February 2010 ... After a fun and relaxing Christmas break we got right back to the grind on January 2nd with our first Championship class of the year. Towards the end of the month, many of our dancers competed successfully in the CHDA Closed competition where our dance school ran the concession. A huge thank you to Leslie Frick for her hard work in organzing this event. However Leslie couldn't have done it without all the support she received from the wonderful Gillie Callum families who all pitched in to make it a success. In February and March, many of our dancers are travelling to competitions and Championships and we wish you all good luck and great dancing!

December 2009 ... It has been a fun start to the year! We kicked things off in September with many of our dancers (including our choreography group) competing successfully in the Calgary & Canmore Highland Games.

In October we ran a bottle drive and the money raised will go towards a dance workshop later in the year. Thank you to all the families who came out to support this fund-raising event and a special thanks to Karen Nettleton for organizing it for us! Also in October, several of our dancers travelled to Edmonton for the EHDA National Competition. Congratulations to these dancers! Finally, several of our dancers travelled to Edmonton (again!) to participate in the SDTA Conference and Scholarship competition. Congratulations to all our dancers who were very successful at this event, everyone placing in the top 3 in at least one category. A special congratulations to Kristin who won the 16 & Over Scholarship!

In November, our choreography group performed at the Rosemont Fundraising Society Wine & Food Tasting evening. Not only that, but they were the "waitresses" for this event, serving plated appetizers to the guests and looking very professional. Great job, ladies! And if you ask the right people, you might be able to track down a video of Pierie performing in the choreography while Kristin was out with H1N1.

In December, our Tuesday/Thursday classes were the guest performers for the Westside Children's Choir Christmas concert. The 6:00 class did a choreography with the costumes designed by Megan Hall. The senior dancers did a UKA dance called "Betty's Jig" as well as a modified version of their Choreography since so many dancers had other commitments that night. But given the small stage space, it worked out just about right! I received the following in an e-mail from the choir director, Jean Czaja: "Your dancers stole the show last Thursday evening! What a delightful presentation from all your groups! I've received  congratulatory emails from several of our choir parents who were very impressed with the dancing. Thank you for making their performance possible and a special "thank you" to Keltie for being there." Great job everyone!

Coming up in January, our dance school is running the concession at the CHDA competition. We still need a few extra volunteers for this - please contact Leslie Frick (lesliefrick@shaw.ca) if you are available to help. The money raised from this event will also go towards our workshop later in the year. A big THANK YOU to Leslie for coordinating this for us!

We would like to wish everyone a great Christmas and are looking forward to lots of great dancing in the New Year!