Regina dance students leap, twirl for seniors in COVID recital

A Regina dance studio leapt at the opportunity to share its students’ talents with residents at a local seniors home.

The pandemic couldn’t keep students from Martin School of Dance and Baton Twirling from taking the stage this summer to showcase their year of hard work, even if that stage was a little different than usual.

“The kids were not able to perform this past year and that’s kind of what they worked so hard for, so to be able to share their love of dance with the community was a no-brainer,” said Jamie Kopeck, director at Martin School of Dance and Baton Twirling.

Dance and baton students, ranging in age from 13 to 23, took time out of their Friday to perform in nearly 30-degree heat for residents at Trinity Manor at Westerra.

“We’re so excited. We just love this opportunity and it’s kind of what dance is all about is keeping that expression of the art alive and sharing it with others,” Kopeck said.

Seniors watched the performance from their balconies pic.twitter.com/ROLWrZZR5c

— Libby Giesbrecht (@GiesbrechtLibby) July 21, 2020

The arrangement was a win-win for both Martin and Trinity.

“Especially now, in our new reality of the pandemic, it’s really, really exciting for our residents to have performers come and entertain for them,” said Tricia Engel, Trinity Manor’s executive director.

Engel said changes to the retirement community due to COVID-19 mean fewer social opportunities for their seniors.

“We used to have groups come in and there was always something happening,” Engel said. “It gets them out of their rooms and they really, really enjoy it.

“It makes it a little bit more normal, more like the before-time … and so I think it’s really important to be able to do this sort of thing, even though we have to do it differently now.”

Julee Stewart, 23, performs for residents at Trinity Manor during a less-than-traditional end-of-the-year dance recital with Martin School of Dance and Baton Twirling on July 17, 2020. (Libby Giesbrecht/980 CJME)

Asia Frehlick and Emersyn Degelman, both 14, have been performing together since they were six years old. On Friday, the teens performed their 10th duet together.

“It’s kind of sad that we didn’t get to perform on stage like we wish we could because of the pandemic, but this was great to come and perform,” Frehlich said. “It was definitely different.”

“It’s a good opportunity to do what we got to miss out this past season,” Degelman said.

“And do what we love and show people what we love to do,” Frehlich added.

The two said it was a challenge to dance outside in the grass, and a much hotter undertaking than performing in a dance studio. Sarah Spicer agreed.

“(It was) very hot,” Spicer said with a smile. “It was quite toasty.”

The 19-year-old contemporary dancer has been dancing since the age of three.

“I love performing. That’s my favourite part of dance and I really enjoyed performing for these people,” she said.

Julee Stewart, 23, has been twirling for the past 16 years.

“I saw a baton in a parade and then I really wanted to try it,” Stewart said. After two years of twirling, Stewart also began dancing.

She performed a jazz solo and a show routine for Trinity Manor residents Friday.

Annabelle Porter, 13, performs for Trinity Manor residents on July 17, 2020. Porter prepared a jazz solo and a freestyle piece to perform for her end-of-the-year recital with Martin School of Dance and Baton Twirling (Libby Giesbrecht/980 CJME)

“We wouldn’t compete with a routine like that but it just incorporates different elements to show people what we can do,” Stewart said.

Stewart has competed internationally in places like Sweden and Croatia with Martin School of Dance. She has won the titles of Overall Canadian Athlete of the Year and Senior Female Athlete of the Year both three times in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

Her performance on the lawn Friday, though in a much different environment, was no less enjoyed.

“I loved it,” Stewart said. “I think that since we’re in this time with COVID, it’s super special that we can come and show these people a little bit of what we’ve been doing and a lot of us have been keeping up with training through Zoom lessons. So we can just show that off while maintaining social distance measures.”

The youngest to perform, Annabelle Porter, 13, said the pandemic performance was a lot more difficult than usual.

“It was definitely harder than on stage or on a gym floor,” she said with a smile. “It was nice.”