Why would anybody choose to wake up early on spring break and not get paid for it?
I’m sure that many high school students probably spent their spring break leisurely sleeping in, reading or playing video games. Many others likely worked at various part-time jobs. And some even went to the Arctic Winter Games—competitors and spectators alike. But, of course, I didn’t do any of that. Instead, I spent most of my spring break sitting inside a cold, dark theatre. But you know what? I don’t regret it. In fact, I think I’ll do it next spring break as well.
As most community members know, there are two dance studios in Whitehorse. I go to the Northern Lights School of Dance (NLSD), which is the one in Porter Creek, for those who don’t know it by name. We are locally famous for our yearly performance of The Nutcracker—or at least I’d like to think we are. I’ve been going to NLSD for over 10 years and I can’t imagine my life without dance. That’s why, when the opportunity arose, I didn’t think twice about giving up those two weeks off of school to dance in another province.
Two plane tickets, seven months, nine choreographed dances and 11 fellow dancers later, we’d finally arrived in the tourist center of Canada. The most-famous location north of California. Ladies and gentlemen, we’d arrived in none other than Prince George, B.C. Although Prince George isn’t exactly the type of place you would call popular, my teacher couldn’t even pretend to be excited for me after hearing I was travelling to Prince George. But it does house something that piqued interest at my studio: the Prince George Dance Festival (PGDF).
The PGDF is a competition: dancers enter choreographed dances in different categories and compete for first place. Our studio placed in these categories: demi-character ballet, contemporary, pointe, jazz, song and dance, contemporary ballet, and theatrical (with multiple placements within some categories). We also brought home two plaques. And of course it’s always fun to win, but even if we hadn’t won anything, I would still be fully willing to pack my costume bags and fly out again in 2025—even despite the slight scent of horse manure.
As on any trip, we chose our hotel based on its pool availability. That and its proximity to the competition venue. But mostly the pool. We spent a few nights swimming down there. We may have been a bit loud, as anytime there was somebody else at the pool with us, their company was short-lived. After we’d swam to our hearts’ content, we would all grab a towel and walk down to the elevator, sopping wet. Those poor carpets. Or maybe I should say “Our poor feet.”
On one of those elevator rides we happened to be in the same car as one of the adjudicators.
You can imagine how that might have been slightly awkward for everyone involved, especially since we were in swimsuits and wrapped in towels, dripping water … and yet, she remained strainingly professional while it only took us until the slam of the elevator doors to “break character.” Honestly, I’m surprised we lasted even that long.
Afterwards, we all rushed off to our separate rooms, probably a little overzealous about the whole encounter. We all shared rooms at the hotel and ate our meals together (a shout-out to a certain mom who cooked three meals a day for all of us!).
The whole experience really brought us all closer together; the youngest of us was13, while the oldest was 17. Although a four-year age gap may not seem like a huge difference, all of us younger students really look up to the senior dancers. I’m extremely glad to have gone to a competition with them before they graduated.
And finally, a few words to everyone who made this trip possible: to my dance teachers, who choreographed our dances and supported us every step of the way; to my fellow dancers, who brought the joy and excitement, not to mention the cheering squad (all of the other schools were rather disappointing, if I’m going to be honest); to all of the parents and chaperones who helped us in any way they could, including—but not limited to—cooking, driving and helping with stage makeup; and to all of you, for supporting all of our fundraising efforts.
Until next time!
