Judging by the dress rehearsal Wednesday evening the first dance revue by Dance in Common students and instructors under the directorship of Corinne Stromsten promises a combination of beautifully choreographed dances and an introduction to the rigours of dance training.
The show features ballet students dancing on point, contemporary numbers, a little fun with folk and pirate scene dances, jazz numbers and an inspiring performance by Ashley Beauchamp, who is home from university in Prince George where she has also been keeping up her dance training and becomes a princess for this production.
“We are adding a bit more theatre to this show,” Stromsten says. “We have choreographed a pirate piece that is a lot of fun to perform.”
This is the second year that Stromsten has operated and been the artistic director for Dance in Common which she took over when Maureen Saunders semi-retired.
For a number of years Stromsten taught dance in Horsefly and mounted many dance shows in that community.
“The upcoming show is very exciting and nerve wracking all in the same breath,” Stromsten says. “This is my first show as artistic director in Williams Lake.”
Stromsten says Dance in Common has 120 students and nine staff members, including Saunders who continues to teach a few classes and coach Stromsten in her higher levels as a Cecchetti ballet instructor.
“I am preparing for another exam next year, my associate diploma,” says Stromsten who is also very busy preparing her students for their own dance exams at various levels.
The Dance in Common 2016 Dance Revue will be on stage at the Gibraltar Room Saturday, May 21 and Saturday, May 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. both evenings.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and children and are available at the studio located at 110 Oliver street, weekdays from 3 to 8:30 p.m.
The dance studio can be reached at 250-392-6620.