Paige Anderson took on the role as artistic director for Laszlo Dance Tamasik Academy (LTDA) a decade ago. After years of building and expanding the qathet-based company, she is ready to pass the reins to a new leader.
"I think the original company had 20 or 25 dancers," said Anderson. “When I took it over, I said to [Laszlo Tamasik], 'I'm going to change it.'”
The company grew into something a lot different and much bigger than anticipated, added Anderson.
"We had one studio for our first year, then the second year we needed two studios," she said. "But eventually, we needed three studios, and now, four spaces and over 76 classes a week."
LTDA lyrical and contemporary dance instructor Kindree Melrose has stepped up as the new artistic director of the company.
"It was kind of an obvious choice for me," said Melrose "[Owning a dance studio] was something I've always thought I would do at some point."
Melrose has taught at LTDA for five years and believes stepping into the role is a little less jarring for everyone, rather than having someone completely unfamiliar take over.
"My daughters danced here for nine of the 10 years that Paige has been here," said Melrose. "Paige has done an incredible job building Laszlo to what it is, and I'm thankful that I'm starting from where she's left off and not the ground up."
LTDA trains dancers in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop and musical theatre. Some are competitive dancers, and many go on to train or study to be professionals. But the company also offers classes for those just wanting to try it out.
"Training technical dancers is obviously a big part of this role, but for me, it's also building them up and encouraging them, supporting them, so they can reach their potential as dancers," said Melrose. "We want students to have the confidence to pursue the things they want to pursue, once they leave Laszlo, whether that be dance or other things."
The competitive season is over for now, but will start up again after the summer. However, students continually train throughout the year.
"We're really fortunate because Paige is bringing a competition to town," said Melrose.
Although Anderson is stepping away from LTDA, she wants to create a bridge program for dancers who are serious and want to take their skills to the next level.
"It's only a one day a week thing and they have to be part of Laszlo to be in this program," said Anderson. "We're running it out of the Beach Gardens, because we want to take them into a different kind of inspirational environment."
Anderson said auditions have started, with the goal to start the program in September.
"I loved putting on a show; that was my favourite part of working with LTDA," said Anderson. "I loved getting to know the dancers, from the time they're little right up until they're going off on their own."
Anderson said she is happy with how the academy has grown and branched out into the community.
"I'm pretty proud of the fact that our program has really grown with the males in town, because I didn't want that to be a stigma, because a lot of small towns can be like that," said Anderson. "Why can't boys dance? They like to dance, too, and some of them don't want to play hockey or softball."
Both Anderson and Melrose believe giving children a chance to perform is an opportunity to gain confidence, and many of them love being on stage.
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