Author Archives: Nicole Robins, The Young Canadians

young Canadians Flash Mob Revealing of ‘By the Banks of the Bow’ Sculpture

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By the Banks of the BowBy the Banks of the BowThis past Saturday, the Young Canadians got to practice their flash mobbing skills at the unveiling of the Calgary Stampede Public Arts Programs newest 2 million dollar bronze addition, ‘By the Banks of the Bow’, an incredible sculpture that illustrates two cowboys herding 13 horses from the past, present and future across the Bow River up to a bank. It was an honor to be asked to perform at the revealing of this new major landmark for the Calgary Stampede, and what made it even more fun is that our performance got to come as a surprise to all of the esteemed guests. Slowly, all of us Senior Cast members started to trickle out into the event area all decked out in our western gear, playing the part of just being there for support. Talking with the guests before our flash mob performance and tricking them into thinking we weren’t there to perform was almost as fun as watching their surprised and enthused faces as we randomly broke out into dance. This was my first flash mob experience, and even in the rain, it was so much fun! I can’t wait to take part in the ‘Party Rock Anthem’ flash mob every night of the of the 2012 Grandstand Show ‘Century’. We are going to get the whole audience dancing, so you better be prepared to party rock with us and celebrate the Stampede’s 100th year!

To make sure you are not the only one in the audience missing out on the party and not doing the flash mob, check out this link to learn it so you are ready to party rock with us! (Flash mob tutorial @ 9 min) : http://video.citytv.com/video/detail/1672890933001.000000/jill–the-young-canadians–may-30th/

How Fast the Year Goes By!

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It’s hard to believe that we have already performed 2 of our 3 annual shows and opening night to Grandstand 2012 is only 49 days away! It felt like we were just getting people excited for Christmas Holidays the other day with our Christmas Spectacular. I absolutely love Christmas Show, because we are able to brighten the spirits of the Seniors all the way to the little ones, and it allows us to give a Christmas gift to those Calgarians in need. Then before you know it, we are already in to Spring Show rehearsals, bringing a huge variety of characters to life, visiting music from the past to the future and giving the audience an extremely energetic and diverse show that challenges all of us. By the end of Spring Show, we are ready to move past the training part of the year and get in to Grandstand mode. And that is where we are at today, in the process of putting together a celebration of the Calgary Stampede’s 100th year that you do not want to miss. I can’t reveal any show secrets of course, so you will have to come see for yourself all of the new and thrilling aspects of the Grandstand 2012.

Dancer’s Class with Evelyn Hart

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The day after the Ballet Evaluations, all the dancers were treated to have a class with the one and only Evelyn Hart, and what an honor it was. We all arrived nice and early, as we did not want to waste any of the precious time we were given with Evelyn Hart, today’s iconic professional ballerina. When she called us to the barre to start class, we were there in a heartbeat, waiting on her first instructions. Now when most people think of a class taught by a famous ballerina, they think very strict, stringent and serious, but Evelyn created one of the most comfortable and open atmospheres I have ever been in. On top of her amazing talent and words of wisdom that she was able to share with us all, she is extremely out going and humorous and all of that combined together made for an extremely enjoyable class. Not even the camera crews there from the news stations could take our attention off of Evelyn, because everything thing she does and says is just so compelling. Every single one of us dancers got one on one advice from her and we will all carry what we learnt from her with us for the rest of our dancing careers. It was an absolute honor to have danced for Evelyn Hart, and truly a once in a lifetime experience. Not very many dancers can say they have been taught by her. At the end of the class we all got our pictures and signed shoes, which I’m sure every dancer has on display in there room, myself included. Overall, it was a 10 out of 10 experience and something to remember for the rest of my life.

Ballet Evaluations and Training

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All of the hard work, dedication and soul every apprentice and senior dancer of the Young Canadians of The Calgary Stampede cast put into their ballet training since day one, all came down to one night where we demonstrated our skills and performance abilities to an elite panel of adjudicators. Among the judges were Sheri Oberholtzer, an ADAPT examiner, writer and work shop facilitator and RAD ballet trainer, Sheri Green, and RAD Registered teaching member, ADAPT Certified teacher, Examiner and Qualified Studio and has a Certificate of Higher Education: Dance Teaching in Dance Education, and last but certainly not least, Evelyn Hart, a world renown ballerina who was made into an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1983 and was elevated to the rank of Companion in 1994. She also received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and was inducted into the Order of Manitoba. Her principal dancer role with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet helped to make her into one of the most compelling stage personalities in Canada’s and be put into Canada’s walk of fame.

Preparation for the exam began on our first day of training, as every single class counted towards pushing each student to the best of their ability as an individual and as a whole, and shaping every single dancer into the best performer they could be. The training we get here at The Young Canadians is high caliber and pushes every single individual to their limits. Teachers work very closely with each individual student to help them set and achieve goals for themselves. The training is demanding, but extremely rewarding and the best part, it is free! The dancer company has been extremely dedicated this whole year, which has allowed us to achieve even higher limits than in the past, not only in Ballet department, but every aspect of our training, because ballet plays such an important role in the development of a dancer overall, and to make this years Ballet Evaluation the huge success it was.

The Apprentice Dancer company started out the night with presenting their class to adjudicators composed of the three distinguished artists/dance educators and an audience filled with students’ families, friends and other invited guests, with the Senior Dancer company to follow. Thanks to Megan Chalifoux, the director of Ballet, The Young Canadians School of Performing Arts, the classes were not just a demonstration of technical exercises, but also a performance that flowed through the studio and a display that every one could enjoy.

The evening concluded with a Reception to thank the adjudicators and award selected students on their achievements, such as Most Improved, Best Overall Performance, Best Overall Excellence, Best Overall Technique and more. However, even though awards were handed out, every single dancer still achieved a great success by performing to the best of their ability and achieving their own personal goals. We each gained a sense of accomplishment and a gain in confidence through the experience and every dancer should feel extremely proud of themselves and to have been apart of the evaluation.

100 Day Kick Off!

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Today is the start of the 100 day count down to The Calgary Stampede, 100 years in the making, and us Young Canadians, had the honor of helping to kick it off!

Our day began in the dressing rooms, where the make up, hair and costumes brought us to life. Next step in our preparation, was warming our bodies up and running through our performance to get us geared and ready to show our ‘Stampede Spirit’ to the thousands of viewers gathered to witness the kick off. And thousands of them there were! On our rowdy bus ride there, you could see all the people dressed in their western wear making their way down to the plaza to see what the Stampede kick off was all about. Some even got a preview before they reached the plaza, with all us Young Canadians in our western costumes walking along side them in the streets. We caught quite a few people’s eyes! Some must have thought we just got really in to the ‘Western Wear’ day declared by Mayor Nenshi, but either way, were showing our stampede spirit each step of the way! When we reached the plaza, I was amazed to see how many Calgarians had gathered to be apart of this 100 day kick off, and I felt absolutely honored to be apart of something that unites everyone in Calgary, and soon (in 100 days to be exact) people from all around the world. When it was our turn to take the stage, we all ran out there and did what we all love to do the most, perform for the people! And what a performance it was with the huge crowd cheering us on. We can not wait to perform again, and share the stage with the one and only Canadian country star, Paul Brandt who made his first appearance with us today. Today was a huge success, as I could see the excitement for the Calgary Stampede 100 years growing in every single person I passed by. Well excited they should be, because this years Stampede is going to provide them with the best outdoor show experience they have ever had!