Georgina’s Academy of Dance Farewell Recital

Georgina’s Academy of Dance Farewell Recital

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

Georgina’s Academy of Dance 16th Dance Recital was presented at the Legion Hall in Vegreville on July 25. This event was the send-off recital and it featured four senior dancers and an adult group who performed jazz, contemporary, lyrical, acro, tap, hip hop, and adult tap dancing to the amazement of the audience.

Kaleigh Klammer emceed this event where she welcomed everyone and said the last year had been challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We will be showing videos of the girls performing in years before from 15 years ago which will be a nice blast from the past while the girls are changing.

During intermission, the people who attended offered their impressions.

Leona Babyn said the dancers were awesome. “The performances were very nice. I liked the way the girls performed and the costumes they wore. I just really enjoyed it.”

Russel Babyn said he and his wife have been attending these recitals for many years and they are really impressed with the performances. “This recital was really good. The dancing was nice and the costumes were amazing.”

Julien Poirier said the dancers were great. “I found them to be professional and talented.” Afterwards, everyone was treated to donuts, coffee, pizza, water, pop, and juice. This was the final recital as Georgina Klammer,

Georgina Klammer, Operator and Dance Instructor with Adult and Senior dancers.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

Operator and Instructor for Georgina’s Academy of Dance, won’t be operating anymore as she is retiring after teaching dancing for over 40 years. Georgina founded Georgina Academy of Dance in Irma in 1988, Viking in 1990 and Vegreville in 2005.

“Some of the highlights from the past in Vegreville were Georgina’s Academy of Dance did a flash mob when Clara Hughes from the Olympics was cycling across Canada. I have so many great memories, every year we did something special. I did the choreography for two musical theatre productions at Vegreville Composite High School; Grease and Annie,” Georgina said.

When asked what was rewarding about teaching dance, Georgina replied, “I call my students, ‘my girls’. They are ‘my girls’ as we work together for hours and hours. The dancers work so well together and they are a tight family. It is special to watch them grow from five-years old to 18.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

“I am sad about retiring, but it is time to do this. As far as what I will be doing now, I have been asked to adjudicate for other competitions all over Canada so I will be doing that. I also will teach courses online and do classes. I still want to be a part of dancing. I might do some guest teaching when they look for teachers for workshops.

“My vision for the dancers is I want them to continue to fly. I want them to keep on having the confidence and prose that they felt through the dance classes. I want them to continue to be this way throughout their life. I am very proud of the girls. I loved to showcase them.”