When The Source Dance Company brings its polished show, Flashback, to the Raven's Cry Theatre on April 16 you will see some of the most accomplished dancers in Canada.
The Source is based at the Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver under the artistic direction of Joanne Pesusich, and dancers from across Canada make up this dynamic company that focuses on jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary and street jazz.Their show in Sechelt will include two of Harbour's alumni as guests: Tamara Van Lieshout and the Coast's own Sammie Broomhall.
Broomhall remembers that she started to take a career in dance seriously at Chatelech Secondary School when she joined the school-sanctioned pre-professional program -a half-day of academic study and a half-day dancing -offered by the Coast Academy of Dance (CAD), before applying for the Harbour Dance Centre.
Now 21, she lives in Vancouver and teaches at Sechelt's CAD one day a week in her specialty, jazz dance and hip-hop. (She also teaches an adult dance class and one of her students is her mom, Yvette Cormier of the Sunshine Coast Dance Society. "She digs it," Broomhall said.)
Every year hopeful dancers must audition to enter the Harbour school and only 25 are accepted. Once in the program, dancers learn all styles of dance, not just their specialty, making them good candidates for professional jobs or for shows such as the popular So You Think You Can Dance Canada seen on CTV that will enter season four this summer.
"Every year I know at least a few of the dancers who get picked to go on the show," she said, many of them Harbour graduates.
A few years ago, Broomhall became friends with another Harbour dancer, Tara Jean Popwich, who rose to the show's top spot as winner in season two. Popwich was genuinely surprised that she won, recalls Broomhall, who still stays in touch with her friend.
Broomhall auditioned for the dance show when it came to Vancouver last December. Selling yourself as a performer means projecting a "look" and that starts in the line up to get in the doors. She arrived early and was at ease in front of the camera.
"Acting ability is an asset," she advised.
She had a chance to chat in the line up with the producer and Blake McGrath, choreographer, and there is a slim chance we will see a video clip of that conversation on TV when the show airs. TV audiences generally see only the later solos from the audition rounds. The first hurdle is an immediate three rounds of improvisation when each dancer in groups of ten has a 30-second solo to display her stuff.
"If you have a jump or turn in mind, be sure and work it in to your improv solo," she suggested. Although she felt great about her audition, she was not selected to go on. It's OK. A dancer's life is hard in the small dance community of Vancouver, but people look out for one another and pass on job leads.
She is excited by the forthcoming Source show presented by the Sunshine Coast Dance Society in that some of this year's pre-professional dancers from CAD will be also performing. The theme of the show is an exploratory look into the life of one woman who is dying and remembering her wonderful time on earth, told through narration and flashbacks. In each piece, the woman's character is performed by a different dancer to showcase the company's many talented dancers.
Tickets for Flashback's two shows on April 16 at the Raven's Cry are available at Natty Duds in Sechelt, MELOmania in Roberts Creek and Hallmark Cards in Gibsons. The evening performance is at 8 p.m. and costs $15 adults / $10 students. The matinée is at 2 p.m. and costs $12 adults / $8 students.
