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High school dance competition coming to Salish Secondary

‘Level Up: B.C. High School Dance Team Competition’ set for April 5
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Dancers perform at a 2022 competition at Salish Secondary. (Photo submitted: JJ Copon)

Hundreds of high school students will compete in dance at Salish Secondary School April 5.

More than 600 kids from 19 different schools will participate in “Level Up: B.C. High School Dance Team Competition.”

“This is the second year the event’s taken place,” Jenny-Lynn Jensen, head of the dance program at Salish Secondary. “So it’s pretty new. We’ve got about 600 competitors coming here from 19 different schools.”

Jensen said most of the competitors are coming from schools across the Lower Mainland and they even have one school from the Island participating.

“These students are coming here to do what they love, to compete and inspire each other show what they got.”

Teams will compete in various categories in the competition with 1st, 2nd, 3rd place awards set to be handed out in categories such as: Junior Dance Team, Senior Dance Team, Contemporary Dance Team, Jazz Dance Team, Student Choreography. A panel from The Studio North Dance Complex will manage the judging.

There will also be some special dance performances from Maddaugh Elementary School Dance Team, Studio North, A3 District, and Fusion Force Studio.

Jensen said students from Salish Secondary run the event. They handle all the stage work as well, including lighting and music and other backstage, technical stuff.

“Our kids just want to give back to the school,” she added. “They have fun and they just want to be there. We’ve got really great kids at the school that always want to help out.”

Schools competing in the event are: Salish Secondary, Lord Tweedsmuir, Burnaby Mountain, Cariboo Hill, Churchill Secondary, Enver Creek, Fraser Heights, Gladstone Secondary, Grandview Heights, Guildford Park, Johnston Heights, Kwantlen Park, LA Matheson, North Delta, North Surrey, Panorama Ridge, Sardis Secondary, Spectrum Community School, and Sullivan Heights.

Jensen said a lot of teachers from both the school and the Surrey area help out with the event.

“It’s a really amazing collaboration,” she added. “It’s a positive event. Kids get a chance to be inspired and do something active. It keeps them focused on something. It’s pretty special.”

She said she’s had to turn schools away as they just don’t have the capacity for anything bigger at Salish Secondary. Her goal is to hold a competition that includes every school that wants to be there.

“The dream is have it at Langley Events Centre or Agriplex or something and have it on a much bigger scale,” she explained. “If we can get a sponsor to help fund that, then it’s something we’ll look at doing. For now, we’re focussing on the kids and the competition.”



editor@cloverdalereporter.com

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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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