Tapping onto world stage

Photo: Contributed - Milne Photography

Kelowna and area tap dancers are working hard to represent Canada.

Five talented tap dancers in our community have been chosen by the Canadian National Dance Team to represent Canada at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships Dec. 1-5 in Riesa, Germany.

The five dancers include:

Maya Lutz, Kelowna

Blair Dietz, West Kelowna

Nicola Chapman, Lake Country

Caleb Agno, Lake Country

Georgia MacLean, Lake Country

All five dancers are on the junior team (age 12 - 15) and dance out of Lake Country School of Dance in Lake Country.

Auditions for the Canadian National Dance Team, held in Langley, brought some of the best dancers from across Western Canada together with a dream of representing Canada at the world level.

Team Canada Dance national director Bonnie Dyer selected Lisa Dew of Lisa’s School of Dance in Langley to choreograph the Canadian National Tap Team in Western Canada.

The International Dance Organization (IDO) is a world federation with a membership of more than 90 Nations, representing in excess of 250,000 dancers from six continents. The best dancers from around the world will be competing for the world championship title.

Last year, Canada’s children’s and adult teams placed in the top 10, while the junior team placed in the top five.

This honour comes with a lot of hard work and dedication. Not only are the dancers training and practicing at their home studio for many hours each week, but they are required to travel to Langley for the Team Canada practices.

Each dancer is also required to raise their own funds to cover all costs to attend the world championships.

To raise money for the trip, the dancers will be at the Kelowna Rockets’ Remembrance Day game Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. selling hockey pucks for a puck toss.