By Chelsea Laskowski

PHOTOS: First ever Dance Blast fills up E.A. Rawlinson Centre

Mar 9, 2014 | 12:20 PM

The practice area for the first ever Dance Blast was filled with dancers working out the kinks while young dancers from other teams looked on in wide-eyed excitement.

Day two of a three-day long Fun Festival, hosted by the Performing Arts Warehouse Dance Team, saw dancers move from Rivier Academy on Friday to the E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts for Saturday and Sunday.

Over 450 dance students performed on the big stage, which was recently graced with talent like Bryan Adams in his “ Bare Bones Tour.”

“It’s a totally different type of stage than they’re used to, so it’s nice to have people from the surrounding district come and dance in our city,” said Karen Malec, president of the festival’s committee and mother of two dancers.

From jazz to ballet and even musical theatre, there was no shortage of different styles on display.

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The seats in the large auditorium gave the dancers a massive audience. Students, instructors, and families from Nipawin, Birch Hills, Melfort, Tisdale, and Prince Albert were all in attendance.

Malec added that while there were top prizes, the focus of the festival is for everyone to enjoy themselves rather than to be competitive. Everyone who performed walked away with a medal.

She admitted putting on such a large event from scratch “had a steep learning curve, but I think we’ve done well with it,” she said.

On top of the 12-mom committee, numerous volunteers kept the festival running smoothly.One benefit for the Performing Arts Warehouse is the extra financial aid that will come from the weekend event.

“We’re fundraising, in most part… for a trip planned for next summer to Disneyworld,” Malec explained. “They get to dance at Disneyworld, be in the parade. There are workshops and things like that to do so it’s a good learning experience for the kids.”

Funds will also go towards other expenses and dance-related activities for the team.While waiting over a year for the exciting trip to Disneyworld may be tough for a young dancer, Malec said there is quite a bit of planning required to pull it off.

“That’s the way it is. You have to work ahead with these things… And there’s a lot to plan in the meantime to get a big group like this to go,” she said.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk