Young dancers from Nanaimo are set to travel to New York City to learn from Broadway's best and perform a jazz number on stage.
Irene Booth, director and owner of Tempo Dance Academy, said it has taken the group a year of fundraising to be able to participate in the Dance The World events through U.S.-based Worldstride tours.
"They're so excited, but they're beyond grateful that their parents are providing them this opportunity to travel there," Booth said. "Our parents have been amazing, we did a ton of fundraising in order to provide our dancers with all the costumes that they need for the performance we created for them."
During the trip, 18 students between the ages of 11 and 18 will perform at New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway alongside other dance groups from around the globe.
"They're doing a Broadway-style performance. They send us a choreography, every single person has to learn it then that's the one they perform under their headline, then we have our own choreography which is a jazz routine."
While in New York, the students will attend a hit Broadway show as audience members and take classes from Broadway entertainers, including optional acting and musical theatre technique with Emmy Award winner Michael Lee Brown.
"They'll have half a day with full workshops, then they'll go to rehearse at the New York Marriott Marquis for the Times Square [performance]," Booth said. "There is hundreds of studios that come 鈥� Then they'll perform at Times Square."
After the performance, the dancers will have more classes and will also take a dinner and dance cruise, getting to socialize with the other dance groups.
