MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- It’s one of the sure signs of spring in Moose Jaw.
As the weather starts to get warmer, dance season begins to take centre stage in the Friendly City, and one of the first events of the year is the Moose Jaw Invitational Dance Carnival.
The Mar. 23 weekend marked the 38th anniversary of the popular event, bringing more than 500 performers and their families to the Centennial Auditorium in Peacock. And as one might expect for a competition with that kind of pedigree, it was once again an overwhelming success.
“It went so well and was so great,” said Barb Jackman with Dance Images, “We had 11 studios from around the province and their families in the city for three full days and it was even busier than it was last year, which was great to see. Then there was so much great dancing, so many great performances, it was just a really fun weekend and we had so many people saying how much they enjoyed things.”
Carnival is traditionally one of the first competitions of the spring in Saskatchewan, and as a result, offers a good test to see how things are going in the early part of the season.
“So we were all feeling the excitement and the apprehension,” Jackman said. “There’s always that question of if we’re ready, are the groups ready, and the kids felt the same way… it’s a payoff for all that time and effort. When it comes down to it, the payoff is being confident they’re ready and being able to show everything they learned when they’re on the stage.”
Performers had their work critiqued by adjudicators Bri Zubrick from Calgary and Michelle Fraccia-West from Edmonton, with 2024 marking the second year Carnival used a video adjudication system.
The format sees adjudicators commenting live during the performance, with those remarks recorded and then overlaid on video by Protec Studios so dancers can see and hear in real time what they might need to work on.
“They can hear the adjudicator give them the right-on-the-spot correction and ideas,” Jackman explained. “Stuff like ‘you could reach out a little more’ or ‘be a little bit more braced’ or ‘that’s great’ and they can see exactly what’s being talked about. We went to video adjudication last year and it was so successful and it really worked out great this year, too.”
Dance Carnival is also unique in how it attempts to promote camaraderie and friendship, with studios often hanging out backstage.
“We like the kids to get to know each other and kind of celebrate us all being together in the same dance community,” Jackman said. “I probably took five or six hundred pictures, since I try to get every studio in every dance and in every costume and we had a lot of fun backstage. That’s what it’s all about.”
Of course, the whole thing wouldn’t have come together at all if not for the support of the Moose Jaw community.
“We had a lot of volunteer support and lots of support from local businesses, and we’re always overwhelmed with the support we get from the community for Carnival,” Jackman said.
Dance Images is now in the busy part of dance season, with competitions coming up almost every weekend. That includes the Moose Jaw Festival of Dance, which will take place May 1-5 this year.
Be sure to check out MJ Invitational Dance Carnival on Facebook for plenty more from a fun and successful weekend!
