Dancers are a hit at Rainy River Festival

Chantelle Johnson was pleased this year’s Rainy River District Festival of the Performing Arts was opened up to competitive dancing–it gave her students a chance to strut their stuff.
“All of my students did very well,” the owner of Dancemakers and Beauty Essentials said. “I had 97 of my students compete in the competition and I am very proud of all of them. I had the chance to talk to some of them and they all seemed to enjoy their festival experience.”
Though all of her students did well, Johnson was particularly pleased with the performance nine-year-old Brittainy Campbell gave.
“Brittainy danced to the ‘Green-Eyed Lady,’” Johnson remarked. “She was scored 96 and received the highest mark overall. Unfortunately, she was not asked to perform in the highlights concert which was very upsetting to me.
“In general I am pleased with what all my dancers did,” added Johnson. “It was a good experience for them and I think it is a great [venue] for them to participate in and display their talents.”
In addition to their performances, Johnson’s students also had the chance to participate in a workshop that was held during the festival on the 21st and 22nd of May.
“One of the adjudicators from Winnipeg held a two day workshop on hip hop dance,” Johnson explained. “Her name was Jill Mino and she was from the Westwood Collegiate of Performing Arts High School.
“I participated in it along with my students and it was a very informative session,” Johnson added. “It was really nice that the girls had the chance to participate in these classes because it gave them the chance to learn a type of dance that really is not too common here.”