jazz. Emma is currently involved in her High School Musical All Shook Up with the lead role. At the age of 17, Emma loves to entertain audiences and she couldn’t imagine her life without dance.
Erika Cocco Erika Cocco’s determination and discipline keep her practicing everyday at Penk O’Donnell School of Irish Dance, taking lessons five days a week. She also attends Performance Institute in Burnaby where she trains twice a week for flexibility, and Douglas Ballet Academy where she takes tap, jazz and musical theatre classes. This year, we are happy to have Erika as our first Irish Dance performance in For the Luv of It Youth! Erika has performed at many Legions and Nursing Homes, at St.Patrick’s Day and Remembrance Day Celebrations and Event Openings. In 2008 Erika will be going to Nashville to compete in the North American Irish Dance Championships. Erika’s goal is to one day is to be a Professional Irish Dancer with Lord of the Dance or Riverdance. Erika loves to dance and perform for people and feels that is the greatest gift in life!
Kirsten Wicklund Kirsten Wicklund currently trains with the GOH Ballet where she was recently selected as the youngest member of their newly formed Goh Ballet Company. Kirsten has extensive training in not only Ballet, but also Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern and Tap. In the spring of 2006 Kirsten was also selected as the youngest member of Canada’s Youth Ballet to travel throughout China on a 3 week performance tour. During the last year Kirsten has had the opportunity to travel with the New York City Dance Alliance Company throughout the United States after being named their National Teen Outstanding Dancer at the New York City Finals in 2006. With mentors such as Mia Michaels, Joe Lanteri and Jason Parson on the judging panels it was a real honour for Kirsten to represent such a prestigious group. Kirsten’s most recent accomplishment was the Youth America Grand Prix Finals held in New York City in April 2007 where she was the only Canadian to be awarded the Top 12 Finalist as well a the Mary Day Artistry Award in honour of the late Mary Day of the Washington Ballet. This competition included ballet dancers from around the work with representation from Brazil, Europe, Canada, USA and Mexico
Laura Avery Laura Avery has been dancing since the age of three with Spiral Dance Studio in White Rock. She trains in a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop, tap and stage. As a dancer at Spiral, Laura gets many opportunities to dance for the community, such as performing in the Grey Cup Half Time Show and the BC Summer Games Opening Ceremonies. Laura plans to pursue dance after high school, continuing to train and hopefully dance professionally. She feels very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to dance because she can not even begin to list the many ways dance has enriched her life. Performing is one of the most exhilarating feelings for Laura, and realizes that the best part of performing as a dancer is that she has the chance to touch people simply through movement.
Li.FERYTHYM.MOVEMENT.CREATIVITY.PASSIONFlowEthics is proud to present their first ever patch of Junior FlowEthics, appropriately called Li.FE, Li.FE stand for ‘little FlowEthics’, the next generation of dancers who have come together to establish themselves under the same direction, guidance and vales/ethics as FlowEthics themselves. Under the direction of Ronnel “Nel” Mina (Senior coordinator, choreographer and performer for FlowEthics Dance Crew) and with the assistance of Christina Caparas (Choreographer, and performer for FlowEthics Dance Crew), Li.FE will continue to strive to contribute to the local dance scene the best way they know how- with hard work, determination, passion, fun and with the love for what they do.
Madeline Merlo Only thirteen years old, Madeline Merlo knows what she wants in life. She has had an exciting 2007, placing 2nd in the BC Junior Talent Search, 1st in the Port Moody Idol and runner up in the Red Robinson Talent Showdown. Madeline will be entertaining the audience this year with the song ‘Broken Wing”.
Matisse Quaglia Matisse Qualgia has been dancing for most of his life. He luvs to perform tap and Hip Hop and has combines the two forms of dance in this years number ‘Get it Shawty’ Be prepared for a stand out performance!
Natasha Zimbaro 14 year old Natasha Zimbaro loves many aspects of the arts. She has been dancing since the age of 2 ½ and currently studies Ballet (Cechetti Grade 6) and Tap (Gold and Elementary). She currently is the assistant Tap Teacher to the younger students at her dance school. Previously she studied Irish, jazz and Hip Hop. She enjoyed being part of two school choirs outside of her regular school studies. She loves Musical Theatre and some of her past credits include Cats (Principal role of Jellylorum and Jemima), Theatrix Lower Mainland tour Summer 2006 and 2007), Aladdin (Principal role of Princess Sushi, cast of 70) Millennium Players, Peter Pan (Principal flying role of Jane) Royal Musical Theatre. Natasha has competed in and placed in numerous vocal competitions and sung at many performances over the past year, but the highlight of 2007 for me was performing at Merritt Mountain Music Festival. I look forward to a busy and exciting year ahead.
