Castlegar’s Turning Pointe dancers have returned home from their fifth and final festival this week after an awesome year competing in Trail, Kimberley, Calgary and Penticton. Their first festival, Motivate, took place in Trail, where Mackenzie Grantham placed first overall and Isabella Mitchell placed second. Showteam 2/3 hiphop Recruit received second overall and Showteam 2/3 hiphop ensemble The Purge received third overall.
Then teams then travelled to Kimberley Danceworks and came away with six silvers, 46 golds and 40 high golds. Three Little Fishies and Heartbeat Drumbeat were awarded first overall junior duo/trio. First overall junior large group went to 99 Red Balloons. Petra Ihns received first overall intermediate solo, Ayo first overall intermediate small group, Mackenzie Grantham first overall senior solo and Pumpin’ Blood first overall senior trio.
Turning Pointe’s Neverland won the top production award. Wendy Laidlaw won the choreography award for Can’t Touch This and The Pianist won the top scoring acro award. Sloan Brown received the junior recognition award and Mackenzie Grantham received the senior recognition award. Isabella Mitchell received the highest mark of the entire competition with her contemporary solo, Escalate.
This weekend rolled right into Festival of the Arts in Trail, a provincial qualifying competition held at the Bailey Theatre. Ingrid Ihns was chosen the junior stage competitor and Isabella Mitchell the senior stage competitor and senior modern alternate competitor. Cullen Gray was chosen the senior stage alternate competitor.
Petra Ihns, Meigan Croteau and Mackenzie Grantham were selected to attend as observers. Grantham was awarded top senior stage dancer and Ihns was awarded top intermediate stage dancer. Grace Lindsey received the encouragement award. Isabella Mitchell and Lauren Martin were chosen to receive workshop awards and the top group of the festival went to Waves. These girls are representing our area in Chilliwack this week.
Next, the dancers were off to Calgary for the Great Canadian Dance Challenge. Castlegar came home with three high silver, 28 gold, 43 high gold and four diamonds. Sloan Brown and Cullen Gray received diamond, a mark of 95 or higher, for their solos and showteam 2/3 hiphop Recruit received diamond as well. Showteam 3 jazz group Seven Nation Army received a diamond and earned their way into the dance off at the end of the competition. Petra Ihns was chosen to receive a full scholarship to iDANCE convention and Ingrid Ihns received a scholarship for Be Discovered.
The last and final festival was Shine in Penticton. Meigan Croteau placed fifth overall for her acro solo Tango. Mackenzie Grantham placed fourth overall for her acro solo Fever. Bella Simon and Lauren Martin placed fifth overall for their acro duo Cuban Pete. Dancers from showteam 3 placed fouth overall for their lyrical ensemble Bulletproof. The Pianist placed fourth overall in the large group category and Seven Nation Army placed first overall. Showteam 2/3 hiphop Recruit placed first overall for their extra-large group. Isabella Mitchell received the Next Level Award and Mackenzie Grantham was awarded as a Top 10 Dancer.
“As the season comes to an end, we would like to congratulate all of the dancers for doing an amazing job representing our community,” the troupe’s instructors said.
“We would also like to congratulate our graduating dancers Mackenzie Grantham, Maya Kennedy and Isabella Mitchell. Your dedication and commitment have been exceptional and we wish you the best in the future.”
Turning Pointe will be performing a final recital titled New Beginnings this Friday and Saturday at the Brilliant Cultural Centre. The shows begin at 6 p.m. and tickets are available at the door.
