Young dancers often just gotta dance and two Valley women hope to meet that need and offer performers an exciting and challenging experience at the same time.
Christine Shaw and Rebecca McLane, who are starting up Cowichan Dance Collective, are kicking everything off with an audition on Monday, June 20 at the Carlson Dance studio at 3724 Sherman Rd. from 4-6 p.m., followed by a Q&A session from 6-6:30 p.m.
To be eligible, dancers need to be at junior or senior level and aged between 12-20. They must already be taking a minimum of two ballet classes a week, and combine plenty of passion for dance with an open mind.
The audition itself will be composed of a combination of ballet and modern technique; the fee for the session is $10 per person.
“A lot of dancers just want to do more,” McLane said when the two sat down for an interview June 15.
“It’ll be non-competitive but it’s definitely for dancers that have had some dance before,” Shaw said, adding, “There are a lot of festivals and lots of things already going on. This will be over and above that, outside of that training. We can all learn from each other, and give them some performance opportunities that aren’t competitive.”
The idea is to stimulate the dancers with new choreography from across the Island, new ideas, and new people, she said.
“It’s nice to mix it up, especially for girls who want to do something different, especially for the ones who want to do more after high school. It’s good for them to try new things and see that dance can be about a lot of different artistic things. We’re pretty excited. We’re doing our audition in the Carlson’s building but we haven’t set up where we’ll be operating yet. We could be using a highland studio, something different,” she said.
McLane also pointed out that moving a little outside the box will give the dancers the chance to network and build new relationships.
“Then, if they want to pursue a dance career, they have people to reach out to,” she said.
For more information contact cowichandancecollective@gmail.com