Franchise Re-Loaded Under the watchful eye of Paul Otterbein, Franchise Re-Loaded was formed this summer after the Franchise Hip Hop Team captured their 2nd consecutive National Showtime Championship. They train every second week for 3-4 hours at a time and focus on precision, execution and team work. They are highly respected talents and incredible kids who are very kind and humbled by this experience that was brought to them this year. They also know that it takes a team to be successful and not just individuals. This elite Hip Hop team is an All-Star Team made up of dancer ranging in age from 9-17 from different studios around BC who will be competing at “Dance World Cup 2008” this summer representing Canada. These dancers have been selected on their skill, heart, attitude, grades, lifestyle and dedication. They are an extremely explosive and dynamic Hip Hop Team who specializes in acrobatics, new and old school Hip Hop. They have been chosen to be the Future 2000 Performance group at Winter Groove 2008 with Fresh Grove Productions and have already performed this summer at Summer Splash 2007 with RnB Star Corey Lee. This team will also be auditioning for the Winter Olympic Ceremonies this year. We feel very honoured and blessed to be a part of “For the Luv of It Youth! 2008 and are excited to keep training for Dance World Cup 2008.
Contact Paul Otterbein @ paulotterbein@hotmail.com or call 604.788.1575
RNB Dance Theatre and Arts- The Puppeteer The Puppeteer is a Dance theatre piece put choreographed by Monica Proenca of RND Studio in North Vancouver. Dancers Kimberly Dixon, Sean Jackson, Audrey Kwan, Beatrice Kwan, Autumn Lightfoot, Stephanie Turner and Jackson White give a performance that is sure to entertain. They are thrilled to be a part of For the Luv of It Youth! 2008
Saskia Wedding and Kaila Maitland- Original Choreography Saskia Wedding found her love of dance at the age of 8 at Tri-city Dance Centre in Coquitlam, BC and is now in the half-day professional training program. She has studied with Shannon Stewardson, Ryan Berketta and Belinda Sobie and has spent summer straining at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Nation Ballet School and Boston Ballet School. Saskia was runner up provincial representative for BC in 2005, 2006 and winner in 2007 for the intermediate stage division. She has received several scholarships form Peak Invitationals, Pacific West Dance Festival and Surrey Dance Festival. She has competed for RAD’s Phyllis Bedells Bursary in 2005. Saskia recently passed her advanced 2 Ballet exam and is now excitedly training for her solo seal. When she is not dancing you will find her reading, sewing or skiing. One of her favorite quotes is” I don’t want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.” (George Balanchine Kaila MaitlandKaila was born in New Westminster and raised in Coquitlam, BC. She began her dance training recreationally at the age of nine. It wasn’t that long after she knew she had a passion for dance and loved to perform. A couple years later she was at Tri City Dance Studios sic days a week. Of she isn’t training in ballet, Pointe, jazz. Lyrical, tap and musical theatre, you will find her busy co-assisting with the pre-dance, primary and jazz classes. Kaila enjoys performing and continues to dance competitively throughout the Lower Mainland. She is presently training for her RAD Advanced Level 1 Ballet and Gold Lower Tap exams. Kaila has performed at Disneyland and local BC events, and most recently at the 2007 PNE Home Town Heroes Parade. You can find her spending her summers training at Harbour Dance Centre and keeping busy with intensive training programs.
Shelby Noble Fifteen year old Shelby Noble realized she loved singing and sharing her talents with others before the age of eight and has been performing in public ever since. In her spare time hanging with friends and family is important but nothing compares to the satisfaction she gets while performing for an audience. She has had a steady six years of singing experience and training and has worked on original songs along with a music video. Now, next to her non-stop vocal training and performances, she is involved in steady classes of ballet and tap, competitive hip hop, jazz, modern and lyrical at Spiral Dance Company in White Rock, BC. In addition, Shelby attends guitar lessons as well as drama and musical theatre. Shelby believes her relentless pursuit of excellence in all the arts she loves will be rewarding for her in the future.
