INNISFAIL -- Dancers from Penhold School of Dance are fundraising for their trip to New York in 2020, where dancers will be studying and attending different dance events.
Penhold School of Dance is located in the town and offers dance discipline to students of almost all ages.
“Seeing some amazing performers on Broadway will be really inspiring for me, and having the opportunity to get taught at workshops by more people than just the teachers from my studio will really benefit me as a dancer. As a person, being able to see the completely different lifestyle of New Yorkers will help me further understand different types of people and ways of living in the world!” said dancer Logan Windebank, who is making the trip.
The students will learn about different dance styles, and will be able to experience different Broadway musicals and shows, and will also be able to see historical monuments. The students that are attending this trip are very excited for the opportunity to experience not only different dance styles but also the fact of getting to dance in a different culture.
Windebank is a 13-year-old dancer from Penhold School of Dance. He is the only male attending this trip which he said is very inspiring. He is also excited for this trip and this experience.
“I am very excited to be able to travel and experience these new things with friends, and get to see what it is like in the big city of New York since I’m so used to little Red Deer,” said Windebank.
The students and the fundraising committee have been working hard at making this trip successful. They have already done many different fundraising events. The dancers will not only be doing fundraisers that involve sales, but they will also be doing multiple dance-related shows in the community. One of the workshops the dancers will be attending is the Alvin Ailey Dance School.
The school is a famous dance institution located in New York. The school was founded by Alvin Ailey, an African-American choreographer and activist. He is not only known for his creation of the dance school but he's also known for how he helped popularize modern dance and helped improve African-American dancing.
Being able to dance at the Alvin Ailey Dance School will be a great opportunity for the dancers because it will allow them to learn more about a variety of dance styles. It will hopefully help the dancers learn to not only express themselves through ballet, hip hop or whatever style of dance they favour the most, but help them open up to different styles. The teacher that will be leading this trip is Kirsten Kowalchuk.
She is the head instructor at Penhold School of Dance. Kowalchuk is hopeful for this trip as she further explains. "I think that this will benefit them because they will be able to see different dance styles and disciplines that they have never seen before and they will be able to take workshops from people in the industry,” said Kowalchuk. She also explained how important it is to be open minded with different dance styles.
“In the dance world versatility is a very important skill to have because there are so many different genres of dance in this modern day world,” said Kowalchuk. One of the dancers that is attending this trip is Ali Rogers. Ali is a 14-year-old dancer from the Penhold dance school. She is hopeful and excited to experience this great opportunity.
“I would like to learn more about contemporary (dancing) to improve my skills and have an expanded knowledge on it," said Rogers.
“I think learning different dance styles can improve my dancing because you can learn different techniques and find new ways of moving and telling a story,” she added.
This will be the second time Penhold School of Dance has travelled to New York City. The dancers that attended the last trip thought of it as a life-changing event for themselves. It is hoped the upcoming journey will do the same for the amazing dancers who will be experiencing New York City next year.
“I think that this will benefit them because they will be able to see different dance styles and disciplines that they have never seen before and they will be able to take workshops from people in the industry," she said.
Kailyn Cruickshank is a Grade 8 student at Innisfail Middle School who successfully completed her one-month-long journalism class and project.
