Seven Shuswap Dance Center students danced in the big leagues this summer.
Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for two weeks, the young women took classes from dancers and teachers at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York.
“There are 12 dance studios; it is the largest dance facility in North America overlooking downtown Manhattan,” says Shuswap Dance Center owner and teacher Carolyn Wonacott. “The girls also did a class and mock audition with the Radio City Rockettes at their rehearsal space and at Radio City Music Hall.”
Classes were also taken at the Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway, where the working professionals on Broadway and dancers from American Ballet Theater take daily classes.
“We toured all the sites – the Statue of Liberty, Coney Island, Central Park, Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey and saw Wicked and Chicago on Broadway,” says an enthusiastic Wonacott.
“The training, particularly at Alvin Ailey, was amazing and the students all came back stronger and more motivated dancers,” Wonacott says. “It was wonderful to see them grow as dancers and young women.”