SPIRAL DANCE CO. YOUTH COMPANY These senior dancers of Spiral Dance Youth Company are 16-18 years of age. They will be performing their group jazz # “HANDS ON”. They train at Spiral Dance in White Rock B.C. in all styles: Ballet, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Tap and Hip Hop. Most of these dancers have been together as a team since they were 6-7 years old. Over the years this group has performed to rave reviews at many Community Events: from the B. C. Summer Games, Our Magic Christmas, B.C. Western Finals, Special Fundraising Events and numerous Senior Citizen Centers. They are the mentors at the studio for the up and coming senior dancers and they set a very high standard. They are excited to be a part of “For The Luv of it”.
Spotlight Dance Centre Spotlight Dance Centre is a highly respected and professional school that is celebrating its 23rd Anniversary this year. It has the distinction of being voted “The Best Dance School” in Burnaby for 10 consecutive years by the NOW newspaper readers. Talented Spotlight students train in all forms of dance and have been invited to perform at Surrey Dance festival, PacWest Honours performances and Cavalcade of Stars. Having earned numerous awards and accolades locally as well as throughout BC, Spotlight students have also distinguished themselves at the BC Festival of the Arts with winners and runner-ups at the Provincials in all dance categories. Many alumni are now teachers and performers in the fields of jazz, tap, ballet, modern dance and musical theatre. Many Spotlight students and graduates have experience in the following: International Cruise Lines, Royal City Musicals and the Nutcracker, Theatre Under the Stars, Ballet BC’s Nutcracker PNE Productions, The Toronto Dance Theatre, the Arts Club and Universal Studios in Osaka Japan
Soul Jam Soul Jam is the hip hop/bboy duo made up of 11 year old Sevrin Emnacen-Boyd (aka Bboy Classique) and 10 year old Jaymie Sorongon (aka Bboy Nemo). Soul Jam has been a duo since September 2007. These two young performers are also part of the hip hop group, Freshh, who recently won the title "World Hip Hop Junior Champions" at the World Hip Hop Competition in Los Angeles this past July . Sevrin and Jaymie and their crew, Freshh, train under the direction of Cezar Tantoco who is the owner and choreographer of Fresh Groove Productions. Cezar has led his groups to numerous victories in local and international competitions. Fresh Groove dancers also perform at many community events and shows. Sevrin has been dancing since he`s been able to walk and he`s non-stoppable. He also competes and performs as a soloist and half of the popular Chocolate Sneakers duo. He was also a featured dancer in the movie `Kickn' it Old Skool`. Jaymie has been dancing since the age of 3 and began taking lessons when he turned 6. Even with a busy schedule of basketball, volleyball and taekwondo he still has the energy and enthusiasm to dance. Jaymie has also won 2 gold medals for his school for Speech Arts Poetry and will be representing his school again next year. Soul Jam can also be seen busking on Robson Street with Western Canada’s #1 Bboy Crew, N.O.N. Sevrin and Jaymie share the same passion for hip hop, breaking and computer games and are the best of friends and, at heart, they are true performers.YouTube Clips:Interview with Pass The Mike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBNwb6GNyfsPerformance at Evolution 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ottHaoE2R8Contact: Dinah Emnacen, Marketing and Bookings, Fresh Groove-home office-604-951-7868/c-778-386-2059 cell
Tessa Trach Tessa Trach returns this year for another powerful singing performance.
‘7 Deadly Sins’“7 Deadly Sins” formed in September of 2007, and the idea behind it was to have no restrictions. The groups leader/choreographer, Heather Furlong, found 7 young dancers who wanted something different, modern, and something that would push there bodies past their mental limits. Getting more into the performance aspect of hip hop, “7 Deadly Sins” have been working on a few routines that have feeling, emotion, and sometimes even a story behind the moves. This group wants people to feel something, in the pit of there stomach, and leave them wanting more. “7 deadly Sins” Ariel Campbell
Katie Simmons
Samantha Phillips
Danielle Pepin
Kaela Bahrey
Jasleen Powar
PhaedraBourassa-Wright ….freedom of movement can’t be stopped
Ava Maria Safai Ava Maria Safai was born into a family who love of music became their profession. She grew up to be a talented musician, starting with playing the piano with teacher and father when she was 3 years old and then went on to take violin at the age of 6 at the Ava Music & Art Centre. She soon came to realize her passion was signing and she stated taking professional singing lesions with the famous opera singer Matildea. She performs in the annual concerts produced by Ava Music & Art Centre. In 2007 Ava took her first exam with the Royal Conservatory for Piano and Voice, and passed both exams with First Class Honours with Distinction. She had her first vocal public performance at the Halloween Party Ava Music and Art Centre at the age of 6 and continued onto winning the 1st prize at a Talent Show at Cleveland Elementary School in 2006-2007.