Changing up the steps to keep on dancing

PAT JOHNSON

Act Alive Academy in action in downtown Squamish. PHOTO BY ANGELA BLISS PHOTOGRAPHY

Getting through the past two years has taken innovation and creativity. For the most creative folks in Squamish, this has meant adapting to constantly changing health regulations.

Local dance and performing arts groups were forced to shut down abruptly in March of 2020. As vaccinations rates rise, classes and rehearsals are returning to comparative normal – with hopes that the days of uncertainty are past. Looking back, some Squamish thespians are surprised at their students’ resilience — and reminded of the importance of what they do.

The timing of the pandemic’s onset was especially harsh for some dance groups.

“Typically, March and April are the most exciting months for our dance family,” said Sara Constantin, owner of Squamish Dance Centre. The sudden shutdown meant the annual competitions with other studios across the Lower Mainland were cancelled.

“We also have, in June typically, our weeklong recital performance that everyone participates in at the Eagle Eye Theatre. It’s always pure magic,” she said. “In March 2020, when we were gearing up going into all of those festivities, it was so hard for us to close our doors, and it really took a toll on a lot of our kids because they look forward to that. It was almost like dangling a carrot in front of these children and just taking it away.”

Having now missed two seasons, Constantin hopes that next spring will be a time of rejuvenation.

“We still haven’t returned to the recital stage, but we are holding out hope that the coming competition and recital season will be our

time to shine again,” said Constantin.

Despite all the challenges, Constantin and her team are proud of how they maintained morale and creativity during the most challenging months.

“Once we decided to close our regular weekly classes and cancel recital, myself and all my amazing teachers and administration staff decided to give virtual teaching a try,” she said. “It was super popular, went very well.

“It went fairly easy,” she recalled. “We just continued classes like we normally would in the classroom, just in our home with the screen in front of our face.”

The kids were on their laptops or iPads, and some families connected the devices to their TV so they would have the big screen in the living room.

“Not only did we adapt, but our dance families did an awesome job adapting to accommodate virtual dance classes as well,” she said.

The curriculum changed to suit the medium. What is normally an end-of-session stage performance transitioned to a film project. To supplement the components of the experience that were not possible, they introduced new aspects. They started interactive storytimes for preschoolers, journaling sessions and interviews with teachers so students could get to know them better as individuals.

They even held a virtual slumber party.

“It was supposed to end at eight or nine, but I ended up staying up with the kids until 12 or one in the morning and we just hung out,” Constantin recalled. “We played games. You can screen-share on Zoom, so I screen-shared a movie, and we all ate popcorn and watched the movie together. It was a lot of fun.”

As they launch the new season, the centre has 530 registered dancers across the age spectrum. About 150 are preschoolers, about 100 are elementary school-aged, 250 are teens, and 70 or 80 are adults, including some in their 60s.

While dance is the name of the game, that actually took a backseat during this period.

“Teaching became our second priority,” Constantin said. “Just making everybody feel like magic and welcomed and embraced was our first priority the last year-and-a-half. Just sharing compassion and making sure everybody feels included and seen and heard and loved and supported is our mission for the next year and a bit, no matter what happens.”

“No matter what happens” is a key phrase. Everything the dancers and teachers have been through has given Constantin confidence that together they can master whatever comes next.

“I feel pretty prepared,” she said, noting that regulations can turn on a dime and so will their response. “We’ll seamlessly either go back on Zoom or be able to adapt our policies.”

Supporting individuals became the watchword for Act Alive Academy, as well. The performing arts and yoga studio survived and thrived during the lockdown thanks to “our sense of community,” said Jessica Kelly, owner and artistic director.

“That’s really what’s gotten us through this past year-and-ahalf,” she said. That sense of unity and camaraderie translated almost seamlessly to the virtual realm, she added.

“It was actually a blessing for them because they were not seeing each other at school, so to get this time of community really strengthen us,” said Kelly. “The strongest thing about us is really our studio culture. The kids are so welcoming, they are so inclusive … they are there for each other and they really have each other’s backs. People will recommend to other kids, if you’re having a hard time in school and want a good group of friends, sign up for Act Alive. The kids there are so friendly and welcoming; it gives a really good social experience for kids.”

Typical classes are two hours and cover singing, dancing and acting lessons. They managed to salvage a climax of the season by practicing a musical theatre performance online and then staging it outdoors in a park.

There are challenges, of course, in keeping the attention of kids when their pets and toys are just off-screen — and the time lag inherent with online communications makes singing practice especially challenging — but things ultimately came together in ways most people might not have predicted at the get-go.

“It was amazing,” Kelly said. “They were so together. They managed to pull it off really well. It looked like a really wellrehearsed number, which was amazing to me because they had never been in-person before.”

Adults-only dance

Like most studios, Gerald Coté, co-owner with wife Robin Coté of GNR Dance, had to completely shut down for the first few months of the pandemic. When restrictions eased, one-on-one classes (with masks) resumed. Last fall, when there was a window between COVID surges, they reopened to classes, but these were quickly shut down as the situation reversed.

GNR’s clientele are adults, mostly in their mid-30s to their 50s and 60s, with classes in ballroom, Latin and swing, among others. At a time when social connections are stunted and the potential for sluggishness is high, dance can be a physical and emotional lift.

No matter what the future holds, local dancers and performing artists seem determined to find ways to continue sharing their passion and their craft.