Three students at Port Moody's Caulfield School of Dance will represent the Lower Mainland next week at the provincial festival of the performing arts in Kamloops.
And, this weekend, they will show their talent with other students and faculty at the Spring Street centre's show, Sensations!, at Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam.
Ben Freemantle will perform in the modern and contemporary dance category while Lauren Phillips and Spencer Britten are in the voice divisions: Phillips for musical theatre and Britten for classical.
Freemantle, 15, was picked by judges at the Surrey Festival of Dance to be the 13- to 15-year-old delegate. There, he also took first place in for his numbers in set solo ballet, open solo ballet, solo male classical variation and solo jazz, winning more than $2,300 in scholarships for his achievements. This summer, Freemantle is off to study on scholarship in the five-week summer intensive program with the San Francisco Ballet, starting later this month.
The Port Moody secondary student was the ballet rep at last year's provincials. Doing modern dance "comes a little more easier for me," he said, "because ballet is so technical. You just can't compare the two."
Phillips, 13, was selected at the Coquitlam District Music Festival (CDMF) as the 14 and under provincial rep for musical theatre and took many awards, including for top scoring solo.
Both Freemantle and Phillips study under Isabel Yuan, Caulfield's ballet department head.
Gleneagle secondary's Britten was also chosen by CDMF adjudicators as the 18 and under delegate for classical voice. The 17-year-old student, who takes lessons with Gina Oh, head of musical theatre at Caulfield, will study vocal performance at the University of B.C. this fall.
Meanwhile, Caulfield's Tiana Pazdirek, 12, was named by judges at the Pacific West Performing Arts Festival as an alternate rep for tap, jazz and stage at the provincial festival.
"I have really worked hard this year, dancing approximated 24 hours a week. I love to perform and look forward to the experience," she said in an email.
Tickets at $18 for Sensations! at Terry Fox Theatre (1260 Riverwood Gate), which runs June 3 to 5, are available by calling the Caulfield school at 604-469-9366.
